I'm not going to make you do that again.
(Well, the thinking, discussing, and generally-being-studious we're going to do again. Every day. The sweating? Not so much for today.)
So, we'll be in the lab instead! Because it's pretty hard to have a discussion in the lab, you'll do it on the blog instead. You're going to write about Billy Collins's poem "On Turning Ten," and here's your prompt:
What did you notice in the poem that is especially interesting and/or significant? What is Collins saying in this poem, and how is he saying it?
Your assignment here has two parts:
- Craft a careful response to the prompt above--make sure you include specific details from the poem and make a statement about something interesting going on in the poem. Try to look at the subtleties of the piece, and delve into language that is unique or telling. This response should be about a paragraph long, and you should post it as a comment to this post when you're done. Make sure your first name is clear. You don't have to include your last name.
- Then, read over the comments your classmates post, and reply to one of them. Post it as a reply--that's an option under each comment. Your response should build on the original response...feel free to use language from our conversation placemats! Don't just repeat what was already said...add something new--more evidence? A different perspective? A nuanced, more subtle interpretation?
One thing in the poem that I noticed and believed to be interesting significant is the second stanza when the narrator describes his past. He shares how he remembers himself in vivid detail. This is significant because its like a review of his life and how he has changed and is "Coming of Age" and about to be 10 years old. What the author, Collins, is essentially saying in this poem is that there is always change. Things change, people change, ideas change, and what your take on life is changes as well. He uses the narrator in the last stanza to reference that he one believed that there was nothing but light underneath his skin and that if he was cut he could "shine" but on growing up and coming of age, he has come to realize this is not the case and that he is vulnerable to life and that he will bleed.
ReplyDeleteMariana F
ReplyDeleteI found it rather interesting and poetic the way Collins depicted growing up. He used metaphors such as "as I walk through the universe in my sneakers" and "I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light", really show how innocent a child can be and how much imagination can form a child's perspective on life and once that perspective and imagination is taken away by age, it's as if the child has completely disappeared.
I found this really interesting too. I think this is what coming of age means to Billy Collins. I find that coming of age is usually a gradual process bu tin this poem I also found that in one day the child in this boy was completely gone and he became an adult so fast.
DeleteI like the thought of imagination forming a child's perspective on life. Did you ever think that your imagination doesn't go away but it alters as you age?
DeleteSomething that I noticed in the poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins that I found interesting was in the first stanza when he says he feels like he’s coming down with something and he says “a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche, a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.” I thought this metaphor was interesting because he used actual illnesses that people can physically get and he addressed them to things that are intangible like peoples’ thoughts and feelings. The other interesting thing about this quote is that the illnesses and the things they are corresponding to are all things that humans are believed to share, you just don’t usually see them together.
ReplyDeleteWhat stuck out to me as I read the poem “On Turning Ten” were the lines “It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number” along with the last stanza where he says he will now bleed rather than shine when falling. These words really drive the idea of having to leave behind the carefree lifestyle all children experience, but must eventually grow out of. The young boy who narrates the poem uses detailed colorful memories to smoothly bring together the melancholy feel of the poem and how growing up means having to become more mature. It made me look back to when I was turning ten, and I think like myself, most people are excited when they turn ten, but after reading this poem I got sad thinking about how quickly my childhood flew by.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% Ali, i believe that this child's reality and imagination is being ruined by the "real" reality.
DeleteI agree with you, I noticed that he talked a lot about letting go of his childhood in order to grow up.
DeleteIn the poem On Turning Ten, by Billy Collins, I find it interesting that the character is coming of age all in one event, his tenth birthday. The poem has a sad mood and it is interesting that he is finding life so serious at the age of ten, it seems so young to many of us. He went from and “Arabian Wizard” to “watching the late afternoon light” in just six short years of childhood. His coming of age seems really abrupt and seems like it makes him really sad. Before this day he believed that everything in his life was good and bad things wouldn’t happen like any child his age would, “But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.”
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the way you described the poem, and also agree with it. I also found it really interesting how sad the mood of the poem was and picked up on how important being ten was to him.
