This past week we were assigned to read a packet of creative essays. I seemed to have been drawn to a specific one that related science to poetry. Two very unlike fields were related in a very understandable way. It only made sense once they went so far into detail that both subjects did in fact seem to be related. The comparison was dependent on a high amount of detail.
In the comparison throughout the essay there were many examples used. Particularly stating specific poets and scientists and comparing their ideals. Kepler and Whitman seemed to be the main focus in this essay. I enjoyed how entertaining the story was and how much I learned from this essay that may have been lost in the boredom of a textbook.
In creative essays I find myself learning without even knowing it. A specific example was the essay about hummingbirds. I was bombarded by facts and knowledge, but at the same I was indulging in creative ideas that activated my creative thinking. For example Hummingbirds require food every 15 minutes or they will die due to insufficient energy. But I was also using my creative mind by thinking about a superhero resembling a humming bird.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Maps to Anywhere
In this weeks readings it was very interesting to analyze the small effects small details can have on a whole part of a piece of writing. Even if that detail is something simple like a name. If the name is unusual the character may be unusual and not an everyday person. They may also dislike their identity and just want to be normal. This can drive a characters way of acting and thinking just based off of something so small as a name.
Contrastly a person with the same boring John name can equally be affected by their name. Maybe that character is just a very normal person, like his name. Then again he could also strive to break out of his boring constraints in an attempt to be an individual and not just another John. It could also cause severe jealousy to the people with the abnormal names resembling the one he truly wants. All of these details can be derived from a source as simple as a name.
It is very important for a good reader/ writer to be able to analyze what they are reading on a much deeoer scale. Every story is essentially a bunch of small parts stacked upon eachother to make up the whole. It takes almost an small understanding of psychology to be able to interpret a writers meaning. To be a good reader we must not hesitate to step out of our normal way of thinking and draw as many conclusions as possible from what we have read. Say what you feel even if your assumptions are far from normal it is still good to show that you can use reading as a tool to envoke your logical, or creative, thinking.
Contrastly a person with the same boring John name can equally be affected by their name. Maybe that character is just a very normal person, like his name. Then again he could also strive to break out of his boring constraints in an attempt to be an individual and not just another John. It could also cause severe jealousy to the people with the abnormal names resembling the one he truly wants. All of these details can be derived from a source as simple as a name.
It is very important for a good reader/ writer to be able to analyze what they are reading on a much deeoer scale. Every story is essentially a bunch of small parts stacked upon eachother to make up the whole. It takes almost an small understanding of psychology to be able to interpret a writers meaning. To be a good reader we must not hesitate to step out of our normal way of thinking and draw as many conclusions as possible from what we have read. Say what you feel even if your assumptions are far from normal it is still good to show that you can use reading as a tool to envoke your logical, or creative, thinking.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Car Crashes
The plain of salty, soggy grass is broken by a straight of narrow hardened concrete. Yellow lines draw me away and yellow lines guide me home. Upon the rocky staight lays two broken, damaged metal bodies. Both bodies are host to a pair of deceased remains whos spirits are long gone by now, one a husband and wife, one mother and child. The glass eyes flicker, momentarily illuminating the deep night. For a moment this terrible night of darkness and tragedy becomes visible and safe.
The husband was a nameless man, and shall remain nameless for his actions turn him into a fiend. I feel no sorrow for the man whom is destruction and death upon the undeserving. The half empty bottle that still sits in his saddle, only having its neck cracked by the steering wheel, was the catalyst for what happened here tonight. Their limp cages lay motionless and peaceful. They appear to be safe and sound, and they are for nothing will hurt them anymore. Sirens approach, and soon family's worlds will be deconstucted. A husband will become a widow, forever lost and suffering, left to wander in his past memories of the love of his life and the daughter he created. His suffering will soon drive him to join them and they may begin a happily ever after.
