Poetry, Art, and Expression of Words

This week’s reading really got me thinking about the differences between poetry and other forms of artistic expressions that utilize words and letters to convey their message. While I certainly thought the examples within the handout were unique and clever, I must admit that while looking at them I felt that I wasn’t viewing poetry, but a different form of art. In the end, I felt very confused and lost on exactly what defines poetry from other forms of art.

After looking over the handout and thinking of other examples of poetry we have read, I came up with my own personal definition of what constitutes a poem oppose to a form of art. My personal opinion is that both poetry and other forms art can use words to express their own personal meanings, but where they differ is in how the words are used to accomplish this. I believe that poetry is unique in the fact that it uses letters, sounds, and words to create images and emotions within the reader. Oppose to other forms of art that instead use words, letters, and sounds to be a part of an actual image that in turn causes the viewer/reader to feel certain emotions and thoughts.

Overall, while my definition may not cover every poet or artist’s works, it certainly gave me a base for understanding poetry and art better. Ultimately whether as an image or a creator of an image I believe words can be powerful tools in expression, and I look forward to learning more about both styles.

Nature and Originality

I would like to learn more about structures. I've never been one for writing structured poetry, but I feel like it might be a hard thing to teach oneself. Like Sam and Maddie, I've been feeling like I have a bit of writer's block lately. Normally I see something when I'm outdoors and get so incredibly inspired (Wordsworth style) that I'm anxious to go sit down and write about, having hardly formed coherent thoughts. But I feel like with the questioning of "what is quality poetry?, what is REAL poetry?", I now have a bit of self-doubt stifling the creative impulse. Like Sam, I went on Peak Weekend...and you would think that anybody would come back from that just bursting with observations and experiences that are great fodder for writing about. Yes, I had a fabulous time on the hike. But I felt no impulse to write about it. I'm wondering how I can delve past the mindset of "Oh, I've written about nature so often in the past. How can I be original about it still? How can I capture a reader and create tension and draw them in?". Because I feel like until I get past my own mindblock of having already done something, I'm stuck.
Hence: I'm trying to write sonnets for our next assignment. Operative word: TRY. I'm kinda throwing the iambic pentameter out of the proverbial window, because its hard enough to write a poem and put tension and meaning into it AND have it be a certain number of lines and syllables without getting into meter. Yeesh.
So anyway. Rhyme's Reason strikes serious doubt into my self assurance. Of course I'm taking this class to learn and become a better poet...but its hard reading a book that tells the readers "Oh, by the way. You're not actually a poet. Nice try. Very cute. You just write verse that is meaningful to you but is really mundane. Translation...HEY AMATUER- YOU SUCK!!".
Fun, right? Essentially, I'm trying to figure out how to keep my originality while writing something that meets the definition of "oh-so-high-and-mighty-erudite-poetry". Awesome.

Originality Continued

I really like the points that have been raised regarding originality. I agree with Shaunie when she said that to be original does not mean having to come up with ideas that have never been written about before. If you just think of all the poetry that has ever been written, or even books, or songs, it would be impossible to cover a topic that has never been spoken of. Why do you suppose there are so many covers of songs? Or books that are made into movies? Or even poets who borrow styles from other poets? These are all ways of using someone's ideas, and then putting a spin on them to find new ways to entertain and to reach people.

To write a poem about something that has been done before, but to make it fresh, new, exciting and original, is quite a mighty and praise-worthy task. For example, we all discovered how hard this was to do during our writing exercise, using magazines, in last week's class. We have even come across poems in class that have been worked off previous pieces or used by more recent poets. For example, when reading William Carlos William's poem 'A Sort of Song', I couldn't help but be reminded of Tupac Shakur's poem 'The rose that grew from concrete." They both use strong symbolic images such as a rock, and a flower. They both have similar metaphors and messages, too, referring to creation, overcoming obstacles, growth, and the difference between conventional and modern poetry.

