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.