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Gail White’s sonnet, “My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to the Prom”, is about the narrators saying what she liked in the past such as “books were friends and (dead) poets were lovers” and how the past was like “brainy girls were still a rarity” in that time and that “boys preferred big bosoms to well-read and saucy wits”. However, the narrator didn’t get asked to the prom and her mother didn’t get her any fancy prom dress nor teach the narrator on how to style her hair.
ReplyDeleteRuth Stone’s free verse poem, “Winter”, is about a compilation of memories from the narrator about her husband of what he was, what he did, and how he’s remembered.
Rae Armantrout’s so-called experimental poem, “Duration”, is about a scenario and describing them in a subtle way that the readers have to figure out what these descriptions mean.
Besides from the poems, this chapter was all about poetry and what it is. Basically, poetry consists of these 6 elements: Lines and Stanzas, Meter and Rhythm, Music of the Poetry, Figurative Language and Symbolism, Diction and Syntax, and Poetic Forms.
While these poems that I read were mostly interesting to read and thought-provoking, I still felt that poems still elude my understanding of what it’s trying to convey. Therefore, my interpretations of these poems are, in a way, broken or incomplete. However, I supposed that part of the fun of poems.
Jose Contreras | 238 Words
If I had to pick my weakest writing link, it would have to be poems/poetry. Although I know there is more in a verse and how a poem is constructed, in the past all my poems have come out quite weak in comparison to my other writings. I’ve tried the different types of forms in the past such as a sonnet, free verse, and a eulogy. However, it has been some time since I last did a poem and it’s good to be able to revisit and look at the guides provided (pg. 19-20) as well as explanations and definitions on the elements of poetry (pg. 29-20, 32-35, 40). The three short poems models also gave different examples. Gail White’s sonnet “My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to the Prom” form was easy to recognize with the rhyme scheme. While “Winter” by Ruth Stone is written in free verse and is about her deceased husband and how she remembers him, with the details in the poem helping give a better imagery of reminiscent memory. Lastly, Rae Armantrout’s experimental poem “Duration” has less provided content and calls for me to reread several times, and yet I still can’t make sense of what exactly is going on, it still gives me the impression that I’ve seen other poems do as well.
ReplyDelete- Savannah Lopez
I loved how this section was detailed in the important aspects that involves in writing poetry. Poetry happens to be my favorite genre of writing. I can read it all day, and not get tired of it. This was completely helpful on gaining more knowledge on the subject such as taking about stanzas, rhyme scheme, and incorporating rhythm. I will start off by talking about the poem that consumed me with confusion, Rae Armentrout’s poem, 'Duration' gave a lasting impression on me by the structure of its contents. However, I failed to understand the true concept on the words. I found myself re-reading the poem more than 4 times until i got tired with the ordeal of looking for the truth hidden in the poem. My favorite of these three were, Ruth Stone's poem, 'Winter'. I loved the imagery along with the irony of language used in the text towards the end of the poem. It’s ironic because of the last sentence states, “I feel their entire histories ravish me.” Ravish is usually used as a word the coincides with positivity. So it’s unique she uses this word to serve a different impact. Her memory of her husband is so vivid that you feel sorrow and hope that her day dream is real. The ending of the poem is soul wrenching.
ReplyDelete-Valerie Valentin
I like reading poems when I’m bored. It is so amazing. Writing a poem is all about observing the world within or around you. A poem can be about anything, from love to loss to the rusty gate at the old farm. Writing poetry can seem intimidating, especially if you do not feel you are naturally creative or bursting with poetic ideas. With the right inspiration and approach, you can write a poem that you can be proud to share with others in class or with your friends. Reading the short poem of Gail White “My personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to the Prom” was great. She was telling her story about unpopularity in school, her mother and finally got married. I also like the “winter” by Ruth Stone how she describes the snow. A Ruth Stone poem feels alive in the hands ardent, independent, and restless. A Stone poem propels forward like a gifted wide-end receiver it has "broken field”. Ruth Stone's poems are mysterious, hilarious, and powerful. They are understandable, often with a very clear surface, but not simple, their intelligence is crackling and complex. Her poems are musical, and their music is unforced, unlabored-over, fresh. I love Ruth Stone's irony, and the melody of her irony.
