I Am by: Jamie Jefferson

I am Jamie.
It means strong, sensible, and trustworthy.
It is the number 12.
It is like water on fallen leaves.
It is swinging from the grapevines on my Grandmother’s farm.
It is a song for Andy,
Who taught me patience and compassion
When he looked to me the first day of class for help, but could not ask for it.
My name is Jamie.
It means helping those who need it and showing kindness to others.

Proceed to Reflection

Table of Contents

Voice: The voice of the poem is from a little boy who made friends with a child that has Autism.

Audience: This is the first poem that I have read that I get a real feeling about the audience. I think that the author of the poem is reading this poem for his class.

Say Back: I think that the author is reading the poem for his peers to persuade them not to make differences in people. I think that he wants to persuade his class to help people who seem different-instead of critizing(sp?) them.

Bless: I think the best thing about your poem is the idea behind it. I think it is a really original idea. It is one that I didn't even consider, but works really well.

Address: The only thing that I can thing of that might improve your poem is to include more information about the author. (Not in the poem, but around it somewhere.) I think your poem is really good, Mary.

Voice: This poem is written by a student who is a friend of an autistic child.

Audience: The poem is appropriate for all audiences. However, I think it is great for children to read.

Say Back: I think that author is saying that his friend is very special to him, and he enjoys helping him.

Bless: I like the first part of the poem because it creates vivid images in my mind. I also like the second part because it's like taking a tour through the heart of this young boy.

Address: Honestly, I think your poem is great! I have been thinking about it, and I can't really think of anything to address. I think it accomplishes what you intended it to.

Peer Review of the Poem


Voice: The voice represented is Jamie’s, a peer of a child with autism.

Audience: I think this piece is intended for younger people that are interested in this disorder.

Say Back: Jamie is describing himself and talking about some things that has had influence on him.

Bless: I like the line … Who taught me patience and compassion. These are two traits that we all need; if someone is involved with autistic people I am sure that no matter what age you are you must possess them.

Address: Mary I really don’t see any problems with this piece, it is hard to critique a poem. Maybe you could use someone else’s voice for the poem piece (I am sayng this just to give you some type of feedback or another idea, but this is certainly not need).


LOL,

Lekei

Wow! I am SOOOO glad that I required poetry in this project. The poems I have read have been the most vivid and powerful pieces of writing that somehow make it easy to experience some emotions of these very clinical types of questions.

Your poem made me feel pride...I think the pride that Jamie feels in recognizing a job well done in befriending someone with autism. In the first few lines, we see that this friendship has taught Jamie a little bit about who he(she?) is. I can really see Jamie standing in front of a class reading this poem, not really concerned about what others might think because he/she realizes that in this relationship he has done the right thing and what others think doesn't really matter.

The only thing that caused me to wonder was the line "It is in memory of Andy." Often, "in memory of" makes me think that someone has died. I doubt that is what you meant, and suspect that you were trying to convey the idea that Jamie feels a sense of owing (he wants to honor his friend....I know I'm not expressing this well) to the friend with autism...perhaps instead of "in memory of" something else would accomplish the same thing:

It is to honor Andy
It is in honor of Andy
It is in tribute to Andy

Just some ideas...great work!