A Look Back...

As I look back on the semester as a whole, I am very glad I ended up taking this class and sticking with it. It taught me numerous things about the poetry language and world that I would not have known without. My favorite part of the class was actually two things. I really liked doing the oral presentations on poets of our choice as I got to research well known poets and their styles. Also, I liked the workshop at the end of the year as well. It was very nice to get feedback from others knowing they are just trying to help me and make my poetry as strong as it can be. As for poetry in my future, I do not see it playing a huge part, but I do see myself sticking with it somewhat. In fact, after taking this class I have decided that writing some poems for family members and loved ones would be a great gift for them for the upcoming holidays. I will probably write it more than I will read it, but at least now when I hear a famous poets name I will be able to recognize it.

Overall

Although this class was simply an introductory course in poetry, it has acted as far more than that for me. As originally intended I added CRW 205 because it simply covered a general education requirement for college. However, I quickly realized there is way more to poetry then I had thought. This class became much more intriguing to me than just another “uninteresting” general education class. Throughout the semester this course has helped to develop my ability to write creatively, while strongly broadening my vocabulary. For years, I have been taught that in order for a poem to sound good and grab reader attention it must rhyme throughout. After a semester in this course however, I now have a completely different view. Nearing the end of my experience in this class, I have learned that poetry is quite different than I had previously thought. Poetry does not have any rules, and can just be thoughts from your head put on paper in any way or form. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that you do not have to rhyme or stay to any particular structure.

Revision, Revision, Revision!

So as the term comes to an end, I've revised a lot, and learned how to be "better" as far as revision goes. The first poem I presented in class, "Dernier Cri" has really been a thorn in my side since Round one of workshop. I've changed words, rephrased everything, moved the whole poem, and finally feel ALMOST happy with it. But, I had the realization that, can someone really be happy with a poem? 100% happy? I feel as though a poet is never finished revising. There could always be that one line that could have changed the entire poem, made it better than before. Or, a line that made the poem a little bit less than it could have been. Because it is the last week of classes, I've really taken the time to think about how much I've learned in this class, and revision is at the top. At first I was extremely scared to read my work out loud to a class, but as time went on I realized it wasn't so bad; getting that feeling of reading something your proud of out loud, and then realizing what you could fix is a rush. Another thing I learned this semester is that poetry is under appreciated. From the people I've met in class, there was a wide range of majors. Although this is a gen-ed, I honestly think people enjoyed this class, and it's good to see that people read poetry outside of class. It really opened my eyes to how different people can be from what they seem. Good luck on finals everyone!

Presentations

Well- procrastination has gotten the best of me. As I write this, the day before it's due-I'm finding myself regretting not keeping up with this blog. Recently I've been reading people's posts and I find that I'm able to both relate and learn a lot from them. I wish I had been more interactive on the blog- but is something I can remember for the future.
   I gave my oral presentation on Tuesday and I found it much easier than I thought to stand up in front of the class and talk for ten minutes. At first thought of this assignment my immediate reaction was butterflies and nerves. I've never enjoyed public speaking and always seem to feel that my face is on fire when I'm speaking in front of people. That didn't quite happen on Tuesday though. As I went up- books in hand I looked at the people who have read and critiqued my poetry, and vice versa. I found that even though I may not have known the people I was speaking in front of on a friend level, I can look at each one of my classmates and tell them what poem they wrote or something about their poetry. That was something I found to be really neat, and I encourage those of you presenting tomorrow to not be afraid of this. Through workshop we all have this connection through writing that I think is really neat. You may not know much about the person you sit next to each day, or the person across the room, but you know how they write and what they write about. I think others' writing styles and subject matter has impacted me and helped me as a poet and person.

Thanks!
Taylor Achin

What I liked about this course

I think workshop was my favorite part of this class. I really liked showing my poems to other people and seeing their responses. The responses I got were only positive, but, what I wanted was harsh, honest criticism. I don't know if I'm talented. I don't know if I should continue writing. I don't know if I'm wasting my time. I only showed a total of three poems so it would probably be hard to determine anything.

