On House Of The Future

This section in the Maps To Anywhere book by Bernard Cooper is much more solemn and somber than previous sections. Cooper seems to be writing explicitly about the time in his life when his brother was dying. Obviously, this would have had a big impact on his life and it is probably something that is very painful for him to talk or write about. I think this section is a way for Cooper to help deal with this pain. Writing this House of the Future section may have helped him cope with the grief that he still feels.

The first essay in this section is titled House of the Future and it tells the story of the day his brother died. It also explains the origin of Cooper's obsession with futuristic architecture. In class we discussed that he may have been looking to the future for hope. He wanted to believe that in the future, medical science could be advanced enough so that his brother could live, and that homes in the future would have everything that would make him and his family happy. He describes the kind of futuristic kitchen his mother would want, and the garage his dad might dream of in the other essays in this section. I think Cooper was obsessed with imagining a better life for his family.

This section really focuses in on the relationship that Cooper had with his brother. Although, his brother was sick, Cooper describes all the fond memories he had with him. He seemed to have spent a lot of time with his brother, and it is obvious that he loved his brother, but I think that because he had to deal with the idea and the reality of his brother dying his writing is still very dreary. But it wasn't dreary to read. The language is very unique and Cooper controls it in a way that made me feel like I was nostalgically looking back on the sad memories of my own childhood.

On Maps To Anywhere by Bernard Cooper

It seems to me that creative essays are a very specific category of writing whose boundaries are fuzzy and questionable. Many of these essays, I feel, could also be called short stories.

Regardless, I really enjoy reading this collection of essays. Cooper writes in a way that is funny and beautiful. The essays are separate but connect through the presence of Cooper. They are like snapshots of his life. Many include his father and he seems to really value the relationship he has with his father.

I personally really liked the one he wrote called How To Draw. I thought that his thoughts on art were really important because many things he said hold a lot of truth. For example, he says that he looked to art when his brother began to fall ill. It is true that art has always been a good way for people to cope with something traumatic. Much contemporary art, which he said he had focused his studies on, has this theme of a therapeutic relationship between the art and the artist, or art and society. However, I can't say I completely agree that all of those crafts and little drawings that he said he loved most are also my favorite kind of art. I see art a bit differently than him, it seems, but I can certainly appreciate that kind of art. I know the importance so I don't discount any type of art. I just have my own preferences.

On Finishing Up Writing Down the Bones

I've been reading the last chunk of pages in this book and I've had some thoughts on the book as a whole.

First, it's been very helpful. I feel that I am actually very motivated by this book. The author is kind of demanding in some parts and I find that when writing, and in life in general, I need that aggressive voice to get me started. Goldberg also gives a lot of great instructions about writing. Not only getting into the habit of writing but also improving your writing. I think my writing has benefited from the time I've spent with this book.

Second, she really stresses the importance of where you write. She mentions in several chapters that she likes to write in cafes, and in fact more than one chapter is solely about writing in cafes or restaurants. That's what she prefers, but she says that finding a place that you like to write will improve your writing, and your relationship with it. I think this is some her best advice. I think that sometimes it really is all about the atmosphere and the environment, and the way they make you feel. Being in a place that you feel comfortable will make everything seem easier and more enjoyable.

Lastly, I've found that much of her advice is not only applicable to writing but also to art, and life:

• Pay attention to details.
• Don't get lazy.
• Go with your first thoughts.
• Don't be afraid of raw or uncomfortable topics.
• Look for beauty in everyday things/actions.
• Don't think about it too seriously.
• Indulge in your obsessions.
• Give attention to your subconscious dreams.
• Don't be chained down by strict logic.
• Don't be afraid.
• Be specific.
• Push yourself.
• Don't give up.
• Be yourself.
• Be patient.

All in all, I'm very glad to have read this book. It's challenged me to think about writing more complexly, and I will not forget its valuable advice.

On Night Women by Danticat

On Tuesday we spent the majority of class talking about the story Night Women, and I felt that the story has a lot of depth and deserved the time we gave it. I think the story is very much about this woman's internal conflict. Her position in society and her relationship with her son prevent her from living openly. Her feelings about her sex life and her feelings about her son are causing her to fret over her decisions when raising him, I think.

