Extra Credit Blog

There were two similar quotes that stood out to me from today’s class. One, from George Orwell, the author of 1984, which stated that “In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act,” and one from Abu Dawud which stated that “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a veil.” Both of these quotes spoke out as examples of universal concealment. When everyone is hiding or concealing themselves, it becomes difficult for an individual to show their true identity.

George Orwell lived at a time where having a powerful government and a feeling of nationalism were idolized. In his novel 1984, he displays the situation where one man is broken down by a society that does not appreciate his opinion. His main character, Winston Smith, tries to find the truth, be himself, and live the life he wants to live, but instead is looked down upon and imprisoned, and society does not help him. At a time where everyone is silent and scared to be themselves, standing out in order to achieve happiness and self fulfillment becomes difficult.

This idea is also presented in the quote from Abu Dawud. While there is a common, moral concept of modesty, both Judaism and Islam have an extra practice of modesty which includes the covering of the hair for married, Jewish women and the covering of the head and chest for Islamic women. In the times of the Jewish temple, if a woman was accused of adultery, she would be brought to the temple where the priest would “stand the women before the Lord and expose the hair on the head of the women” (Numbers). Because concealing the hair is such a common practice, it is embarrassing to point of feeling forced to admit to sin, to be exposed. Similarly in Islam, many women feel that the rules of women's’ dress, driving, schooling, etc.. are oppressive. Standing out, because it is something that everyone does, is difficult and dangerous.

For both these government-based and religious-based sources, the idea of exposing one’s identities and opinions in a world where no one else does, is a difficult world to live in. If one feels embarrassed, threatened, or judged, they will hide. However, this are feelings that everyone has and if everyone hides, it will be that much harder for people to be themselves.

JJ Kampf's "The Modern Prometheus"

In his poem, “The Modern Prometheus,” JJ Kampf makes the story of Prometheus relatable to modern-day teenagers through a humorous tone created by structure and the details of the common babysitting job. By having the continuous structure of the reality coming before the italicized request of the parents, the poem flows in a way that the teenage reader can easily understand and laugh at, as Prometheus becomes relatable to the situations they face as the average weekend babysitter. Even the examples given add to the humorous tone, as he explains candy hanging out of mouths are “like gymnasts hanging from wide beams.” These relatable circumstances, such as the children beginning to “litter the living room with toys” and their eyes are “glued to the screen like a hawk,” put Prometheus in an understandable, relatable experience that any teenager can pick up on.

In the Well

Andrew Hudgins, in his poem “In the Well,” adds suspense through an adventurous tone created by organized structure and rhyme, as well as imagery. The repetition of four line stanzas with the second and last line rhyming, creates a flow, that with the added imagery, allows the reader to dive into the experience of saving the dog with suspense. The first sentence already grabs the reader's attention, as they want to find out why the speaker’s father is lowering him down into darkness through a rope. With the imagery of the “blood, which spiked my mouth with iron” and the “wet fur” all add to the suspense the reader is in. These are abnormal situations that the reader’s senses cannot comprehend, so they are curious to find out why it is the speaker is in the well. Through these techniques of structure and imagery, suspense is created, which allows the reader to be lured into the poem and share the heroic experience with the speaker.

Cartoon Physics, part 1

The stanzas and examples in Nick Flynn’s poem, “Cartoon Physics, part 1,” creates a child-like and suspenseful tone that allows the readers to understand the importance of a child’s imagination and ignorance. The stanzas are in a pattern of three lines, one line, two lines, and one line. This creates a constant flow that leaves the reader in the suspense a child might be in to find out more about the world, like the reader wants to read more about the subject of the poem. The examples of the kind of knowledge a kid should have is created by comparing their knowledge to that of the impossible physics of a cartoon. Kids should think that anything is possible, such as running “into a burning house” or drawing “a door on a rock.” Flynn is creating this suspense to find out more information to point out that kids know everything that they need to know and that for kids, this quality of being naive is good and healthy.

