Sonnet Analysis: Messge in a Bottle

Message in a bottle, drifts in the sea

Been stuck on this island for far to long

Hoping someone wants to come and find me

Waiting in this place where I don't belong


Never ending, hot sunshine all day

I don't want to be here any longer

Hopefully I will not be here to stay

Desire to leave is growing stronger



But then on one especially cold night
What are all those loud noises that I hear?
Many bright lights come into sight

Also, people's voices are coming near


I was correct, finally I am found
No longer to this island, I am bound.

I wrote my sonnet about someone feeling lost, as if they were stranded on an island, or somewhere where they felt that they didn’t belong. I feel that this sonnet tells a lot about a situation that I was in with friends when I first transferred to Punahou, when I was in 7th grade.
In the first stanza of my sonnet, the “narrator” of the sonnet is talking about how they have been stuck on a deserted island, and they feel as they don’t belong on the island, and just want to get back to what they know, and their comfort zone. This can be a metaphor for someone who has started to do something new, out of their own comfort zone, and they don’t feel comfortable in the situation that they are in. This for me was like when I first came to Punahou. I was new, and hardly knew anyone. Coming from a smaller school with only 25 people in my grade, changing to a school with more than 200 people in your grade was a huge change.
In my second stanza, the narrator is talking about how they want to go home, and their wanting to leave is growing stronger with every minute spent on the island. This was like my first day at school, because there was so many people and I was so confused, trying to find my classes and dodging people in the halls. Everything was so much different than my other school, and I felt as if I couldn’t handle such a big change. After all, at my old school we didn’t have any sports teams let alone a full sized basketball court or swimming pool. Next thing I know, I am at Punahou, looking at the Olympic sized swimming pool.
In my third and fourth stanza, my sonnet tells how the person is found, and they are very happy about it. They are also happy, because they realize that people do really care for them, and they do mean something in someone else’s life. In my situation, this happened when I finally ran into some people I knew that were not new students at Punahou. They were able to show me around, and tell me a little more information about where all my classes were. I was also able to eat lunch with them. After this confusing day, I became even better friends with them, and I was able to be friends with them through the rest of 7th and 8th grade, and even through freshman year. If it wasn’t for them, I know my first day of school would have been a lot harder.
My example of my first day of school was only one small example of the many times I have unfortunately felt left out of place, or been somewhere where I felt that I didn’t belong. However, I never have been in that situation for long, because I have had my friends and my family to help me feel welcome wherever I was.
Although I am always grateful for friends and family for always being there for me, I know that others are not always as fortunate as me, so I always try to include people that are new at school or in other places. I don’t want them feeling alone, or out of place, because that has to be one of the worst things to feel. There are some people however, that never have anyone looking out for them, and are “alone” for a lot of their lives These people are the ones that sometimes end up having problems with drugs, alcohol or even self-mutilation or suicide. This shows me that the more people I (and others) reach out to and help, the more people will benefit from kindness, and not turn to other options.

The Great Houdini Trick

“Kiley! Stop fighting with all your brothers!” my mom said. This is something I constantly hear everyday- whether directed to me, or any one of my three brothers. Everyday, the dinner table is like a war zone, everyone arguing over who deserves more money for allowance, or who is the “stupidest.”
Usually to stop us, my parents just yell at us, but if they are in a different kind of mood, the lecture turns into a full autobiography of their childhood. One story in particular that really made me think about how lucky I am that I only have three brothers is a story my mom always used to tell me when I was younger.
My mom grew up in Ireland, and lived on a ranch-type property that was very big. Her father was a horse vet, so they kept lots of horses, and therefore had to have a barn. My mom had four brothers, three older, and one younger. They were always fighting, alike my brothers and I, so my mom can relate to.
My uncles (on my moms side) were always looking for things to do, because they got bored of the same daily routine, with nothing to do. One day, they got a new book, about the famous magician Houdini. They thought he was great, and so they tried to be like him. They saw one page of this book, where Houdini was in a coffin, all tied up, but he was able to get out, with no help from anyone. They thought surely my mom could do this, and so they decided to tie her up in the barn, and see how long it would take her to get out.
“Stop it!”, yelled my mom as she was dragged out to the barn, against her will. However, her brothers just continued to force her out to the barn.
Fighting over the best way to tie her up, so she would not be able to get out, they just wound the rope tighter and tighter around her.
“STOP IT!”, my mom screamed at them, but of course they didn’t stop. After deciding that their “tying up” was successful, they ran back into the house. After awhile, they forgot about my mom and let it slip their minds.
It turns out that my mom was left there for quite awhile, and wasn’t discovered by her mom until hours later when she went out to the barn to get something. My uncles got in trouble of course, and I don’t think that they attempted to do another Houdini trick again.
Stories I am told like this from my mom and dad, make me laugh and appreciate my brothers a little bit more. Although sometimes I really wish they were not alive, other times I know that they really are the people that entertain me in our house, and make me laugh. Hopefully when I am older, I can look back on the good times we have had, and remember them, to share the stories with my children.