 I also think that, not only is this topic relevant in Haiti where extreme poverty may force some women into prostitution, but it is also relevant in many other countries. Especially the United States where prostitution is pretty common and sex workers are shamed relentlessly by society. It really made me think about the roles of society, and how they have, it seems, almost an even tighter grasp on people in impoverished areas. That must make living and surviving much harder..

Today we are to talk about the Shange story which I have read and find very difficult to dissect. I'm curious to see what other people think about it, because I found it a little confusing. It seems like Indigo is a headstrong little girl living in the south trying to teach herself to learn the fiddle. She seems to not be very well accepted in the neighborhood because of her constant music, but she doesn't seem to care at all. Her fascination with music is evident and becomes her defining characteristic, I think. I'm not sure what the moral of the story could be; it was kind of hard to take it all in after one reading.

On the Short Shorts

I definitely enjoy fiction much more than poetry. Although, some of these short shorts feel like poems anyway, like the Mystery stories. However, I can appreciate this kind of writing much more than poetry.

The first short story of the packet was called Survivors. I hated this story, because it reflected reality. I am really saddened by the fact that people with different sexual orientations are still so unaccepted in society. It is not fair that they have to survive while straight people live normally, for the most part. Adding the fact that the two men in this story are ill and going to die just makes it that much more heartbreaking. Also, all the personal details and bits and pieces the narrator reveals about their life makes it even more sad, and the fact that he refers to his boyfriend as his lover. It was just so sad and it made me very angry. It is incredible how much feeling and sadness the author packed into that tiny story.

I also read the Ungulated story about the woman and the deer that kept eating the plants in her garden. I really liked this story mostly because the language was so beautiful. The author was very descriptive and the garden I came to picture in my head while reading was very detailed and pretty. Aside from the language, I enjoyed the fact that the story became a metaphor for possibly thousands of different situations. So many possibilities to apply this message of determination to. Again, I find it really amazing that an author could put that much meaning into such a short story. It seems like it would be very difficult.

More Thoughts On More Goldberg

I find that I really enjoy the Goldberg book. I think the author is kind of funny and she keeps everything short and to the point which I appreciate in this kind of book. I mean the kind of book that is instructive. It'd be very tedious to have to read long chapters on her writing process. This second portion that we have been instructed to read was every bit as informative and entertaining as the first part. I really enjoy the flow of this book. Every chapter is connected but you could also open it up to any chapter, read it, and understand completely.

The chapter I spoke about in class was titled "What Are Your Deep Dreams?" and I said that I was intrigued by the fact that we have "periphery wishes" that we pay no attention to. It seems very silly to me to have wishes that we do not know about, but after thinking about it I think it is quite normal and actually I have a lot of periphery wishes. I feel like I should thank Goldberg for bringing them to my attention. Anyway, she says that writing without thinking too hard will bring out those subconscious dreams and you will make them real by putting them down on paper. She also said that by writing them down it makes them less avoidable, and maybe we will get around to achieving our deep dreams because of it. I absolutely agree.

Another chapter I enjoyed was the "Action of a Sentence" chapter. This chapter was fun to read and was actually very good advice, I think. I read often, and when I do I often wonder how authors come up with such unique descriptive ways of saying things. I'm convinced this must be how, and I plan to try it. Mainly, it seems like it would be very fun and also beneficial to my writing skills. Win/win.

Finally, I also loved the chapter on "Writing in Restaurants." Goldberg frequently talks about writing in cafes and public places throughout this entire book. I think it's a great idea, although, I don't think I've ever done it. It seems like it would be easier to write for a long period of time if I was somewhere quiet, but not too quiet. Somewhere with background noise, like a restaurant or cafe. For some reason trying to write in complete silence is really difficult. I find it curious though, that, in my opinion, it is much easier to read in complete silence than somewhere with background noise. Although, I could read almost anywhere, but it's true I'd much rather read in total silence and write with noise.

