IT AIN'T OVER TILL the Math Lady Sings - Softcover

Goosby, Michelle Whitehurst

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490744274 ISBN 13: 9781490744278

Publisher: Trafford, 2014

Synopsis

Math Poetry, an extraordinary venture to say the least, is my way of taking mathematics to the next level as I see it. My collection includes math applications in verse, mathematical enigmas and teasers, expository math poetry, and a rhythmic math rap. This is an old story that has sparked my interest since childhood. I grew up showered with nursery rhymes and songs. My mother sung numerous nursery rhymes and songs to me and my brothers and sisters as we were growing up back in the early 60's. I absolutely loved it. Since both math and writing are two of my favorite pastimes, a merger between the two was inevitable. As I was enthralled in my writing, I threw in some fascination, imagination, and exhilaration in an effort to capture the interest of the reader

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It Ain't Over till the Math Lady Sings

By Michelle Whitehurst Goosby

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Michelle Whitehurst Goosby
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4427-8

Contents

Introduction, ix, 
Biography, xi, 
MATH APPLICATIONS IN VERSE, 1, 
1. To Kaleb A Profit Speaks, 3, 
2. Five Divas Dressed To The Nines, 4, 
3. Five Naturals Consecutively Odd, 5, 
4. Rosemary Michelle's Not So Simple Interest, 6, 
5. Aiden Isaiah's For Every Mile, How Many Cents?, 7, 
6. My Latest Fascination, 8, 
7. Alias LCM, 9, 
8. My Fabulous Home Pathetically Sits On, 10, 
MATHEMATICAL ENIGMAS, 11, 
1. Me In A Nutshell, 13, 
2. Two Sisters Running Neck And Neck, 14, 
3. An Optimist And A Pessimist, 15, 
4. Not On Your Table Today Is Laid, 16, 
5. Oh, How You Depend On Me Part I, 17, 
6. Oh, How You Depend On Me Part II, 18, 
EXPOSITORY MATH PROSE, 19, 
1. The Emancipation Application, 21, 
2. Math Phobia, 22, 
3. Poetical Eradication, 23, 
4. Magically So, 24, 
5. TURNING THE WORM, 26, 
I LEAVE YOU WITH THESE THOUGHTS, 29, 
Beauty Is Me!!!, 31, 

CHAPTER 1

MATH APPLICATIONS IN VERSE

TO KALEB A PROFIT SPEAKS

A PROFIT speaks to Kaleb Who By The Way
Is Enthralled in a shopping spree.
"You will receive a forty percent discount
On ten pairs of designer jeans."
"You'll add to your cart a 60 inch HDTV
With a built-in player DVD
Priced for $1000 more than, I decree,
The price before discount on ten pairs of jeans."
But the price after the discount is received
On the ten pairs of these designer jeans."
Plus the whopping price of the HDTV
With the built-in player DVD
The total amount for these items far thus
Save calculations of local taxes and such,
Is a whopping forty Benjamins plus
twenty Ten Dollar Bills, it appears as much.
The PROFIT declares as Kaleb attempts to pay,
"Your wallet is destined to shriek whoa!"
"You will not buy these items today."
"This transaction you `re destined to forego."
Kaleb's shopping spree is but a mere dream it seems.
So embarrassed indeed, he wants to flee the scene.
Designer jeans, ten pairs, But he has just enough
To cover the sale price, which amounts to what?


FIVE DIVAS
DRESSED TO THE NINES

Five divas waltzed into our church one Sunday,
Each one of them dressed to the nines.
Niecy, Muriel, Monica,
Jacqueline, and Caroline.
Niecy beats Muriel's age twice,
so it undeniably appears.
Caroline and Jacqueline lag behind
Niecy by seven years.
Muriel is exactly two years more
than Monica's age thrice.
Tell me how old is each diva,
if twenty-two years lie between the five?


FIVE NATURALS
CONSECUTIVELY ODD

Five naturals, consecutively odd
Whose sum is the product of two primes
The total is also coincidentally construed
As half the amount of thirteen ten times.
There is one series of naturals
That have this claim to fame.
A composite and prime combo,
This natural series, can you name?
And my friend if you would be so kind
That is, if you would not mind,
Would you devote some precious time
To tell me the sum's two factors prime?


ROSEMARY MICHELLE'S
NOT SO SIMPLE INTEREST

As Rosemary Michelle tickles the ivories,
She deeply thinks to herself.
What a blessing it is to have such a gift.
What a blessing to have such wealth.
Her recent concert earned her 200 Grand
Part of which for four years she invests
At 3 percent annual simple interest rate
So what did she do with the rest?
At 2 percent annual simple interest rate
She invests the rest for four years in a CD
But what did she invest at each interest rate
If in interest 22 grand is received?