Three children will become orphans, no longer fearing a father who laid hands upon them. No longer resenting a mother who did nothing to stop it. They may go to the same family, or be split up as orphans tend to be. The consequences of that night will forever effect all involved. It all came back to the husband who couldn't let his wife drive after he consumed far too much. The wife who was too afraid to take a stand and leave that horrible man and refuse him the keys. Tragedy will not be cured with blame, it won't be rationalized by hate. It must be suffered through for its entirety, and that may be the most tragic fact of all.
The husband was a nameless man, and shall remain nameless for his actions turn him into a fiend. I feel no sorrow for the man whom is destruction and death upon the undeserving. The half empty bottle that still sits in his saddle, only having its neck cracked by the steering wheel, was the catalyst for what happened here tonight. Their limp cages lay motionless and peaceful. They appear to be safe and sound, and they are for nothing will hurt them anymore. Sirens approach, and soon family's worlds will be deconstucted. A husband will become a widow, forever lost and suffering, left to wander in his past memories of the love of his life and the daughter he created. His suffering will soon drive him to join them and they may begin a happily ever after.
Three children will become orphans, no longer fearing a father who laid hands upon them. No longer resenting a mother who did nothing to stop it. They may go to the same family, or be split up as orphans tend to be. The consequences of that night will forever effect all involved. It all came back to the husband who couldn't let his wife drive after he consumed far too much. The wife who was too afraid to take a stand and leave that horrible man and refuse him the keys. Tragedy will not be cured with blame, it won't be rationalized by hate. It must be suffered through for its entirety, and that may be the most tragic fact of all.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Blog Post 3/6
Upon reading the Oates story found in our fiction PDF I realized just how complex writing fiction really is. You have to do research or know from personal experience how a situation feels an effects a person. If I wrote a story about being a lawyer, but I wasn't a lawyer and did nothing to figure out what being a lawyer was actually like I would not be paining a accurate enough picture for my audience. In Oate's story he told a first person perspective from a girl who was abducted by a serial killer. If you had no prior knowledge you would swear it was written by an actual abduction victim.
The story took a turn as the abducted began developing "feelings" for her abductor. It is a very common occurrence in those who have been kidnapped. The illness is called Stockholm Syndrome which is where a person who is abducted begins to build a relationship with the person who took them. When it comes to writing the story from first person perspective not only do yo have to know about the illness, but you have to give a analysis of how it affects your character internally as well. That is not an easy feat, like I said maybe she did experience this or had the chance to speak with someone who experienced this or just researched people who experienced this.
The complexity of the girl in that story was unreal. The way she described her injuries and how it symbolized a metamorphoses of her character from the beginning of the story until the end. She began as a scared, fearful person but as her relationship built with the lunatic she gained a sort of numbness to her pain. I believe this was due to the killer wanting to numb her to death in a attempt to shape her to his ideal bride stature. Though I felt the story could have took the characters a little bit further I feel it was a very excellent, unsettling piece of fiction.
The story took a turn as the abducted began developing "feelings" for her abductor. It is a very common occurrence in those who have been kidnapped. The illness is called Stockholm Syndrome which is where a person who is abducted begins to build a relationship with the person who took them. When it comes to writing the story from first person perspective not only do yo have to know about the illness, but you have to give a analysis of how it affects your character internally as well. That is not an easy feat, like I said maybe she did experience this or had the chance to speak with someone who experienced this or just researched people who experienced this.
The complexity of the girl in that story was unreal. The way she described her injuries and how it symbolized a metamorphoses of her character from the beginning of the story until the end. She began as a scared, fearful person but as her relationship built with the lunatic she gained a sort of numbness to her pain. I believe this was due to the killer wanting to numb her to death in a attempt to shape her to his ideal bride stature. Though I felt the story could have took the characters a little bit further I feel it was a very excellent, unsettling piece of fiction.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
My Inspiration this Week
This week I have been engulfed in poetry. Finishing up this packet does not prove to be easy when my mind won't let me be satisfied with what I write. I don't consider it striving for perfection, I consider it just knowing myself and knowing that I want the poems to represent me. If the poem doesn't scream "Justin!" then I am not happy with it. My poems have always had a sort of atmosphere that I tend to present.