I Don't Understand Anything: Thoughts on Tocqueville from Tocqueville

I found it really frustrating that I could not figure out what even a small portion of this poem means. I don't understand how to read and decipher poetry. If I did I think I still would have no idea what's going on with this 20+ page poem.

The biggest issue I have with it is the format. It's super disjointed and there's no continuous flow. It's hard to read and understand when the narrative jumps around so much. I like the concept of including real people's stories but not when I don't know how to follow them. Some parts of the poem I can make some pretty good, I think, guesses about what he's trying to say but then the next part will be seemingly on a completely different train of thought. It is exhausting to try to string everything together.

I'm pretty sure, based on the other poems in the book and some of the discussion we have had in class, that basically the poem is supposed to be about global issues dealing with race and religion. Specifically, commenting on Middle Eastern relations and culture juxtaposed with and influenced by American culture. However, I can't really get any more specific because I'm just not sure. Every guess I make about the poem will have evidence supporting it and evidencing contradicting it so I don't think I can narrow it down much more. Maybe that is how it is supposed to be. I don't know.

I do like some things about Tocqueville. I like the language because it varies so much. In some parts it is casual dialogue, some parts are descriptive narratives, some parts are blunt criticisms; all of that together makes it an interesting experience to read. I also like that it is trying to convey an important and relevant message about American culture. I just wish I knew exactly what that message was.

Basically, my reaction to this poem is that I want someone to tell me exactly what the author is trying to say and how he's saying it so that I can go back to the beginning and reread it with that in mind so that hopefully it will all click into place and I can move on from this poem with something more than awful feelings of confusion and inadequacy.

Tocqueville First Twenty Pages Response

I didn't really know what to expect when I began reading Tocqueville. I've never read a book of poetry before. I've only read singular poems or a collection of poems pulled from multiple sources like the poetry packet we studied in class. I found that the poems in Tocqueville are very different in style and format, but they share an overall theme. The general theme the author seems to be dealing with is social and political issues on a global scale particularly concerning race and religion. Aside from this over-arching theme, the poems are very different in format.

The poem I chose to focus on is titled Ecclesiastes. From the title alone I can tell that the poem is about Christianity or a Christian holy text. The poem seems to be critical of the Christian system. He uses the words "rule" and "trick" repeatedly and set up the poem in an instructive sort of format. I think the words "rule" and "trick" are important because a rule is typically something you are obligated to follow and try to avoid breaking; a trick is usually a way of getting around rules without actually breaking them. In the case of this poem, the author sets up the stanzas so that both a rule and a trick are in almost all of them and the trick counteracts the rule. For example, he writes, "The rule is to make them feel they've come too late / The trick is that you're willing to make exceptions." This is the basic format; sometimes the trick comes first and other times one rule or one trick is stated and followed up by another line reinforcing the rule or trick. I think the format is important because he's kind of commenting on the rule system of Christianity. He could be basing his rules and tricks off of the actions of Christian leaders or followers in recent events and throughout history.

So basically I think the author is trying to say that the "rules" that the system of Christianity is supposed to exist by are being thwarted by the members of the belief system. But I think he could also be saying that the members have gradually changed the "rules" to fit their most recent desires. I think by naming the poem after a holy text from the Old Testament he's kind of criticizing the original "rules" but also the changes that have occurred and he's saying that both have a purposefully oppressive affect on other groups of people. I think he's arguing that the system, but not necessarily the values, of Christianity is oppressing groups of other religions and such by bending rules to fit their specific desires and outright tricking people; making them believe things that aren't true and giving them false hope.

I think there is more to be said about this poem but it's hard to keep myself from reading possibly too far into it. But I think that's why I liked this poem so much; because it is packed with meaning that I immediately began to dissect it. Also I think it says a lot about how belief systems come with pros, but also cons, and we don't always see the cons, especially with such a large and popular religion such as Christianity. Lastly, I think it also says a lot about the tricky behavior that seems to be prone to religious leaders. When someone has the power to influence a large belief system they usually cause some sort of corruption, and I think that is something that affects the world largely. So, this poem and the other poems in this book have really relevant issues that they address and may help shed some light on the process towards solutions.

