Proofreading is very important when it comes to English class and if you miss this essential step of the writing process it can make your assignment, or poem, or story seem rough and lazy. Taylor Mali addresses this issue superbly in his poem The the Impotence of Proofreading. He gives the poem a funny twist in every line, poking fun at spell checker because it “can1t can1t catch catch” every word and it “might replace a word with one you had absolutely no detention of using.” He mocks people’s reliance on auto correct when it “only does what you tell it to douche. You1re the one with your hand on the mouth going clit, clit, clit.” Taylor makes a great point because you are in control of your writing and if you don’t put the time and effort into polishing and proofreading it will never be special. Never think you can get around it because “there is no prostitute for careful editing.”
“A Rubik’s cube has 43 quintillion, 252 quadrillion, 3 trillion, 274 billion, 489 million, 856 thousand possibilities.” How many possibilities does a life have? The way Benjamin Barker compares his grandpa to a Rubik’s cube is very interesting and eye opening. Rubik’s Cube becomes very intense at the end making it a very memorable poem that gets its message out. Benjamin “never found out the algorithm to solve [his grandfather” and that shows how complicated life can be. “Alzheimer’s made his mind into a Rubik’s cube” skewing his thoughts and rearranging his whole life. Benjamin had to try to solve his grandfather’s new Rubik’s cube but never had the time; because “time is a complicated algorithm.” Everyone has their own puzzle that can be solved and a different algorithm to be discovered.
“A man should never hit a woman” is what Jesse Parent has been teaching his daughter all her life and her future boyfriends now have knowledge of what is expected after hearing “To the Boy Who One Day May Date My Daughter.” Jesse contrasts humour with a serious tone during the poem hushing the crowd to tense them and then releasing by saying that “her mother [says]... you shouldn’t ever hit anybody,” before tensing up again. This dynamic expression adds to the poem and helps bring out what he’s trying to say. The poem is presented very well and gets it’s point across that if you treat a girl right there will not be issues. All that is needed is to “love her, befriend her, protect her, be there when [her dad] can’t,” and those little things will prevent any “daddy issues.”
