Poetry?
As an English major, poetry has always been one of my least favorite types of writing to write and to analyze; I always tend to overthink, and I convince myself that the poem is trying to say something more than what I assume it could be saying. Over the last year or so, however, I have found myself enjoying poetry much more than I had in the past. I actually found the activity in class we did actually did help me learn to appreciate poetry more. For the first activity, we wrote about something that had shaped our worldview and then we had to turn those words into a poem of the structure of our choice. I chose driving, because I really hate driving, and wrote a haiku:
A stretch of freeway
Trucks dueling for dominance
I lose, as always.
I think this activity took the overthinking out of the equation for me; whenever I am tasked with writing poetry I immediately overthink--like it has to be something heady or clever-- when in reality poetry can be about whatever you want it to be and I was just putting unnecessary pressure on myself when reading/writing it. I think an assignment like this would probably help my future students who may be in a similar place as I was; simplifying the idea of poetry first so writing it doesn't seem so daunting is a great way to introduce writing poetry to students. It also gets them thinking about the structure of other poems that they have read. In one of my other classes (ENGL 406) we had to read some articles in groups, and the article my group had to read was about how reading and writing are linked; the more you read, the better you write and vice versa. I think this definitely comes into play with poetry; the more you read it and write about it, the easier it can be to write your own. The mystery behind writing goes away when you know the tools needed to write. While there are differences between actually writing poetry and writing about it, both can help you get a better understanding of the genre as a whole.
Hey, McKenna!
ReplyDeleteI love that you talk about your dislike for poetry. I think many assume that, as English majors, we have always loved the subject or that we love every facet of it. For me, growing up, I disliked reading and writing until I had that moment at 12 that sparked my interest. Poetry was especially hard for me because it felt subjective. It was a stark contrast from math, which had steadfast rules. I couldn't understand poetry, and what I could understand felt wrong, and I agree that if I did what we did in class, I would have been more encouraged than defeated. I like that you put your haiku here so we see your process. I think it would have been a good addition to the slam night! I love how relatable it is. I completely understand your overthinking tendency because I, too, am prone to it, and I love multilayered meanings. It reminds me of a saying one of my friends always says, “ I never endeavor to be clever,” which in itself is clever. I definitely think that the more poetry I read, the more creative I get. I feel ignited and inspired.