Thoughts on "Writing Down The Bones"

So I've read the first sixty pages of Writing Down The Bones and, generally, I really like the book. It's easy to read, it's humorous, and it has a lot of great advice. I really do enjoy writing so I find the author's tips helpful and insightful. I think that everyone who enjoys writing should probably read this book and try to follow the advice.

She talks a lot about writing absolutely everyday. No excuses. I don't think I could discipline myself to do that, but she gives advice on how to do that as well. Writing every single day, to me, sounds enjoyable actually, therapeutic even. But still I don't have the time to sit down everyday to write for any amount of time. Other than that, I find that all her advice is pretty reasonable and very helpful.

I find that I see many parallels between how she talks about writing and how I think about art. Art is my major so I think about it a lot, and many of the process for making art and writing are the same. For example, when I was in my first drawing class my professor encouraged us to draw every day just as Goldberg encourages us to write everyday.

My drawing professor also encouraged us to find a new way to see things in life so that we may translate what we see onto the page. It's really very complicated to explain now that I think about it. Basically, us artists must learn to see things without a filter, so to speak. We try to see simply what is there. Not what we think we know is there. For example, if you were asked to draw a tree maybe you would start with two vertical lines for the trunk and then some diagonal lines for branches and then maybe some wild scribbling to describe the leaves, and it would look like a tree. Anyone who's ever seen a tree before could look at your drawing and identify a tree. But if I was asked to draw a tree I would spend a lot of time looking at trees in real life and I would see the trees as what they are, and then try to draw that. I know that if I drew a tree with simple lines and scribbles it would still look like a tree to everyone because everyone knows what a tree generally looks like. To draw a realistic tree I have to see the tree first. Goldberg says kind of the same thing about writing. She talks about seeing daily life as a writer and how it is different from how other people see daily life. A writer looking at a tree not only sees a trunk and leaves; the writer sees every little detail. When the writer writes about the tree they describe it with accurate detail so that when someone reads what they've wrote they picture the tree. Detail, I've learned, is extremely important to both writers and artists.

Poetry Packet Response

Overall I found the poetry packet to be pretty diverse. The formats and subject matter of the poems varied enough that it was a wholesome resource to learn from. However, I'm not a huge fan of poetry. I don't like not knowing what the hell the author is trying to say. That being said, I find some poetry generally interesting to read purely because of the words. Poetry seems to be unique in a way that allows the writer to arrange words into sequences that are simply interesting to read; even if this arrangement has no meaning. Or maybe it all has meaning but the reader has to dig really deep to find it and even then it's only speculation. Exhausting. Maybe I'm being unfair and simply ignorant of how poetry is supposed to work. I hope I learn something about it so I can really appreciate poetry.

The first poem I found the most interesting to read. Geology of Water by Reginald Shepherd had a lot of interesting scientific vocabulary. A previous knowledge of basic geology is required to fully understand some of the lines. The general meaning of the poem is kind of lost on me. I might speculate that the poem is talking about time but I'm not too sure. I also really like the poem called In The Tree. It gave off a serene and calming mood that I found really pleasant. Again, I'm not too sure about the meaning but my best guess is the effect of the changing weather on the mind or possibly dreams. The Shakespeare Sonnets were generally uninteresting to me but the in class debate and comments we made were pretty interesting and the ideas were certainly still relevant.

I think I have come to the conclusion that the poems that tell more of a story are more interesting to me. The poem titled Tell Me What You Know About Dismemberment told sort of a story with vivid and gruesome detail that really caught my attention and played with my emotions. It sort of made me want to act on the problem but still I'm not entirely sure what reaction to the poem is appropriate. The Scent of Verbena poem was also interesting to read because it was also a story. In general I found the poetry packet to be a confusing, yet interesting resource.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Jordan Oliva and this is my blog for Creative Writing.
I am a freshman at EMU and I am majoring in Art. I plan to declare a minor in literature soon but I'm still a bit undecided in that area. As an Art Major I am required to choose a field to concentrate on for my degree and although I have not officially declared this either I am leaning towards drawing. With all this in mind I hope to find a career that blends art and literature into one and I hope that by taking this class I will learn some new skills that will help me be more successful in my art and writing and analysis of literature.