When reading other people's works and comparing it to my own, I get the impression that I'm doing something wrong, mainly cause of content, or something. But, during the presentations, someone presented a poet who was quite intriguing. That poet's style was similar to something I'd write, I think.

In my personal reflection paper, we were encouraged to give ourselves advice for the future, this is what I wrote:

If I had to give myself advice to be used for the future, then I would tell myself to not change. The style I use is different and is quite interesting. It shows that poetry doesn't have to be about broken hearts and the leaves falling. In the future, I will think of neat ideas but probably won't do anything about it, like writing them down in a notebook.

Thursday is the last class for me. It is bitter sweet. I will not miss the oral presentation, or presenting my own poems in workshop. What i will miss is reading a different variety of poets and exploring the meanings. I can say i found my favorite poem ever so far!! It is called The Idea of Ancestry written by Etheridge Knight. Once i read that poem I instantly fell in love with it. I get many different ideas from it. The first time i read it, do not ask me why, i thought of Huckleberry Fin. Ha. The poem has a deep meaning that makes you want to keep reading it. Anybody who has never read it I recommend you do asap. My favorite part of the poem is

"I pace my cell or flop on my bunk

and stare at 47 black faces across the space. I am all of them,

they are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no children

to float in the space between"

I believe it is very touching and gives you a vivid image of what is happening. It kind of makes you feel bad for this guy who wants to do better, but cant.

Anne Sexton.

Well, we are in our last week of the semester, and I thought this time would never come. However, now I am almost sad for this course to come to an end. I really enjoy listening to others' poems, as well as having my own poems critiqued. I feel as though this course has helped me grow as not only a writer, but as a person. Poetry helps me get out my most intimate feelings. When I put that pen to paper, I can say anything that I want to say.
Anne Sexton is one of the poets that I did my oral presentation on. I really have grown to love her work. I even asked for some of her poetry books for Christmas. Maybe I feel as though I can relate to her so much because we are both women who share many of the same opinions on things. She was a very depressed poet, who ultimately committed suicide. However, her work is brilliant, and it inspires me... and I know I am not the only one she has inspired. She may have had a tough life, but she left her words behind for all eternity. Her work just validates the fact that good things can come from something bad. Although her work was her way of coping with her depression, she has touched so many lives- including mine.

Endings and beginnings? No difference sometimes.

I really enjoyed the last couple weeks of class. It puts a different spin on learning poetry when you get to read and share poems with everyone else. This might be my last creative writing class for awhile which makes me sad. However, I'm gonna try and write more like I used to in highschool, after this class is over. It was hard getting back into it this semester and I'm not really sure how I could have stopped writing for a few years. Kinda depressing huh? So I'll put that towards the top of my new years resolution list, maybe it'll get done. Seriously though this class reminded how important it was to let it out on paper, expressing yourself any other way just isn't the same. Also it reminded me that we should listen to what we say on paper, its often surprising. Good luck with finals everyone and have an awesome break!

The Whale in the room

I was going to make my last post about the class and what I learned. I thought I would write something sappy and genuine enough to get some brownie points... But then I realized the last week of classes has murdered all sappiness I may have possessed. And plus why waste all my sappiness here when I have a nice reflection paper to do it in!

Thus instead here is a poem I have been working on for a while. It started out from a short muse write. Short enough that I will post the muse write and the poem that has come from it. Its about a whale swallowing the narrator (who we will call me right now) and floating around in its belly. I really like the poem and I am having fun writing it but I am totally lost on possible meanings.

Im currently trying to think of the whale as an idea or an experience. Perhaps the experience from introduction to poetry? Immersion into the material? Brownie points? I dont know.

Anyway, read for yourself and maybe someone can point me in the right direction?

