Voices Ringing Blog /

Whenever Poetry is brought up in an English class, there will inevitably be a series of groans. The perception of poetry is often that it is sappy, stuffy, or just impossible to understand. This genre can be rigid, symmetrical, controlled, and formal. However, it also can be uninhibited and written in a way that makes you wonder if the poet follows any rules (E.E. Cummings is a prime example). For most of us, our exposure to poetry are the poems we were given to read for an assignment or the writings of a Hallmark card. This is probably why each year when the Poetry Unit appears, it is accompanied by groans.

Our department’s goal is to help students realize the breadth and depth of poetry. My poetry class professor would start every class with a simple phrase: "I hope that today someone finds the voice she needed to hear.”  That is what poetry is. Ten people can read the exact same poem and take away ten different meanings. Poetry allows us a glimpse into someone’s thoughts, heart, and soul like no other genre does. When we read a poem that embodies the very thoughts we find that we ourselves cannot articulate, it becomes an anthem. Sometimes it even allows us to be brave enough to try our hand at it. Luckily, we offer our students the chance to experiment with their own poetic voices during class, and for those that wish to make these works more public, we have our Write On publication that takes submissions from all students and staff.  I hope you all have a chance to explore poems that speak to you. Our department has a few favorites we would like to suggest:

Ms. Claire O’Malley: The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

Mrs. Ann (Calderone) Bertke '88: Birches by Robert Frost

Ms. Molly Stanifer: B also titled If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay

Mrs. Marcy (Hemmert) Hughes '83: Hope is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson 

Courtney (Griffith) Thompson '16: Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou which is also a favorite of Marcy Hughes and Mary Kate Caserta

Mary Kate Caserta: Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Ben Joplin: To the True Romance by Rudyard Kipling

Ben Swick: Avocado by Chris Harris

“Sister Mary Alice is short.”  

While that sentence may be politically incorrect, it is concise, descriptive, and free of spelling and grammatical errors.  And that sums up most of what I learned in Sister Mary Alice’s journalism class.

Sister Mary Alice Stein, known affectionately by her initials as “SMAS” (but never addressed by that name) provided my best training as a writer during my junior year in high school.  All of our articles had to be typed on an 8x10 sheet of paper folded in half; we typed on one side; she then unfolded the paper and wrote her comments on the other side in red ink.  She graded on a scale of 1 to 10, and she was proud that she’d given only one “10” in her entire career, always reminding us the young woman who received it became a reporter, justifying her perfect grade.  I wanted to be the second person to score a perfect “10”.

My first attempts were met with a sea of red ink regarding style (lack of), grammar (incorrect), and a general absence of enthusiasm about the entire piece.  I went to work dressing up my leads, inverting my pyramids, and rewriting things several times before submitting them.

Desperate to show progress, I once wrestled with a sentence to get my point across and ensure it was grammatically correct.  When I was confident it met both goals, I submitted my piece.  When she returned it, I had once again failed to get a “10”, and the sentence I struggled with was indeed correct but marked in red pen as “awkward.” My face turned red with embarrassment, matching the editing marks.

Sister Mary Alice was always kind and restrained when explaining her edits.  She had a way of engaging students that was cordial and entertaining but left no doubt that she was in charge.  I took her advice to heart, and over time, my writing and grades improved to the 9.0 level with an occasional 9.5 or higher.  I was honored to be named one of the editors my senior year.

My first job after college had me reading memos and reviewing resumes, and misspelled words and mangled sentences ruled the day.  Technological advances not only increased the garbled writing, it made messages longer.  Word processors and email increased the length of messages, allowing writers to use more words to say less since there was no longer a piece of paper edging out of the typewriter to suggest it might be time to stop.

This unlimited length wasted a lot of time and money in deciphering the original sender’s meaning and intent, resulting in an electronic snowstorm of “reply all” messages.  It spawned the acronym “BLUF”, (Bottom Line Up Front), but it failed to get writers to state a point early — or sometimes ever.

I was already placing the most critical information at the top, just as Sister Mary Alice taught me.  It paid off handsomely.

I never did get the “10” I wanted.  During my career, I have published a number of articles as a freelancer, have gotten paid for my writing, and have also been able to get donations, jobs, and compensation for complaints (mostly from airlines) from my ability to write well.  That’s worth a lot more than a “10.”

Carroll High School’s English Department is honored and privileged to be able to talk about literature under the scope of the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Any work we read can be applied to one of the seven principles, if not more.  We would like to take this opportunity to show the link between each principle and one of the works we read throughout a student’s four years at Carroll.

Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Many of our works greatly exemplify this principle, but our seniors would say Man’s Search for Meaning gives them insight on how we must hold onto this principle, even when the world around us shouts that it is unimportant.

Call to Family, Community, and Participation

In Cry, The Beloved Country we see how we must build strong community foundations to bridge the differences between classes and ethnicities. Destroying the pillars of marriage, family, and community, while also widening the gap between the haves and have-nots, will cause distrust, hatred, and collapse. Only by working to strengthen these pillars for all can we achieve the world we wish to have.

Rights and Responsibilities

Fahrenheit 451 gives us a glimpse of what happens when people allow themselves to be stripped of the opportunity to think, feel, and fight for what is right. If we do not take up the responsibility of fighting for the dignity of life and care of the individual, our society will implode.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

To Kill a Mockingbird is a work that can be applied to all seven principles easily. However, maybe the biggest takeaway is that all people deserve to be heard, treated, and cared for with respect and dignity. We can not stand by and watch injustice. We must take a stand and work to change the views of our community and world.

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

A Tale of Two Cities makes the reader examine how the workers are treated with respect to the employers. To put ourselves in the middle of the conflict between classes allows us to reflect on and answer the tough questions about the rights of all, not just the privileged.

Solidarity

We must stand together for the greater good. We all have a responsibility to make policy that leaves this world better than we found it. Lord of the Flies demonstrates what happens when the structure of society is stripped away, and we must start from scratch. The outcome is our choice, but it is not an easy path.

Care for God’s Creation

The Old Man and the Sea is an example of how all life is interconnected. To use resources without respect cheapens the value. To recognize the power, grace, and dignity of all creatures allows us to be true stewards of the earth. We must appreciate and use our resources responsibly and honorably.

UNIVERSAL THEMES His plays introduce issues of love, anger, contempt, fear, courage, innocence, vulnerability, honor, and so much more. 

THE BIG QUESTIONS All humans face questions of morality, wealth, life and death, love, and friendship. 

THE ACTOR IS THE WRITER He wrote plays from the perspective of a professional actor and acting company making them extraordinarily rewarding to both read in a classroom setting and act on a stage. 

THE WORDS HAVE RHYTHM While his language can be difficult to decipher, it is unique and eloquent with meter and a lyric quality. 

WORD INVENTION He invented hundreds of words, like swagger, bandit, and dauntless, influencing our language today.

CRITICAL THINKING Shakespeare’s wording and language can be analyzed and the meaning can be taken in so many different ways depending on the reader and the emphasis.

DISCOVERY At each reading, one can find something different in his plays and poems.

ACCOMPLISHMENT The feeling that students have when they master a Shakespearean play is unique. Students at any level realize the true potential they have for literature when they invest in reading Shakespeare.

A FIRST LOOK AT THEATER His plays are often the first experience students have with theater in the classroom, and it inspires students to be actors and performers. 

INSPIRATION THROUGH THE AGES Film writers constantly look to Shakespeare’s plots and characters for inspiration-- The Forbidden Planet, Lion King, 10 Things I Hate About You, Kiss Me Kate, O, and West Side Story just to name a few.