- These are, according to Gioia and Lehman the "best" poems of 2018. Can you generalize about what it takes to write a "best" poem? What did you learn about poetry over the last few weeks? How did these readings confirm, or challenge, your previous feelings about poetry?
- Which poem was your favorite? Which poem did you struggle w/ the most?
- Kay Ryan's poem, "Some Transcendent Addiction to the Useless" quotes from critic George Steiner's The Poetry of Thought in her title. It's my understanding that Steiner argues that truly great art is bound up with "useless" skills (like writing poetry). This brings us back to our discussion on the first day: How useful is it to read poetry? To write it? Why are you required to do it in 102? Are you glad that you had to read a book of poetry? Or was it annoying? Or both?
- What questions do you still have about poetry, or about any of the poems in the anthology?
Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 102 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing, reading, and thinking on a weekly basis in an informal setting.
Monday, February 25, 2019
Finishing Up w/ Poetry
As we finish the anthology, I would like you to think about some of the following questions:
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What it takes to write a great poem I believe is some form of a style containing valuable literature that can allow the reader to paint a scenario on their own. Poems should also be able to draw something beyond the lines. One of my favorite poems is B.F.F on page 69, although it was not discussed in class I think I analyzed it pretty well. In the poem B.F.F the author speaks about a women named Amanda Elias (which I think is her) I say this because she said in order to be worthy she had to "wear her skin" or either she is actually talking about a friend. She talks about how her beauty struck others and how perfect she was that she mimicked her moves. At the end of the poem she talks about how Amanda has slit her wrist. I think this poem is basically saying no matter how appealing and how perfect you look it doesn't necessarily mean you are happy. This was one of my favorites because I could feel this personally as well. Poetry is very useful and is a very unique type of literature. Personally I can't write it just because when I write it, it doesn't seem like a poem but more as sentences that are indented. Poems for me are fun to read just because of the analysis you have to go through and poems could be very touching.
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