AIDEN ISAIAH'S
FOR EVERY MILE,
HOW MANY CENTS?

As Aiden Isaiah was traveling
on the interstate he thought
What is it costing me per mile
To drive this car I just bought?
With the high price of gasoline
The tune of three eighty-five
Per gallon I'm forced to pay
That is, if I want to drive
The digital reading on my vehicle's panel
Displays twenty-four and six-tenths
Miles per gallon, so it's costing me
For every mile how many cents?


MY LATEST FASCINATION

My latest fascination, an alluring line of sight
Infinitely rising as it moves from left to right
Characterized by an elevation and then an intriguing shift
Respectively a northern third and a simple eastward fifth
Upon it there distinctly lies uncountable structured mates
One of which is a westward seven and a southern eight.
Tell me the precise locality of my latest fascination.
An alluring line of sight with no apparent destination


ALIAS LCM

The least common multiple of a series such as this?
Eight, thirty-nine, twenty-seven, and fifty-six.
Since guessing can be a long futile task,
"Where on earth do I start?" I desperately ask.
Discovering the answer certainly can't be done on a whim.
When finding the least common multiple, alias LCM.
As I list multiples while on such a laborious adventure.
I am suddenly reminded, "Prime factorization is the clincher."
Finding the answer using this foolproof process is the key.
Once I am done with prime factorization, I am home free.
Always go for the most when looking for the least
The greatest number of occurrences of the factors each
In any one factorization dictates the number of times
The factor will occur in the LCM I aim to find
The product of these factors; the bull's eye I've hit
The least common multiple of a series such as this


MY FABULOUS HOME
PATHETICALLY SITS ON

Rectangular in shape, my fabulous home pathetically sits on
A lot where choking weeds, wild grass exponentially have grown
Forty inches high on both sides, including both the front and back
Until my rectangular lot is mowed, my bags I humbly pack.
My fabulous home, 90 by 50 feet, for everyone to see sits pathetically
On my enormous lot, 200 by 90 feet, scorned by those close in proximity
Tell me the area where exponentially, choking
weeds and wild grass have grown
Surrounding, rectangular in shape, what I still call my fabulous home?

CHAPTER 2

MATHEMATICAL ENIGMAS

ME IN A NUTSHELL

I am proud as a peacock, yet meek as a lamb.
You cannot imagine just who I am.
My authenticity, it captures me well.
I categorically say this is Me in a Nutshell.
My affiliates end up at places one or more.
Many go on to places unexplored.
Some are constrained by a head and a foot.
Some actually move on while staying put.
My affiliates can be natural, whole, or prime.
Many are infinite and well defined.
Some are ice cold and piping hot.
Some make sense and some do not.
One of my affiliates is nothing to me.
Yet with her the rest of us maintain our identity.
Exponentially she brings the rest of us down to one.
With her as a multiplier our work is done.
Making my path through thorns in my trail,
Not deterred or interrupted, I always prevail.
I can break down dimes, nickels and pennies.
I am many as one and one as many.
Money in the bank at some point terminates.
Peace of mind may come but a day.
Hairs on your head and the fish of the sea
are all numbered but Oh, not me.


TWO SISTERS RUNNING
NECK AND NECK

Two sisters unacquainted
Down the road run neck and neck
All too familiar with one another
Down the street, they swiftly tread
They dare not stop to touch base
Though kindred spirits they are
They will never cross each other's paths
As the two of them travel afar
Destination for the sisters
A nonexistent finality
Together running, together rising
A thread of commonality
Members of a vast lineage
Every one of them straight
Never resting, Eternally running
Can you classify these soulmates?


AN OPTIMIST
AND
A PESSIMIST

A related twosome moved to town yesterday,
A pessimist and an optimist, what a perfect match.
To no one's surprise and certainly to no one's dismay
You see, everybody in town knows opposites attract.
Two hundred miles west, four hundred miles north
Came they out of nowhere to settle down.
Strangers to nobody, they make themselves at home.
So who is this twosome? Can you name the town?


NOT ON YOUR TABLE
TODAY IS LAID

Twenty dollars split forty ways
Eleven out of forty today I PAID.
Sixty dollars split fifteen ways
Thirteen out of fifteen today I GAVE
Ninety dollars split twelve ways
Four out of twelve today I SAVED
If every fraction of twenty that not I PAID,
every fraction of sixty that not I GAVE,
and every fraction of ninety that not I SAVED
all on your table today is laid,
Tell me as you gaze at such an array
The total rate of What I PAID,
What I GAVE, and What I SAVED
Not on your table today is laid?


