Project Description
This project started when we were assigned different time periods in increments of ten years. We then looked at those times and picked an important event in american history that happened during those years. Then we were to write a poem about that event, and then an essay explaining your poem. This all went into a book that as a class we published.
For this project I was an online promoter, which meant that I would promote our book and book launch party, on places like facebook, twitter, as well as just plain emailing people trying to interest them. One major thing that I did, that I am proud of is I made the poster for our online promoting.
For this project I was an online promoter, which meant that I would promote our book and book launch party, on places like facebook, twitter, as well as just plain emailing people trying to interest them. One major thing that I did, that I am proud of is I made the poster for our online promoting.
Disneyland
By: Kevin Belew
Step on through the oval doorway
a black cup of Joe no sugar in my hand,
Wave Hi to Steve, visiting from Norway,
Better bring the coffee ‘fore my butt gets canned
My boss, at times can be quite temperamental,
He is the famous cartoonist Walt Disney,
Be sure not to spill his coffee, I must be gentle
Glance over at a cartoon mouse named Mickey.
Finally reach his big glass office,
He is drawing a little white duck
When he’s in his mode I must be cautious
Getting yelled at would be just my luck.
Lightly knock on his large wooden door,
He glances up and waves me in
He takes his coffee chugs it and asks for more
I nod turn and start my journey over again
When I get the coffee, and come back
He takes it, grabs a chair and puts another one near it
And tells me “Come please, take a seat Jack
I have an idea and I want you to hear it.
While watching my daughter play on a carousel
And all of the joy that she had shown
It was a lot of fun, I could tell,
I thought why not just create my own?
Later that day I thought a whole lot about it,
Why not make something that causes more glee?
Like a whole park full of fun things for kids to commit
Scratch that one for the whole family.
By: Kevin Belew
Step on through the oval doorway
a black cup of Joe no sugar in my hand,
Wave Hi to Steve, visiting from Norway,
Better bring the coffee ‘fore my butt gets canned
My boss, at times can be quite temperamental,
He is the famous cartoonist Walt Disney,
Be sure not to spill his coffee, I must be gentle
Glance over at a cartoon mouse named Mickey.
Finally reach his big glass office,
He is drawing a little white duck
When he’s in his mode I must be cautious
Getting yelled at would be just my luck.
Lightly knock on his large wooden door,
He glances up and waves me in
He takes his coffee chugs it and asks for more
I nod turn and start my journey over again
When I get the coffee, and come back
He takes it, grabs a chair and puts another one near it
And tells me “Come please, take a seat Jack
I have an idea and I want you to hear it.
While watching my daughter play on a carousel
And all of the joy that she had shown
It was a lot of fun, I could tell,
I thought why not just create my own?
Later that day I thought a whole lot about it,
Why not make something that causes more glee?
Like a whole park full of fun things for kids to commit
Scratch that one for the whole family.
Disneyland
Explanatory Essay
I chose to write about the opening of Disneyland because I felt that this event would be an event I am most connected to and can talk most about. Also this is the one I would have the most passion towards. According to Historian Eileen O’Shea, “Back in the early 1950s, Anaheim was a sleepy little town, and the area around it was nothing more than acres and acres of orange groves. Enter Walt Disney, the original Imagineer. Disney's initial idea was to build a park near his Burbank studio for his employees and their families, but those plans changed over time and his dream grew. “ She also commented, “He bought over 160 acres of those sleepy orange groves around Anaheim and set about, in 1954, building his "Magic Kingdom."
“Original plans called for a 9 million dollar 45-acre park, but by opening day the park covered 160 acres and had cost 17 million.” Eileen O’Shea also talked about the important people that attended, “Opening day was a gala affair: The ceremonies were broadcast live on ABC with Art Linkletter and Robert (Bob) Cummings as hosts, with celebrities like Ronald Reagan, and VIPs like the Governor of California also in attendance. “ The opening day was a disaster. Only some of the rides were actually open, not to mention there was a long heat wave going through bringing the heat to well above 100. Also their was a plumber strike so a lot of the water fountains were not functional. The asphalt was put the day before so women’s shoes were going through it.