I think referring to past poetry can be a way to overcome writer's block. Even if you don't use ideas or styles similar to the ones that you read, the act of reading any kind of material can spark ideas completely unrelated to what the was trying to be conveyed.

getting out of the box

This class has been really good at opening my eyes to all sorts of different poetry. However, with that, I've been finding it hard branch out of my little box type of poetry. Everyone else seems to write so well and have different writing styles; it's inspiring but also intimidating at the same time. I find myself wanting to write more like everyone else but once I sit down, I realize I'm just writing the same thing as always. Most of my poems I find are the same rhyme pattern and the same old cliche lines. I think I am going to really try to change my poetry and what I write about. Professor Hummer keeps talking about maybe taking a line or two from a familiar poem and twisting it around and building on that, and I think I might try that in order to get out of my writer's block and same old routine of poetry. Someone also had a good point of just working off of two lines that I write and really like and want to incorporate. Something I really want to accomplish, is writing abstract poems because I think they are really intriguing and thought provoking. I'm not sure I quite know how to do that yet, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to do this, that would be great.

"Original"

One mistake I think many people make when they begin writing is becoming absolutely obsessed with being one hundred percent “original.” Yes, poetry is art, and therefore one should always try to be original when crafting a piece – but being "original, at least to me, doesn’t have anything to do with writing about ideas that no one in the world has ever thought of before. Conversely, it’s about taking the ideas that every single person in the world has thought of and presenting them in a way that makes somedbody think, “I never looked at it like that.”

Photographers take pictures of things we see every day: smiling children, the view from a mountain, etc. Why then, do we still care so much for their work? Because, with their composition, they make us see that smiling child, that precipice, through their eyes. By achieving a unique angle or lighting, for a split second they show us a new way to see the commonplace. Poetry is the same way.

I think a big part of getting over writer’s block is redefining the word “original,” as well as the word “cliché.” If poetry, like so many of us have claimed, is about tapping into the universal, what good would it be to write about ideas no one has previously cared about? Themes like love, loss, death, and hope will never become "old." They are what, as humans, we naturally gravitate towards; the trick is finding new and unique ways to present them. Whenever I run into writer’s block and begin feeling less than extraordinary, this is what I try to focus on. I hope the concept helps someone else out too.

Writer's Block

I don't know if this helps anyone, but whenever I write a poem, or anything for that matter, I don't try to think of what I want to say, or what kind of rhyme scheme I feel like using; the only thing I do is start making up single sentences in my head that I think sound interesting. Usually, thinking of one line causes me to think of a second. At this point, the only thing I know about my poem is that I want those two lines in there. Starting with that premise, I am able to make a poem and form ideas as to what direction I want my poem to take and how I want to transition from the fist of the preconceived lines to the second. Maybe I'm just weird and that method only works for me, but if there is anyone in the class who can't think of anything to write about, maybe give it a try, see what happens. On a side note, because this is the way I tend to approach writing, I find it difficult to write within the constraints of a prompt. The assignmet about tension was a much more difficult poem for me to write than either of the workshop pieces. Anyway, I hope I someone finds my thought process to be useful in overcoming their writer's block. Either way, I'll probably need some help getting over my own writer's block for the next prompted assignment.

Frustration

I want to comment back on Maddie's frustration of having writers block. I know that this is my first poetry class ever, and poetry isn't supposed to come easy. I cannot seem to find inspiration anywhere. I went to peak weekend this past weekend and I am very "outdoorsy" and connected with the outdoors but I didn't really seem to find any exciting or inspiring. I could just write some meaningless poem about how pretty the drive was, the perfect weather and the smell of the outdoors, but I feel like that is quite exhausted. I don't want to write about normal things that arn't exciting or that everyone writes about. I want to strive to be different and write about new things, but I am new at this and I know it can be super hard, I just feel like I have to keep trying.

I really liked the exercise that we did last class but didn't get to finish. I might try and find some inspiration that way. I was thinking about instead of using an article, I could use a song, or an old fable, and twist it around. I liked the topic I got last time because it was about the environment and about how downhill our economy has been going and about how the government isn't doing anything. Maybe I will even try and twist that around as well.

When we discussed what the poems are and are not it made me think about what I have already written. Some of my poetry has been pretty low skill level and pretty elementary, or at least it seems that way to me. I have always wanted to write a children's book or make greeting cards later on in life (secret dream) so possibly that is why I love to rhyme and make things simple.