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Lette

Robert Bly, in his poem “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter,” uses a calm, pleasant tone, created by imagery and syntax tools, to invite the reader into his experience of mailing the letter. By describing the “swirls of snow” or the “cold iron,” the reader can easily relate to the little experiences of a snowy night that may seem insignificant, but in this poem, create the scene. The short sentences, some even broken up into different clauses, allows the reader to remain calm and let each idea create the picture of a snowy night. These tools create a calm tone that allow the reader to get lost in this snowy night and “waste more time” just like the author writes.

School Day Afternoon

Through his childlike tone he creates through imagery and connotation,  Dave Etter shares the exciting feeling of a child being home alone, in his poem “School Day Afternoon.” The fact that the child is creating a sugar sandwich shows that he is having fun on his own, as this is something his mother would not allow him to eat as a snack. Instead of doing homework, the kid goes to explore “the birds and the gigantic blue silo” which he brings in at the end of his poem as well. This is also imagery of freedom, as his parents would not let him winder the fields alone, especially before his homework. His detailed dreams and the fact that he places an exclamation point after stating that his mother is “not coming home till dark” shows that he is excited and has no worries since he is home alone. This exciting imagery of a child is what Etter uses to make his readers feel the excitement of being a child experiencing freedom.

The Meadow

Kate Knapp Johnson, in her poem “The Meadow,” share his experience of over thinking by creating a calm tone through his imagery. Johnson’s poem uses the imagery of the thinking by the window in order to make her poem relatable and understandable. Her readers know the feeling of looking out the window or onto a landscape to ponder on an idea. Instead of simply stating that the time has passed, Johnson explains that “two inches of snow have fallen over the meadow.” This calm imagery shows how lengthy and time consuming it is to space out, get lost in a train of thought, and over-analyze. Through the calm imagery of looking out onto a meadow, the readers themselves are getting lost in a dream of looking onto a beautiful landscape. Johnson connects to her audience in this short poem through this imagery and leaves her readers with a calm tone to begin their own lengthy thought process.

Prometheus Poem

How do we react to the loss of power?

We feel our way through the dark, we light candles

Then we call an electrician.

How do we react to the loss of wifi?

We work at Starbucks, we breakdown in stress

Then we call Ms. Shepherd.

If the whole country’s economic system failed,

How do we react to the loss of stability?

We panic, we cannot function, we try and tackle unemployment.

Then we call upon our congress, our president.

When we call out to our congress, our mayor, our electrician, we expect to saved.

When we call out to our wifi controller, we expect to saved.

We praise those who help us with joy and thanks,

However, Lonely and longing for a rescuer is left President Prometheus.

Who restored our stability, our chance for progress,

Who restored his people’s power.

American Cheese

Jim Daniels, in his poem “American Cheese,” gives off a child-like, reminiscing tone to his readers by appealing to the tastes and experiences of his childhood, and the child-hood many Americans have experienced. The reader right away acknowledges the speakers conflict with his adult life when he tells himself that the fancy cheeses are okay in lines four and five. When he speaks about his “Day-old Wonder Bread” and folded slice of American Cheese, the reader can easily relate to their small, yet pleasant memories of their life at home. The speaker explains that his mom does not even remember him being a “cheese eater, plain like that,” because even though it was not a big deal, the small things are a big deal to the reader when it comes to remembering his simple life before he was an adult. By these small details of the speaker’s childhood, the reader walks away with memories of their childhood, reminiscing on their simple lives growing up as well.

Advice from the Experts

“Advice from the Experts,” by Bill Knott, leaves the reader in suspense by his short, detailed lines that lead the reader to understand the act the speaker is about to commit. The first line uses the word “I lay” showing that the speaker is currently making some sort of action, the reader now continue reading to find out what he/she will do. The next line says “my feet against,” showing that the speaker is getting ready to take action. The next two lines are in past tense, showing that the speaker is now taking into consideration the different factors that may have kept him from his action, which the reader now knows is to jump. Because Bill Knott took the reader through the decision process and the preparation for the jump, they are left in suspense of whether or not the speaker will jump or listen to the gawkers.