OH, HOW YOU DEPEND ON ME
PART I

Oh, how you depend on me, though touchable I am not.
I'm more a concept of the mind.
Sometimes, sadly, I'm all that you've got.
You didn't create me; you discovered me and gave me my name.
Not in a million years will you ever forget the need from whence I came.
Without my existence, the world would go crazy and awry.
I keep everything in order. With me near, the limit is the sky.
There are many times when much more of me tends to manifest.
There are other times when much less of me is desired by the nest.
I'm admired by the pretty, the ugly, the good, the bad, and the rest.
Everyone wants a piece of me. To this I can attest.
I've been distorted and disfigured, abused and misused.
I leave many in despair, disillusioned and confused.


OH, HOW YOU DEPEND ON ME
PART II

I'm a universal language all walks of life speak fluently.
I'm a solo to the broken-hearted, a duet use to be.
I can make your life complicated and yet your plight I can simplify
I represent who's first and last, and who you are I can identify
You seek me out when you need many, a few or not much at all
When you fall short or have much to spare, I am the one who you call
Now get your thoughts together if you haven't figured me out yet.
Not a single day goes by without my indelible effect.
Time speaks well of me and so does your paycheck.
Just think of age, the lottery, the temperature, and debt.
I can make you cry a stormy ocean; I can make you laugh a raging sea.
I keep you straight and organized.
Oh, How You Depend On Me

CHAPTER 3

EXPOSITORY MATH PROSE

THE EMANCIPATION APPLICATION

of Lady Parabola

A strategic maneuver planned to emancipate
Lady Parabola bound to meet her fate.
At the bottom of the pit her minima debuts.
If you know her vertex, this is not news to you.
The turning point is where she swiftly flips the script.
This illustrious Lady makes an immediate dip.
Vertex from nowhere to her at times gets old.
So she decides to move on to spaces untold.
She's known by her range, domain and her curves.
From quadrant to quadrant she is free as a bird.
A horizontal shift right and a vertical drop
This time in quadrant IV is where her vertex stops.
A horizontal shift left and a vertical lift
Some place in quadrant II is where her vertex sits.
She's stays in shape. She's not bound at the hip.
With a minus in front at whim she turns a flip.
About the x-axis she inclines to reflect.
At the top of the hill her maxima manifests.
At times she'll stretch and at times she'll shrink
At times she'll rise and at times she'll sink
With a shift and a lift she exerts her liberty.
Lady Parabola has Personality.


Math Phobia

Rampantly On The Loose


Like a fraction, we teachers must reduce
Math Phobia rampantly on the loose
When a student decides to call a truce,
Be willing to methodically loosen the noose.
Take time to properly season the goose.
Give problem solving a massive boost.
As you poetically seduce
The pudding where lies the indelible proof.
Ahoy, the daring scholar salutes.
For understanding is now en route
Attitude has finally flown the coop.
Dark clouds, strong winds, and rain to boot.
So as we gently loosen the noose
We think to ourselves as we review
Math phobia is always on the loose,
Hence, we must continue this tedious pursuit.
And as we observe our labor's fruit,
With pride and honor, we humbly conclude
We certainly are destined to be a hoot
When a weary scholar comes home to roost.


Poetical Eradication

Poetical Eradication

LEADS TO HARMONIC COMPUTATION,
BUILDS MELODIC CONCENTRATION,
DISPELS MATHEMATICAL EXASPERATION,

STIMULATES FRACTIONAL CANCELLATIONS,
INVITES ALGEBRAIC MANIPULATION,
RELEASES WORD TO SYMBOL TRANSLATIONS,
INDULGES LINEAR AND QUADRATIC EQUATIONS,

SEGREGATES FUNCTIONS AND RELATIONS,
ILLUMINATES DERIVATIVES AND INTEGRATION,
ELUCIDATES A FUNCTION'S LIMITATION,
GENERATES DIFFERENTIAL FASCINATION,

RESCINDS WORD PROBLEM RAMIFICATIONS,
MANIFESTS MINDBOGGLING INTERPRETATIONS,
CREATES AN ARITHMETICAL SENSATION,
THAT IS MY PERSONAL CALCULATION.


Magically So

At eight a.m. in the morning my teacher presented to me
This hideous trinomial of second degree.

Tell me how do you factor? What method? What trick?
Fifteen "x" squared minus "x" plus six.