As I finished my first few poems and reread them I realized something. Every one of my poems is related to a dark subject matter. From death, to suicide, to pain and everything in between I can't ever find inspiration through love or joy. I guess it can be blamed on the fact that I was exposed to too much Edgar Allen Poe and Hawthorne in my early writing. I also feel that pain and sorrow are our most powerful human emotions, and the by far trump love and joy.
I like my poems to feel like you just got punched in the stomach. I want to take peoples breath away, and not necessarily in a good way. I also derive a lot of inspiration from my music too. I find myself playing Terrible things by Mayday Parade and Watch Me Bleed by Scary Kids Scaring Kids. If you ever have a chance to listen to them they are sad tearjerkers. That is how I want my poems to essentially feel.
As I finished my first few poems and reread them I realized something. Every one of my poems is related to a dark subject matter. From death, to suicide, to pain and everything in between I can't ever find inspiration through love or joy. I guess it can be blamed on the fact that I was exposed to too much Edgar Allen Poe and Hawthorne in my early writing. I also feel that pain and sorrow are our most powerful human emotions, and the by far trump love and joy.
I like my poems to feel like you just got punched in the stomach. I want to take peoples breath away, and not necessarily in a good way. I also derive a lot of inspiration from my music too. I find myself playing Terrible things by Mayday Parade and Watch Me Bleed by Scary Kids Scaring Kids. If you ever have a chance to listen to them they are sad tearjerkers. That is how I want my poems to essentially feel.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Blog Post 3- Poetry Packet 2
So this week I have looked over our second poetry packet and realized that a lot of the poems are close to very difficult mental puzzles. I have read a few poems multiple times and it has taken a great deal of effort to derive any meaning from them. On that stands out to me is Susan Howe's poem that is all jumbled up among the page. After examining with my peers in class we believe that it has something to do with the the French and Indian war. Susan Howe was a poet whom tended to write a lot about American History.
After being puzzled by Susan's poem for sometime and researching various words and phrases used in her poem I realized that I have spent nearly 20 minutes reading the same poem. I have been learning small facts about the names of old Native American cities and the tribes that resided in them. It seems if Susan was attempting to force me into educating myself by using her poetry to inspire a search for answers, she had surely won. Then I inferred that there are so many poets throughout the world, that to get noticed you have to make your poems memorable. Susan Howe's poems have surely left an impression on me.
Langston Hughes also interested me greatly. His poems seemed very simple, but the way he used his southern dialect throughout the poems seemed to give it a rhythm. Writing poetry in a dialect that doesn't seem normal to someone else has always made writing pop off the page to me. I personally struggle with dialect because it is hard for me to write with dialect without offending someone. Sometimes I take the dialect a little to the extreme and it comes off unintentionally stereotypical.
Finally, in terms of my own writing I realized that I had trouble writing our assigned poems. It is easy for me to write out multiple poems without thinking about it, but that wasn't our assignment. Having to use 20 words in a single poem and tie them together with one main idea is not easy task. When I write out a whole poem and see my work I realize that I don't like what I wrote. I was stripped of my free creative writing and had to adapt to being creative in a flexible manor and be able to shape the 20 words into a verbal sculpture. I am still working on my "sculpting" abilities but with time I am sure I will do well.
In conclusion the more we delve into poetry the more I realize how much I am perplexed by it. Poetry is surely one of the most intriguing forms of literature to me. However, it is not the easiest thing to write, and above all it is not easy to write a poem that is memorable to some. Just like everyone has their own taste in music, we all favor different types of poetry, just as one band doesn't appeal to everyone, no one poet will appeal to everyone.