ReplyDeleteFatimata Traore
Poetry is a powerful, descriptive outlet that can convey a message or describe a situation or place with subtle but great detail. That being said, it is my belief that the structure of poems, and their contents can only get worse the longer poetry exists. As filmmakers run out of ideas for new movies, and opt to remake old classics, poetry is the same, an already well fleshed out form of art that is difficult to convey legitimately new messages. For example, Gail White’s “My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to the Prom” depicts a rather boring subject, the “I’m not like the other girls” character that, despite self-deprecating due to their status in the youth’s social order, mentally finds herself more refined, and better than others, and that her lack of being taken out to the prom is an injustice. The poem just falls flat, telling a stereotypical story that by now, everyone has seen in one form of media or another. “Brainy girls were still a rarity” (21) comes across as condescended, when the poem appears to be trying to display the opposite. The better kinds of poems to me describe an environment or a situation outside of the social construct, such as “Winter” by Ruth Stone. The poem is a somber reflection of a widow, wanting to keep th4 good memories in her heart but being constrained by events. A clear setting and tone are depicted, with the past and the present being intertwined with her narration. “Winter” is, to me objectively better written, with its deeper meaning than the surface understanding.
ReplyDeleteKedrick Wyatt
Delving into the world of poetry comes with a new way of looking at language. The language of poetry in this chapter draws on the elements often found in poetry of any kind, in particular, that of diction and syntax. These concepts are not new to us, but when dealing with poetry, they can become a color we have never seen before. The chapter speaks in about the etymology of poetry and how it's been suggested that a poet is someone who arranges thoughts and images in an artful way. Notice how logic is not included in that sentence. Contrary to prose, as we are used to reading and studying, poetry is more abstract and fluid. It doesn't always have a beginning, middle, or end, and if it does, it's never quite obvious. If it is, it's considered a use of the cliche and we are cautioned not to use such predictable use of language in our own poetry for fear of killing our creations. The chapter provides three models to draw from, and even explains the types of poems you will eventually meet: lyric and narrative poems. All three seem to contain some form of narrative. “My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked To Prom” by Gail White is right there on the title. It's a satirical piece with a strong sense of self and I enjoyed reading the small jab she made at the end there towards her mother (“But I got married, Mother, all the same” ; pg. 22). “Winter” by Ruth Stone is an end-stopped poem (containing lines with consistent punctuation) that can be described as dark and gritty but with a beautiful albeit gloomy sense of imagery. The loss of her husband has an interesting way of manifesting itself (a train station?) But the nostalgia and biting truths blends well with the concept of winter, which I also found enjoyable. The last, “Duration” by Rae Armantrout is an eccentric piece written in a series of couplets (or rather twin lines seeing as they don't exactly rhyme) and has been described as playful and ‘jumpy.’ It's true, the lines are quite interesting to follow (enjambment used in the most minimalistic way), and the message even more so, but the chapter asks the reader to pay mind to the title of ‘Duration.’ She mentions blackbirds and I think of ravens, which have been said to mythicalky play a part in transporting the souls of the dead, and the message seems a little clearer but not quite. But this is, after all, one of the reasons I thoroughly enjoy reading and dissecting poetry, no matter what kind. “The medium of poetry is the human body...poetry is just as physical an art as dancing,” I can't help but reiterate, just as the chapter has, the quote of former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky; it's one of the most profound ways I've heard poetry be defined.
ReplyDeleteSandra Martinez
Before reading the materials, I just liked poetry because it sounded beautiful. Sometimes I don’t understand what the author meant to say, or what they wanted the audience to portray. But now I know how difficult or technical it may be to write a poem. Its crazy that so much thought goes into writing poem. The author must choose the right words on what to write because poems are so short. So instead of having plenty to write like a short story of a play script, poems are just short and sweet. Another thing that makes poems different from other types of writing is the technique they require. There’s a lot of different ways to write poems. Starting with the meters, rhythms, and different other things. Authors can express many feelings while writing a poem. It fascinates me how poetry works. There is no right or wrong into writing a poem. I, myself am excited to give poetry a shot. I loved writing the short story section because I had room for detail to express my feelings or to get my story out there. But as I mentioned before writing a poem is short, so I feel as if I’ll struggle to get my point across with in only using so many stanzas. This is where I will put my figure of speeches to the test.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Gonzalez
I'm still struggling with the idea of using and separating a meter of accented and un-accented syllables. Poetry, i've always felt isn't where my strength is; However I was comforted when I read that "Writing a poem is discovering" so I probably do not know the ending, and that's okay. Mostly what I think I'll be focusing on is my diction, syntax, and imagery that I want to show. After our reading I guess I'm happy that a poem can be free from form or have rules or some style, with rhyme or not. Ruth Stone's Winter is filled with sentiment and as a reader I felt her tone and resonated too with some of her lines. Rae Armantrout's Duration presented more of a challenge for critical thinking, her last two couplets left me puzzled and curious to their meaning. Maybe I'm overthinking it, some of these play on words have history, so it might be important to know their root words such as the title of this poem. Durare-Latin. I tried to connect what I think are different plays of emotions happening but maybe they're not connected but just adding on to the poem anyway. Either way to me, i enjoyed it because it made me want to explore possibilities of what I believe her words could mean, or I myself imposing new meaning to them because I enjoyed what she had written in her poem.
