Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Welcome!
For this first week, you can essentially write about anything you want (it will be extra credit). Perhaps you'd like to tell us something about yourself or maybe respond to the Donnelly poem we read on Monday since we didn't have much time to discuss it then. Maybe you'd like to write about your attitudes regarding reading and/or writing or any excitements and/or anxieties you're experiencing right now as you anticipate this course and semester. If you'd like, you may go ahead and read next week's reading and start posting on it. I'll put some questions here on Sunday about the poems too.
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After realizing the diet mountain dew poem we read in class was known as a "love letter" it changed my perspective on the poem as the author wrote about the love and hate feelings he has towards the diet mountain dew. This line was very catchy as he used it multiple times "I have built my ship of death" In my opinion he's basically trying to say he knows what he's taking in and how toxic it can be but he still loves it. Another line i found interesting was "A green like no other green" I enjoyed reading that line as he expressed his thought on the artificial green color the diet mountain dew has.
ReplyDeletewhat kind of love do you think it is? I felt this as well but when I tried to apply a romantic context to it, it sort of fell apart for me near the end.
DeleteAfter not really grasping diet mountain dew in class, and even again upon a re-read later in the day, I decided to look into the next class reading of "no art" and upon finishing came to the conclusion that i'm terrible at poetry. Which isn't to say that I don't appreciate the subtle rhythms and soulful undertones it may possess but rather that my preconception of what poetry is supposed to be seems to be skewing how I metabolize the text at hand. In the instance of diet mountain dew I think I had a subconscious disconnect and requisite search for the deeper meaning of the poem because poems must contain deeper meaning, right? All while glossing over the fact that maybe this gentleman just really enjoys his beverages, to the point of reaching the limits of self destruction.
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate, i always make superficial assumptions about poems. i struggle with reading deeper and in between the lines. i think this is why i like reading novels because they kind of fill in the blanks that poets leave out.
DeleteWith poetry I feel like in my head I grasp a great understanding of what the poet is trying to portray, but then I read a summary of what other writers think and my ideas are completely unrelated. Hopefully with more practice I can get on the right track, lol.
DeleteYEAH! I share the same opinion about poetry. I think poetry is a way to express feelings in a very complicated way. For me, I prefer simplicity.
DeleteIt seems that there is a consensus here that poetry is complicated, maybe more complicated than novels. But how can that be? It's got much fewer words than a novel has. In fact, look at Ben Lerner's poem again. There's not a word here, I bet, that you have to look up in the dictionary. So what exactly makes is complicated?
DeleteIts nice to know that I'm not the only one that struggles with this haha. As Far as "no art" goes, I think there was a deeper overarching message of social commentary the author exposes through his musings, mainly that if one cannot freely consume and interpret all forms of art then all forms of art are rendered inert and unable to fulfill their role as unadulterated thought provoking pieces of material. But when looking into each sentence purposely arranged, measured, and punctuated with what I must assume is an intent to add a more layered presentation of this world view through poetry I find my mind going in separate directions. I get the sense that I'm missing something crucial to the message and It messes with how quickly/thoroughly/profoundly I can process pieces of poetry. each line contains a new idea that potentially could redefine the entire work so I find myself rereading many times over trying not to miss that critical piece so I can try to see the poem in its fullness. I did find that after listening to the artists recital of diet mountain dew I felt a new appreciation and shift in the mood of how I was reading the piece. His iteration was more whimsical in its delivery as opposed to my more somber initial run through and it completely altered how I saw his words.the beatbox cello combination helped as well.
DeleteAfter reading the poem Mountain Dew in class and at home my interpretation of the poem is that the poet is trying to say that how much he hates the soft drink. According to my opinion is that he is expressing his love and hatred towards the soft drink similarly in any relationship it is the same.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I did not understand what the poem Diet Mountain Dew was about it. I though the poet was bad because I know poems have some analogies and metaphors but this poem was filled with them from head to toes which made it harder to understand. I feel like the poem could have been more straight forward and simplified. It took me multiple tries to understand parts of it alone.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad to read a poem multiple times? I think most of us think that a newspaper article or directions to a toaster should be simple, but do poems need to be simple too?
DeleteNot that is bad, but in certain situation the audience might not be able to get a copy of the poem or might only able to ear it once. I feel that poem is about sending a message and would it not be easier if the message was sent and the audience understood it right away, instead of the audience wondering about what the poet meant. Maybe its because I'm not used to reading a lot of poems but I felt like this poem was way beyond my knowledge. I do look forward to reading other poems like that one because it really opened my mind.
DeleteAt first when reading the poem I was confused with what the poem was trying to address. I found myself asking "What is the purpose of the poem?" "Is this poem actually about the drink mountain dew or does the title represent a person the writer knew or knows?" But after re-reading the poem I realized that the poem indeed is about Mountain Dew and the poem in fact expresses the writer's strong opinions on the soft drink. I found it very comical how passionate the poem was about a basic drink and in a way inspiring. To give such emotion in such a way that it is very clear as to how much the writer despises Mountain Dew. I find it inspiring because I find difficulty doing this myself.
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