After Us

Connie Wanek, in his poem “After Us,” forces the reader to feel confusion and curiosity towards the meaning of life, by comparing life to a day and the weather patterns. The first stanza begins with death, by explaining what rain is falling. In this poem, rain is the symbolism for death because of its somber, gloomy connotation. Right after it mentions the things that happened in the sun and in the morning, when it was light. Connie Wanek wants the reader to notice that while everything that we do in life, such as working and playing music, is light and pleasant, but once we die, there are no guarantees of what life is like, only confusing, gloomy rain. By comparing life to light and death to gloomy darkness, the reader feels anxious and curious as to what might happen after death.

Wheels

Jim Daniels gives off a somber and sorrow tone in his poem, “Wheels,” by using parallelism and descriptive imagery. By repeating the word “waving” after every description of the brother, the reader slowly feels an attachment to the brother, by getting to know him, one characteristic at a time. The word “waving” completes one characteristic of the brother, and allows the reader to get a clear picture of him, before moving on to a new fact. This, and the descriptive details, such as “in an old Ford pickup,” allows the reader to get attached to the bother and his growing family, and really allows the reader to feel his loss after the crash. By using these techniques, the reader feels the sorrow and the loss of the brother, even though they do not know him.

Radio

Laurel Blossom, in her poem “Radio” uses short, informal sentences to share the shock and unsettling feeling that comes with being a victim of robbery. By repeating the phrase “no radio,” the speaker is showing the state of shock he/she is in. The speaker has to continuously state was is missing to process that it was actually taken. By making short stanzas with slang, such as “No radio, No nuthin, (no kidding),” the author gives the impression that this poem was written in the moment and helps the reader feel the shock. By stating “please” and “thank you” close to the end of the poem, the speaker again sounds desperate and in shock. These techniques of short sentences, repetition of “no radio,” and informal language help the reader relate to the shocked and desperate feeling the speaker experiences.

The Partial Explanation

Charles Simic, in his poem “The Partial Explanation,” creates a lonely, and melancholy tone through imagery, diction, and syntax, in order to share his feelings with the reader. By creating the feeling of a cold, lonely day through the snow and the ice, through commonly understood imagery, the reader can easily feel the speaker's loneliness and impatience. By choosing words that are associated with waiting in solitude, such as “time,” “grimmy little luncheonette,” and “myself,” Simic adds to the feeling of loneliness and makes it easily relatable to the reader, whether this specific restaurant situation has happened to them or not. The short sentences also help the reader focus on the individual, important details. For example, if the author did not put “at this table I chose myself” in its own line, the reader might not understand the irony in the fact that the speaker regrets picking to loneliest table. Through these short lines and the descriptive diction and imagery, Charles Simic makes this poem of loneliness relatable to any reader.

The Poet

Tom Wayman, in his poem "The Poet," brings the poet to life, line by line, through a silly, yet serious tone, by creating a catalog poem with repetition. Wayman lists the characteristics of a poet with short, simple sentences to keep it fun, while giving off an impression of a poet to the reader. For example, he explains that the poet “Does not understand what he reads” and “Does not understand what he hears.” While this is slightly humorous, as it is meant to be impossible for the reader to comprehend, it does actually represent the fact that the poet has trouble comprehending what he/she hears, due to the over-analyzation. The fact that Wayman begins his lines with repeating words, such as “cannot,” “does not,” “may,” and “has difficulty” is what makes this poem a catalog poem. This gives the reader a full description of the poet, so they are left with no unanswered questions, just a desire to read into the picture Wayman has presented them with. Through these short, descriptive statements that make up a catalog poem, Tom Wayman brings the poet to life for his readers to understand.

Neglect

R. T. Smith’s “Neglect” leaves his readers with a feeling of regret and longing to bring back the past, by sharing those feelings through detailed metaphors and emphasis on what is important. By sharing the details that his neglect caused the plant to “skew the sap’s passage, blacken leaves, dry the bark and the heart” the reader can picture in their mind something they neglected and the stages it went through as it withered. Smith hopes that through this metaphor, the reader can perhaps share the feeling of regret he shows in the next stanza, starting “I should have.” Smith also places emphasis on what is important in the poem. For example, he capitalizes the name of the plant to show that he neglected what was so important. He also rhymes the last two sentences to drag attention to them, as they sum up all of the feelings expressed through metaphors in the previous stanzas. By focusing in on details of the metaphor of an apple plant, Smith pushes his readers to feel regret, perhaps towards something in their own lives they have neglected.