ReplyDelete-Naissa J. Acosta
Poetry is one of the most daunting forms of creative writing for me because I feel like it requires so much craftsmanship and skill that I don’t have yet, but because of that I’m also extremely excited for this unit. Poems to me are the written equivalent of a painting, and having a background in art I have such a strong appreciation for all the attention to detail that writing poetry requires. I love how Starkey compared poetry to a car ride where the whole point is to revel in every bump along the way because I feel like it really reinforces the idea that a successful poem is one where all the parts work together to make something great. Of all the poems in this section, I think “Winter” did so the best. I’ll definitely need to read it again so I can fully appreciate it (as I also need to do with the others), but even the first time I read it I could feel Stone’s pain and the melancholy practically resonating off the page. It honestly makes me actually want to read the poem again so I can capture every little detail that I may have missed the first time and really figure out what it is that Stone is trying to convey to the readers. I have very fond memories of reading Seamus Heaney extensively my senior year of high school and I miss that intimacy that comes with reading a poem closely and deconstructing it to its most basic fundamentals and then putting it all back together; I can only imagine what it’s like to be the poet pouring yourself onto the page and toying around with even just a handful of words or phrases to see how much you can get out of them.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Garza
The section, “The short poem: three models” really dissonates with me. “If it takes you three lines to say something, see if you can say it instead in two lines, or one line, or one word.” You know who else tried to do this? Syme in “1984”. And he’s dead now. Gail White’s “My Personal Recollections of Not Being Asked to Prom,” dissonates with me equally as much. Gail is using a “Milk and Honey” approach to her disappointing past (which I, as a reader, still don’t care about) before “Milk and Honey” even came out. “Milk and Honey” is not something to live up to but to pray to easily surpass. I enjoy the poem “9/11” for its descriptive obscurities. This poem takes the reduction approach quoted above and owns it. I never understood meter, but I guess this book is proof that it exists. Until now, to be honest, I actually didn’t believe that it existed. I thought it was made up. But here it is. There are rules to it. Meter is a real thing. The rules still sound suspiciously made up, but I guess it works here with its rules. My favorite part of poetry is learning symbolism and rhyme scheme. This is the true ivory of poetry.
ReplyDeleteRaquel Williams
Going into this section, I have always thought of poetry as being really cool because of the freedom and creativity that is involved with it. Especially in free verse poetry, where it seems like there are not harsh constrictions or limitations placed on the writer that might cause them to write differently from how they would without having to worry about adhering to the rules of writing. Although, I have still found myself to enjoy the more structural forms of poetry such as haikus or ballads. In addition to finding poetry to be enjoyable, I have also experienced it to be very confusing at times; however, I think it is interesting to try and figure out what it is that is meant by authors or how it may be that our interpretations may very from one another. Relating to "Duration" by Rae Armantrout, I cannot say that I am sure I have formed a well understanding of the poem but from what I could tell, it is about looking onward to everyday life and how what it seen by the poet and others as ordinary, can be seen as so much more in a different light. Chances are that I am really off, but that is the thing when it comes to poetry. There can be so many different interpretations and meanings found from it. I think that our understandings often reflect or share something about our personal selves, depending on how difficult it may be to understand the poem. In "Winter" by Ruth Stone, the author uses imagery in a way that creates this continuous flow of images and sounds being produced throughout the poem. It brings readers out of their own time and space and into the author's. "My Personal Recollections of Not being Asked to the Prom" by Gail White discusses the author's remembrance of what it was like to be in high school and the thoughts that she comes across when looking back at those times in her life.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Cervantes
Poetry is my least practiced form of writing, by that I mean it’s been a very long time since I have written any type of poetry. It was hardly practiced in my days of elementary school and my English teachers left poetry mostly out of the curriculum and to be honest I feel as though I strive too much for detail to focus my writing on poems alone. But one thing I know is that not every project has to be the next “A Farewell to Arms” or “Harry Potter” or since this is poetry “Milk and Honey.” On page 15, it reads “Poetry is mostly hunches.” This goes to say that whatever you come up with may feel right and it may or may not work when it goes from the mind to the paper or screen in front of the writer. Reading through on the meters, rhythms, line endings and of course rhyming words just had the phrase, “Abandon all hope ye who enter,” go through my mind. The poems in this section are of different types and it’s good see that there is more than just drama and sorrow in poetry. Gail White’s Prom Poem is one that can go into humor, one that I didn’t really think existed in poetry and then we also have Ruth Stones Winter is one that covers sorrow and grief. Hopefully this isn’t the part of the course that has me develop an aneurysm.
ReplyDeleteMichael Lucio