I would like to start off by saying that I am majoring in meteorology. That being said, most of the courses I have taken so far have either been in math or science. I’ve taken one English course but I don’t remember reading any poetry, so obviously I don’t have very much experience with the language of poetry. The thing that I’m really struggling with in this class is reading mostly newer poetry that is post 1950. I do enjoy reading older poetry because to me it sounds like what I think poetry is supposed to sound like. That is, it flows nicely (rhythm), rhymes, and the meaning is easier to understand. Before this class I had never really read any newer poetry. After reading some of it, I really don’t like it. I understand that some of it is really complicated, original, and incorporates a lot of different things from the poetry language, but to me it sounds like the authors are just putting a combination of the most random words they can think of down in a way that doesn’t make any sense and calling it poetry. Maybe after reading a lot more of it I’ll begin to see the originality and find it more interesting and clever, but right now I just don’t get it.
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I feel the exact opposite! I'm also not a writing/english major so this is the first writing class I have taken. Whenever I read the pre-1950 I can't hear the words that are being said. I feel like I'm listening to the teacher from peanuts, a monotonous garble of words with a slight rhythm. I feel like newer poetry wants my feedback, like it's a conversation starting. I wish that I could steal your ears and mind to finally understand what you are hearing so clearly.
ReplyDeleteIts a toss-up for me! I'm a creative writing major, but I really prefer writing stories over poetry.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think I identify my poetry writing more with the rich, flowery detail of European English poetry that dates pre-1950. I am trying to get away from that though, as Mr. McCoy encourages us to do so. To help me do that I've been reading some interestingly put together books that have a narrative and composition unlike traditional stories. For example, eccentric paragraph composition to emphasize their meaning.
Ex: Ocean Sea by Alessandro Bariccio