The Muse Write:

A whale swallows
Me whole into its
Blue sea soaked soggy belly
Where I swim in a
Glowing digestive abyss.
A soft melodic symphony
Choreographs my free swim
Within its bowels
Fish inhaled flutter about me
Like underwater butterflies
On a cool fall day

The "Poem": Whale Breathing
A whale swallows
Me whole into its
Blue sea-soaked soggy belly
Where I swim in a
Glowing digestive abyss
And colorful fish inhaled flutter about me
Like underwater butterflies or fireworks
And a soft melodic symphony of violins
Choreographs my slow-motion free swim
Within its watery bowels
Flipping fully clothed in its stomach
Fighting against the fluids
And I don’t know if this dream
Will end or if I have gills
Because when I dive deeper into its
Fleshy ribbed intestines
I am still breathing

I liked this class

I remember the day when I was selecting classes for the Fall 2011 semester. I wanted to pick classes that were an easy A, and help me finish off my General Education Courses. To fulfill my fine arts credit, Creative Writing would have been the class to help me get this credit out of the way. I remember thinking, this class would be perfect. I mean, its poetry, how hard could it be? Well my opinion quickly changed after the first few classes. How detailed and technical this actual class was, I was soon taking back that thought of easiness and finally realized, this class is not what I expected. Now that is is the last week, I can truly say that I learned a lot about writing and expressing myself much better.

That final hurrah.

It's now the final week of the Intro to Poetry class; two hour and twenty minutes sessions remain until this course is over and done with. I'm kind of happy, and kind of bummed actually. This class has helped me get in touch with my "muse", something I thought I didn't have - as noted in my last two poems I used for my workshop.

Besides spending the entirety of class playing Plants vs Zombies, I think I've actually found ways to improve my writing. As a Creative Writing major, I took this class to hopefully learn to be more creative when writing - and I think I have a much better stand than I did when the class started. I also think I appreciate poetry a tad more than I did in August.

My and my muse are getting closer, I no longer think poetry is for "sissyboys" (although it's not number one on my favorites list) and I'm actually looking forward to take the remaining two poetry classes - and not just for my CRW requirements!

-Jonathan out!

Movies of Your Mind

So I was doing a couple MOYM today and realized that I almost started to use it as a muse push off point. I was typing all the thoughts that came to my head about the poem that I was reading and then began to think of my own based off the poem that I was reading. Not exactly the style of writing they were using (line breaks, rhyme scheme, ect...) but images that were coming to my head from what was being discussed in the poem.

This really helped me because I've been working on trying to get together good poems for my portfolio, so maybe if anybody else out there is having the same issues, read someone else's poetry and it might get your started off on an idea!

The End

For my last blog entire I wanted to sum up my experience in this course. While I still have a decent amount of work left to finish before calling it done, it is finally coming to a close. My muse is most certainly drained. It's been a long fourteen weeks, not only because of this course, but in general. When I sit down and read poetry I can really appreciate the time spent in what was written down. I also feel that sometimes I can be quite critical and I can simply say I don't like the way this poet writes. I guess we are all entitled to an opinion. Come to find out the professor of this course is a rather interesting individual. I really liked the relaxed atmosphere that he created. Even though the workshops were long and sometimes dull, it really adds to the experience. By the end I noticed most of the class was tired from saying the same things over and over. Which made the final “funny” poem that Professor showed us rather hilarious. It's true there is only so much that can be said. Sometimes I feel that being so critical on someones work, specially in poetry, makes it hard to say you didn't like it. I'm sure we all listened to peoples poems and maybe we didn't really enjoy them that much. Though, in an effort to help the person the class came together and instead of putting them down offered them great advice and even encouraged what they already had down. I think people coming together like this shows the ultimate success of the course. In today's world we often look past the other person and worry just about ourselves. This class really supported supporting others. I would like to end with the statement that I really enjoyed this course and I'm a little disappointed there is not a intermediate poetry course offered next semester because I really wanted to continue on as I am a creative writing major. I guess I will have to wait and see for next fall. Thank you all for you cooperation and making it a great semester.