Which is the "easiest" poem in the collection so far? For me, "Walking
Home" (44) is the least challenging of the poems in this early part of
the reading. Do you agree or would you suggest a different one? What
makes a poem easy to read? If this poem--or a different one--is easy to
understand, does that make it superior or inferior to more difficult
ones? Speaking of difficulty, which poem so far have you struggled with
the most?
Also, what makes these poems? (As opposed to prose.) What stylistic
qualities have you noticed in addition to line breaks? Rhyme? Metaphor?
Rhythm?
What questions do you have so far?
Also, a reminder: We
will be meeting in class tomorrow (Th. 2/14, Happy Valentines Day) for
our group critique. You only need to bring one copy of your draft b/c
we'll be heading over to the Writing Center for the second half of
class.
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.
I thing any poem is easy to read but without knowing the meaning for some of the words we stubble upon can be challenging to even understand what the poet is talking about.... I would advice my classmates to always google the words or even use a dictionary try to find a synonym of that word so next time you see it your able to identify it. This is what I do and I think The Quiet boy is pretty easy and straight forward.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I feel a poem could be easier to understand once u really think of the deep meaning each one of them may have.Futhermore when it comes to writing a poem it's easier to put how you really feel abouth the topic you choose then the process goes very smoothly at the end.
ReplyDeleteReading the poem is the easy part. Trying to interpret what the author is expressing is what can be challenged. Poems are meant for the readers to come up with their own meaning. As long as the reader can interpret a meaning from what the author has expressed poetry can be easy to interpret. The only challenge you may face is the vocabulary. If the vocabulary is challenging, you could look up the definition. Which will influence your own vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteOf all the poems that I've read, "Walking Home" does seem the least challenging. From the first two words in the poem along with the title my initial guess was that the poem dealt with death. Reading further my initial thought seemed accurate. Some may have a different interpratation and the verses of the poem may also fit their interpretation. A poem is easy to read if after reading a couple of lines one can immediatiely attach some meaning that logically follows through the rest of the poem. Because a poem is easy to read that does not make it superior to another. It is difficult to state specific characteristics that would make poem superior to another. In my opinion, poets use a variety of styles to portray their thoughts in a poem. Poets write on a variety of topics, use a variety of language, styles, use a variety of symbols and the reader is left to interpret what has been written. Styles, use of language, use of symbols and use of words cannot be judged in terms of superiority. "Yonder, a Rental" was the most difficult poem thus far. Difficult in applying a meaning does make it superior. In the poems read thus far, the majority seems to utilize a lot of symbolism. "Yonder, a Rental" refers a celestial sphere, a silver dollar, a fluent wall, a disk of doll hair, a dollop of Neufchatel. Taken together three was some difficulty in interpreting the meaning of the poem. The poems also utilize symbolism like "Love Poem: Chimera" which used the image of a mythical creature to compare to the human body in times to come. Why the poet entitles or uses the word love in the title of the poem also is not clear. All the poems uses long lines and seem to be relating a story. Some tells the story which is easy to follow except for a few difficult words. Others have developed a symbolic way of relating their message. In conclusion, my main question relates to the decision making that goes into selecting a particular style for creating a poem. Do poets focus their line of work only one symbolism, only on love, only on culture, only on the use of short phrases, what is the the focus that drives a poet to write a poem?
ReplyDelete