After being puzzled by Susan's poem for sometime and researching various words and phrases used in her poem I realized that I have spent nearly 20 minutes reading the same poem. I have been learning small facts about the names of old Native American cities and the tribes that resided in them. It seems if Susan was attempting to force me into educating myself by using her poetry to inspire a search for answers, she had surely won. Then I inferred that there are so many poets throughout the world, that to get noticed you have to make your poems memorable. Susan Howe's poems have surely left an impression on me.
Langston Hughes also interested me greatly. His poems seemed very simple, but the way he used his southern dialect throughout the poems seemed to give it a rhythm. Writing poetry in a dialect that doesn't seem normal to someone else has always made writing pop off the page to me. I personally struggle with dialect because it is hard for me to write with dialect without offending someone. Sometimes I take the dialect a little to the extreme and it comes off unintentionally stereotypical.
Finally, in terms of my own writing I realized that I had trouble writing our assigned poems. It is easy for me to write out multiple poems without thinking about it, but that wasn't our assignment. Having to use 20 words in a single poem and tie them together with one main idea is not easy task. When I write out a whole poem and see my work I realize that I don't like what I wrote. I was stripped of my free creative writing and had to adapt to being creative in a flexible manor and be able to shape the 20 words into a verbal sculpture. I am still working on my "sculpting" abilities but with time I am sure I will do well.
In conclusion the more we delve into poetry the more I realize how much I am perplexed by it. Poetry is surely one of the most intriguing forms of literature to me. However, it is not the easiest thing to write, and above all it is not easy to write a poem that is memorable to some. Just like everyone has their own taste in music, we all favor different types of poetry, just as one band doesn't appeal to everyone, no one poet will appeal to everyone.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Poetry
It doesn't take a scholar to write poetry, nor does it take a literature major
to understand it. To understand and write poetry you just need a pen, some
paper, and your emotions to guide you. I use to believe that I loathed poetry.
That was until I learned that poetry doesn't have to be confined to the
chivalrous poems of love that we read in old knight tales and Valentines Day
cards. Poetry can be heart aching, painful, and be used to describe emotions
that haunts our every day lives, I enjoy that pure raw poetry.
In the poetry packet we were assigned to read I felt myself drawn to the poem Where It Passes, Untouchable. "The print of my palm would be the shape of blood", this line depicts my favorite aspect of poetry. I love symbolism and am quite intrigued when writers use them in unusual ways that still make complete sense. Beyond that the greatest symbols that inspire me are that of our own human anatomy. The most common symbol derived from our bodies tends to be, in my opinion, blood. Symbolically blood can be a beautiful thing, or a treacherous image. My favorite instances where blood is used symbolically is to depict love, whether it was the loss of, or gaining of love.
In the poetry packet we were assigned to read I felt myself drawn to the poem Where It Passes, Untouchable. "The print of my palm would be the shape of blood", this line depicts my favorite aspect of poetry. I love symbolism and am quite intrigued when writers use them in unusual ways that still make complete sense. Beyond that the greatest symbols that inspire me are that of our own human anatomy. The most common symbol derived from our bodies tends to be, in my opinion, blood. Symbolically blood can be a beautiful thing, or a treacherous image. My favorite instances where blood is used symbolically is to depict love, whether it was the loss of, or gaining of love.
Though I can't determine what blood symbolizes, if anything, from the passage in
our packet, I can't help but fancy the statement. Instead of saying his blood is
the shape of his palm he intentionally flipped it. Why? Sometimes I just like to
not try and read between the lines and just say that it sounded poetic or they
left it to intentionally confuse us, thus making us spend more time reading to
decipher there words. That's why I love poetry, it is so wide open for individual interpretation.
The other line that caught my eye from another poem, which the name of is presently escaping me , was "when silence turns to summer". I interpreted this as a great example of symbolism. I believe either a silence was being broken, or most likely Winter was ending and Summer was beginning. But those are just two of millions of possible interpretations. In all honesty the line reminds me of the lyrics in the music I favor, which is just another form of poetry. Poetry is truly all around us, you just have to learn to see it and truly appreciate it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)