Not a trinomial square, nor a polynomial prime
Why do I always seem to get the hard ones every time?

The lead coefficient is not prime nor is it one
I don't like trial and error, so how do I get this task done?

My work is cut out for me. My frustrations galore
Get hold of yourself trinomial. Don't be such a bore.

Too many steps and maneuvers! I don't wish to be involved.
I would rather scrub floors than this problem solve.

I'm at the bottom of the pit. It seems no way out is in sight.
Then a news flash commands me, "Pick up your pencil and write!"

An algorithm befalls me, much to my surprise.
I think my ship's come in right in the nick of time.

Use Magical Factorization. Cut Straight to the chase.
Now that's meeting the enemy face to face.

This battle's not over. I've come too far.
Any fool could see that I'm winning this war.

Take the lead coefficient and the constant term six.
Two factors of their product is the core of this trick.

Not just any two factors in this technique discern.
For their sum is the coefficient of the dormant term.

Write two binomial factors whose first terms are twins.
Follow this rule to the letter; if, this game, you want to win.

The lead coefficient and the variable "x"
Are the factors of these terms. Now here is the rest.

The second terms of the two binomial factors in wait
Are two factors formerly found, but this is not their final fate.

I have just created binomial factors incomplete.
At this point in this journey, this story really gets sweet.

Discard all common factors. Out the window they go.
Your solution is revealed and Magically So.

Finally a method that serves to expedite
This tedious journey that's plagued me with fright.

All that ranting and raving was just my innocent way
Of rekindling the fire of logic and faith

Factoring a trinomial of second degree
With coefficient, not a one, taking the lead.

    TURNING THE WORM
    the math rap

    Solving equations can be a mindboggling task.
    Persistant manipulation from steps, first to the last.
    To master such a feat you've got to order your steps.
    You gotta spend some time. Put in some awesome preps.

    Since everything depends on the equation, what brand,
    How do you solve one that is linear, one variable at hand.
    Take a long good look. Concentrate, then decide.
    Form a unique strategy before you take this ride.

    To solve a linear equation, you've got to isolate
    The infamous variable, Now lets meditate.

    Ride It and Rock It As you deliberate
    Twist It and Turn It As you manipulate

    Pull It and Drag It by Its head or Its tail
    Find the value of this variable and don't you fail.

    When taking part in this feat, you have got to be fair.
    What you give to one side, give to the other I swear.
    What you take from one side, with the other follow suit.
    Follow directions. Don't you venture from this route.

    If coefficients are fractions, no need to scream and shout.
    It's advantageous for you to start clearing the house.
    Just take the LCD and by both sides multiply.
    Then watch what disappears right before your eyes.

    To solve a linear equation, you've got to isolate
    The infamous variable, Now lets meditate.

    Crack it and Smack it As you stimulate
    Shift it and Lift it As you perpetrate

    Shuck it and Pluck it, You Got to Keep It Real.
    Find the value of this variable as you climb this hill.

    Check out the baggage it carries. Parentheses on both sides?
    Use the distributive law and they will take a ride.
    Be sure to check, then collect any existing like terms.
    Now you're starting to see, the turning of the worm.

    Through addition or subtraction, please do this my brother.
    Move variables to one side and all numbers the other.
    Be sure to check, then collect any existing like terms.
    And as the lights come on, continue turning the worm.

    To solve a linear equation, you've got to isolate
    The infamous variable, Now lets meditate.

    Sauté it and Grill it, sometimes it takes a while
    Boil it and Foil it now you're stepping in style

    Deplete it and Weed it, You Got to Go For Broke.
    Find the value of this variable, This ain't no joke.

    To isolate the variable, you finally must divide
    By its coefficient, of the equation, both sides
    Unscathed and in tack, you've made it through this trek.
    Now the solution in hand, take some time to check.

    From the numerous steps, you brazenly did take
    Comes a solution so grand, now eat and have your cake.
    Look from whence you've come and at what you've earned.
    Look how you've tackled this equation, dubbed the Worm.

    To solve a linear equation, you've got to isolate
    The infamous variable, Now lets meditate.

    Depleted and Weeded, See how you kept it real.
    You found the value of this variable at the top of the hill.

    Seasoned with Reason, You have the Gift of Discern.
    Smile and think to yourself, "The Worm Has Turned."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from It Ain't Over till the Math Lady Sings by Michelle Whitehurst Goosby. Copyright © 2014 Michelle Whitehurst Goosby. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490744274
• ISBN 13: 9781490744278
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 50