Leah Noble Assignment 2

Master of the Halls

Take an extensive look at the map.
Surely the most direct route
Will get me there faster.
Right. Orange. Down. Left. Library. Left. Green.
Less time in the hall,
Less discomfort.
I feel very uncomfortable.

Study. Study. Study.
Take the longest route possible.
Yellow. Up. Left. Down. Right. Blue. Right.
More time in the hall
Means more time to remember
All the info I crammed last night
For that test about the history of the world.
Somehow I got here too quickly.

Test after test after test.
I have to get to class early
So I can finish that test quickly and
Start studying for next hour's.
Orange. Scratch that. Better take blue. Less crowded.
Confidence. All I need is confidence that I can ace this test.
76.

Who even cares?
I'll do this later. As in the morning of.
My schedule takes my up, down, across, even out.
But I got this.
Don't go green cafeteria side. Bottleneck. Don't go past the library. Too many people. Cut through the foyer. But not before school. And above all else, don't go upstairs orange. Boxed in by stoppers and standers. No escape.

I am one with the halls.


In my poem, I intended to create a tone that shifts from being apprehensive and worried to being confident and secure. I did this by choosing words such as "discomfort" and "quickly" in the beginning to convey a sense of apprehension and lack of confidence at school, specifically in the halls. At the end, however, I chose words and phrases like "confidence", "ace", and "one with the halls" to create a feeling of security and sureness as I carry myself throughout the school. At the beginning, I use generally shorter, less complex sentences to also convey the idea that the first 2 years of high school were tense and uncomfortable. Towards the end of the poem, I chose to use some longer sentences to demonstrate the change from the start of high school to the end where I am more confident in myself and less worried.