According to DisneyHistory.com, “The park offered 5 themed lands with a total of 18 attractions. Disneyland opened as invitation only on this day, given to studio workers, construction workers, the press and officials of company sponsors. (The park opened to the general public the following day - July 18.) Because tickets to the grand opening were counterfeited, a surprising 28,000-plus attended. The day was marked by numerous disasters, including a traffic jam, a shortage of food, and a gas leak in Fantasyland. Even a chunk of window from the Mark Twain Steamboat crashed on the head of an invited state senator!
A little talk about specifics of the opening by DisneyHistory.com, “Disneyland encouraged visitors to arrive before 4:15PM, as during the live ABC telecast the park's gates were closed from 4:20PM to 5:30PM. According to JustDisney.com, “What was true when Walt Disney stated it during the opening ceremonies in 1955 still stands true today: "To all who come to this happy place - welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. Thank you."” Disneyland since 1955 has been an American Icon, known as the happiest place on earth people have always gone there to have fun with their families. I chose the narrator to be someone working under Walt Disney at his Burbank Cartoon Studio.
Explanatory Essay
I chose to write about the opening of Disneyland because I felt that this event would be an event I am most connected to and can talk most about. Also this is the one I would have the most passion towards. According to Historian Eileen O’Shea, “Back in the early 1950s, Anaheim was a sleepy little town, and the area around it was nothing more than acres and acres of orange groves. Enter Walt Disney, the original Imagineer. Disney's initial idea was to build a park near his Burbank studio for his employees and their families, but those plans changed over time and his dream grew. “ She also commented, “He bought over 160 acres of those sleepy orange groves around Anaheim and set about, in 1954, building his "Magic Kingdom."
“Original plans called for a 9 million dollar 45-acre park, but by opening day the park covered 160 acres and had cost 17 million.” Eileen O’Shea also talked about the important people that attended, “Opening day was a gala affair: The ceremonies were broadcast live on ABC with Art Linkletter and Robert (Bob) Cummings as hosts, with celebrities like Ronald Reagan, and VIPs like the Governor of California also in attendance. “ The opening day was a disaster. Only some of the rides were actually open, not to mention there was a long heat wave going through bringing the heat to well above 100. Also their was a plumber strike so a lot of the water fountains were not functional. The asphalt was put the day before so women’s shoes were going through it.
According to DisneyHistory.com, “The park offered 5 themed lands with a total of 18 attractions. Disneyland opened as invitation only on this day, given to studio workers, construction workers, the press and officials of company sponsors. (The park opened to the general public the following day - July 18.) Because tickets to the grand opening were counterfeited, a surprising 28,000-plus attended. The day was marked by numerous disasters, including a traffic jam, a shortage of food, and a gas leak in Fantasyland. Even a chunk of window from the Mark Twain Steamboat crashed on the head of an invited state senator!
A little talk about specifics of the opening by DisneyHistory.com, “Disneyland encouraged visitors to arrive before 4:15PM, as during the live ABC telecast the park's gates were closed from 4:20PM to 5:30PM. According to JustDisney.com, “What was true when Walt Disney stated it during the opening ceremonies in 1955 still stands true today: "To all who come to this happy place - welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. Thank you."” Disneyland since 1955 has been an American Icon, known as the happiest place on earth people have always gone there to have fun with their families. I chose the narrator to be someone working under Walt Disney at his Burbank Cartoon Studio.
Disneyland Presentation
Reflection
The Poet Laureate Project, gave me many opportunities to create "beautiful" work. First we made a poem, my poem was about how Walt Disney came up with Disneyland. This was a free form poem with an every other line ryhme scheme. I am proud about the powem that I created, and was happy to show it to people at the book launch party. Then we created an essay which was basically to show what we truly knew about the event in history and also to inform other people. The history of how our country came to be what it is today is extremely important, and people should really know it, even the smaller stuff. Also there were some mistakes made in our history, and the better people know of them the better people can learn from those mistakes, so that bad history does't repeat itself. After we had the book launch party which basically showed our books that we made from everyone's poem and essay. After, we created powerpoints, about our events to show our class mates about how the event happened and why it happened as well as more background information about it. Something that happened that I will not forget, is when I read my poem out loud to my teachers, colleagues, and even people I did not know. This moment gave me a rush of adreniline and it was incredibly relieving when at the end people began to applaud. I think my poetry skills that I gained from this project will stick with me for the rest of my lifetime, and if I ever get assigned to write a poem, whether it be later this year or in college, I will know that I am completely capabe to make a peace of art, that not only other people enjoy, but I do as well.