At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border

William E. Stafford, in his poem “At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border,” forces his readers to honor peace, rather than war, by using a unique rhyme scheme and contrasting images of what is imagined and what is reality. Stafford’s rhyme scheme highlights phrases that contrast each other in the first stanza. For example, he compares having heroic soldiers to a heroic sky by rhyming “die” and “sky.” He does the same when comparing grass to a monument by rhyming “hands” and “stands.” The most influential tool that Stafford uses is imagery that is not the reality. The poem’s title already shows his negative attitude toward the fact that this field is not monumental, but shows us why it should be by comparing it to a field that is. By writing phrases such as “the battle did not happen” and “no people killed or were killed,” Stafford is making his reader question whether places of war should be honored. By comparing a peaceful field to that of war, the reader begins to recognize that we should be honoring peace, not heroic actions of war.

Do You Have Any Advice for those of us Just Starting Out?

Ron Koertge, in his poem “Do You Have Any Advice for those of us Just Starting Out?,” creates a creative and productive environment for the reader by creating relatable imagery that contrasts with each other. When Koertge suggests bringing a cheap notebook with “a kitten or a spaceship” on the front, the imagery is becoming more relatable to the reader. The reader can think of the dollar section at target or the many notebooks he/she has been given as presents that are cute but they have no thoughts to be put in them. The reader than suggests going outside to think and compares those who think outside the box and are happy to those that think inside the box and are un-creative by explaining the contrasting imagery of the child in the library. The third to last stanza uses the words “the higher it gets” and “grins” to show how happy the child is to be going outside of social norms. The second to last stanza uses the words “falls” and “frowns”to show that others are unhappy with those that go outside the social norms. These contrasting uses of imagery show that one is happy and creative once they begin to think outside the box, like a child would. By creating relatable and understandable imagery and contrasting the mood of a creative thinker with those of the average man/woman, Ron Koertge creates a productive environment for an aspiring writer.

Flight

In “Flight,” Laurel Blossom creates an easy-going, fun tone, by including rhyme, meter, and her own twist on common knowledge of the regions of the United States. By creating the easy to follow rhyme scheme of ending three lines with the same sound, such as “you”, “goo”, and “do,” Blossom creates an on-going flow that the reader does not have to struggle to keep up with. This lets the reader relax and enjoy the poem, like the author enjoys the Florida sun. By having a meter that includes few syllables per line, the reader again forces an easy flow of the poem to make it more easy-going. Blossom brings the fun of Florida to life by adding her own, humorous take on simple words. For example, she says “land of euphoria” where the rhyme and meter would lead to the reader expecting to hear “land of the free.” By creating an poem that is easy to follow along with an exciting and fun to read, Laurel Blossom brings the Florida attitude to life and creates an environment of freedom and fun in the sun.

The Summer I was Sixteen

In “The Summer I was Sixteen,” Geraldine Connolly creates a nostalgic tone by explaining her summer as a teenager in great detail using imagery that presents her past in both a joyful and judgmental way. Connolly uses imagery such as the “turquoise pool” and the “mirage of bubbles” to create a feeling for the reader of the freedom and fun of summer vacation. However, she also uses imagery to describe the naive child she was at the time. By saying that she “did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy” and comparing the cotton candy to the “sweet furtive kisses” she is showing that being a teenager is not all about fun. She later explains that they were “tossing a glance through the chain link at an improbable world.” She uses these examples of teenage drama and confusion to show that even though it was a simple time, she is only somewhat nostalgic, as she sees that she has come far from that naive stage of her life. By using the imagery of both fun times and times of drama and confusion, Geraldine Connolly brings the typical teenage summer in a way that makes the reader feel both nostalgic, but also glad they have grown up and are no longer curios or focused on boys and what their future may hold.