DeleteAlex Sleeper
ReplyDeleteIn the poem “On Turning Ten,” Billy Collins is portraying that when you grow older, you no longer see what you want to see and your “reality” is completely flip upside down. Specifically, in line 26 Collins writes, “It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number.” This is highlighting that, whoever the poem is about, is turning the “big number,” and all of the things that he/she used to believe in, i.e. imaginary friends, is now going away. Also Collins is showing how “reality is now set in and what used to be, in this kids eyes, is not actually what happened. “It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light.” “But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.” The child’s fake reality is now being crushed into a literal reality and is changing the way he sees his world.
I agree with what you said about reality flipping upside down because it is apart of learning and what you know now as opposed to what you felt before is totally new and different.You have to say goodbye to old ideas or thoughts.
DeleteBuilding on your idea that the child’s fake reality is now being crushed into a literal reality and is changing the way he sees his world, I think it also is the time for him to accept the reality of the world, as he going forward he has to step out, notice the surroundings and other people’s feeling.
DeleteWord son, I agree with the fact that when you grow up it's like having your world flipped upside down, since everything that your going to do is near opposite to what you were doing as a child.
DeleteI noticed an interesting line in the poem was: “It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends” (Collins). Collins wrote about the time when his naïve vanished with the imaginary friends like Santa Claus, which is time for him to accept the reality of the world. Collins used imaginary friends as an opposite fact to the reality of the world. When Collins going forward to the society he has to drop his naïve to accept the reality of the world.
ReplyDeleteColin Deane
ReplyDeleteOn Turning Ten by Billy Collins focuses on stages of life that people go through and the difference between them, mainly focusing on the younger years in life and how your thoughts on the world progress through the years. He starts off his poem at the age of one where everything is just complete simplicity, and how every year it feels like things just keep getting more complex and reality keeps coming closer, that at one point it hits you and you realize that you have grown up and it’s time to taste the first few bits of reality. If you focus on the last stanza of the poem you see this point that he is trying to make. That when you are young you believe completely different then you do as if you are older and it just takes that one “fall upon the sidewalks of life” to realize that this world is just bigger than you are and it’s time to say goodbye to things that you had when you were young.
I like how you said that the world is bigger than you are because it is true and we sometimes forget this very important fact of life.
DeleteThe part of the poem I found to be the most interesting, was the last paragraph. Collins talks about his childhood belief that if he cut his skin, light would shine through. But, on his tenth birthday he realizes that he is in fact human, and will bleed rather than shining. This stuck out to me because I think that we all had a version of that belief as a child; that the world was kind and full of imagination. But, when we grow up we come to learn that it isn’t always that simple. In the poem, Collins is trying to convey the idea that there is a certain mystery when you are a child. He talks about being an Arabian prince and the ability to “make [himself] invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way”. He uses these examples to show us that he could be anything he wanted, at any time, and he believed that it was real. When Collins turns ten, he says that “it is time to say good-bye to [his] imaginary friends”. He comes to realize the harsh reality of “falling upon the sidewalks of life”. He uses these lines to explain the turning point in his life, where he grew up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and how you said that when we are growing up we believe that the world is full of imagination. When we get older we start to see the reality of things.
DeleteI think something significant that Collins is saying in the poem “On Turning Ten” is that there is a sense of reality with coming of age. In the poem he talks about him remembering every age and how he used his imagination and it was more care free. “It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number.” This leads to a realization of reality setting in. He seems to have a negative outlook on growing up he compares it to an illness”a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.” It seems to come with struggles and responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Leanne, in the sense that Collins tells his own story in a very bittersweet way or maybe more sad than sweet because now he will know what real pain will feel like through the struggles he will have to face in life.
DeleteAfter reading "On Turning Ten" I was under the impression that the author, Billy Collins, was trying to say that growing up is like being on a high until you realize one day reality sets in. There are no cares in the world and no places to be except going and indulging deep into your own imagination. This is shown when he writes, "I could make myself invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way." He is expressing the idea that nothing was impossible or frowned upon as a child and everything had a feel of realness to it no matter how imaginary. When you reach a certain age, in this case 10-years-old, that high begins to leave you. You begin to come down slowly and sadly, reminiscing on your wonderful past years where there were no cares in the world. "This is the beginning of sadness", he writes, talking about his years to come in the real world. No longer is there imaginary friends or magic tricks, but instead there are accidents and mistakes that are real.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pat on his idea that growing up is like being on a high until you realize what reality is really like. I think that is exactly how Collins was describing his experience as. I agree that turning ten you realize that you're years as child was filled with simplicity and enjoyable.
DeleteI agree with your first sentence Pat. I noticed that Collins was realizing that growing up isn't fun.
DeleteI found the poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins to be very interesting. One of the reasons I found this poem to be so captivating was that I remember specifically turning ten and how big of a deal it was to me. How Billy Collins describes turning ten is that it will be a monumental unwelcomed change. Collins writes, “The whole idea of it makes me feel like I’m coming down with something…” I believe that this sentence alone sums up the whole idea of a sudden change. As children we become so accustomed to the idea of being an adult means that you no longer get to play and no longer get to have an imagination. In the poem Collins looks back and describes all of the things he was before turning ten, at one point he was a wizard, and now that he is going to be ten he is, “mostly at the window watching the late afternoon light.” The idea of change is so confusing that the character is assuming the worse, which is how I think most people at any age deal with a big change in their lives. Rather than looking at change and growth as a good thing, Collins points out the fear of the worst case scenario, “This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself.” I thought it was very interesting to read about the perspective of a person who is about to go through change and is anticipating it, rather than someone who has already experienced the change itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Audrey because I remembering tunring "double digits" and how excited I was. I mentioned how he was sad and confused because of the sudden change and the realization that he isnt a little kid anymore. I like your last line about how you like how the perspective is from someone who is anticipating it. It is interesting because it's different to see how someone's mindset is and their how anxious they are to turn an age.
DeleteI also remember turning double digit's. When you're nine turning ten it feels like a huge deal. Audrey I agree with your last sentence; The perspective is interesting and I like this perspective better. I feel like I understand the narrators feelings because at the moment he is going through it. it isn't the idea " we don't notice what we have until it's gone." The narrator knows whats going to happen he's expecting it.
DeleteIn the poem On Turning Ten by Billy Collins, I feel like he is trying to say that one must never forget the past. No one can ever really forget the past, where you came from. As he is turning the age of ten he is coming of age and becoming a more mature human being. I also notice the idea of reluctance. He knows that his imaginary friends aren’t real, he was never actually a wizard, prince or soldier. He sees that coming of age means to grow up and leave that beautiful simplicity behind and it’s extremely saddening to him. The realization that he isn’t invincible and life isn't as perfect and wonderful as it seemed when he was young. Now when he falls he skinned his knees and bleeds because reality has hit him and now he sees the world for what it truly is. He has come of age.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting perspective to look at what Collins sending as a message through his poem. I agree with Kyle, you must never forget the past even when maturity overcomes childhood.
DeleteI find this poem very interesting due to the fact the Collins is talking about growing up. He presents the idea that growing up can be painful. In line thirty Collins writes “ If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.” Collin is basically saying that at a young age when you fall you get right back up and keep playing, but when you grow up you notice the pain and you notice the blood. I like how Collins Jumps right into the poem without giving us an idea about what the poem is about. He leaves us to wonder what the poem is about. His style of writing is interesting and different which leads the audience to keep reading.
ReplyDeleteThaissa
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, Collins is saying that when you are young and you turn a certain age, you see the world in a different perspective. When he wrote, "If you cut me i could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed." To me, that's saying that he's noticing his life changing and that all you need is one big event to happen in your life to change your whole perspective.
I felt the same way about the comment regarding his skinned knees bleeding. However, it makes me wonder whether that event always has to be negative. The way Collins speaks about falling on the sidewalk of life, leads me to believe that his turning point may have been negative. But, is it possible to have that major "coming of age" turning point be a positive event? Would it have the same impact on forcing you to grow up? Maybe we will see a story where the author had a positive event change their childhood into adulthood.
DeleteIn the poem, On Turning Ten, the last stanza was the part of the poem that stood out to me. I think that it is significant because of how he shows us when the child realizes that he is coming of age. The poem starts of how the child is fearing turning ten because it has always been classified “as a huge milestone in your childhood” when in fact you are no longer a little kid anymore and you're entering your pre-teen years. Collins then goes on to showing what it’s like to be a child and have a crazy imagination. This is significant because it shows how that imagination fizzles out as you reach the age of ten. In the third stanza Collins writes, “my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it”. This line shows how his childhood has had a good run, but now it’s time to move on. The second line in the last stanza says, “there was nothing under my skin but light” which exemplifies how he thought that he was unstoppable. Then the last two lines of the stanza explains how “now when i fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.” This line is the most important because it shows how he comes to the realization that he is going to get hurt by people and challenges will come his way. It’s the part in the poem where he notices that he is coming of age.
ReplyDeleteI really like when you wrote "Collins writes, 'my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it'. This line shows how his childhood has had a good run, but now it’s time to move on." I never would have thought of this idea that your childhood had a good run like the bike. This was a great idea!
DeleteIn the poem On Turning Ten by Billy Collins, I found it very interesting the way he described his coming of age experience. I liked how he started off by comparing it to a sickness and relating it to other sickness’ he has felt in the past. I think that it’s important to realize that his experience of growing up wasn’t a good feeling for him. When he says “You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one” I think he means that when you are a child you don’t realize what the real world is actually like and when you’re one your imagination is your only way of seeing the world. Later on in the poem he says “this is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself” and “it is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends” he realizes that he is growing up and coming of age. He continues to express that he does not enjoy this time in his life. I think Collins is saying that coming of age and maturing can either be a joyful or sad experience. In his poem he is describing how he felt through when he came to the realization that he was growing up.
ReplyDelete“On Turning Ten” was a really interesting poem and especially with what I am going through now. I was able to specifically relate to “On Turning Ten” because I feel like that is where I am with my life now, just a different age. It is significant to me when the author writes, “This is the beginning of sadness.” This is significant because I feel similar to this about graduating high school and moving on to college. However, with college I am more excited than sad but a part of me still feels sad to be leaving high school and all my friends that I have known my whole life. The author, Billy Collins, wrote this poem to say growing up is a part of life. To him, at this certain age of ten, he began growing up and had the realization that growing up is opening a whole new world. He said, “But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.” Growing up means that we are no longer “invincible” in the big world and the reality is that along with turning the, exciting, double digits you are now open to reality and the reality is sometimes you will get hurt.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you said you can relate to this poem I agree that we are in a time of our life where there is a big change and our age is significant to this.
DeleteIn the poem Turning 10 the author tells a story through the eyes of someone who is about to turn the age of ten years old. In many ways, I can relate to the way he describes growing up. I think he is trying to say that at the age of ten, his eyes were open to the new chapter in his novel. He’s now at the point where the children’s play ends. The moment in life where you no longer have the privilege to be a kid. Your turn to rise up and realize that life is reality, not fantasy and the things you do in life have consequences. I think it’s a sad point in life, and I hear him having the same tone of depression in his voice. Not to say that growing up is all bad, with the losses there are also gains, but I haven’t gone outside and adventured with my sword in over eight years. I don’t wake up on Saturdays to watch WB anymore. When I cut my flesh, light is not shining out. The dark red reality of blood is. And that is what I think he is saying. Reality comes with age.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said "you no longer have the privilege to be a kid". At the age of ten, I think it starts to become tough because you reach the awkward time in your life where you are too old to be a kid, but too young to be an adult. That is what this poem reminded me of.
DeleteIn the poem “On Turning Ten,” I noticed that Billy Collins associates the idea of coming of age with learning to trust yourself. The poem seems to be about him conquering his fears of growing up and learning to let go of some of his childhood. For example, in lines 13-16 he describes how big his imagination was when he was four years old. However, in lines 26-27 he says “It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number.” This shows us that he is learning to let go of his childhood, and even though he is scared, he is willing to trust himself and his instincts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of the author is learning to trust yourself. But I don't think the author is scared. I think he just sad, he needs to grow up.
DeleteI think according to On Turning Ten by Billy Collins, the especially interesting part is the author is really honest about his feelings of growing up. Author feel sad when he turn to ten, “ you tell me it is too early to be looking back, but the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.” This sentence shows author thought turn to ten is the time to be complexity. Also, the author point out “ this is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself… it is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends…” Author is sad to grow up because he needs to learn to be independent, also he thought it is time to say goodbye to the imaginary friends. And it is time to recognize the real world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying that the author is showing his honesty when it comes to growing up and getting use to reality. That reaching this peak of life is the start of the struggles in reality and not so much his imagination.
DeleteThe interesting thing I notice in the poem is describing the difference between imagination and reality. When Collins describe imagination, he is saying that as we are young, we imagine being these certain roles like when he says “at four I was an Arabian wizard". He’s saying that we think that our imaginations will be part of reality but it won’t be as we grow up. When he describes reality as “it is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number” or “but now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees”, he's describing us as starting to get through the struggles of growing up and accepting reality.
ReplyDelete