More Poetry

Last week friday we did the writing prompts and discussed Writing down the Bones. We also talked more about the poetry in our packets and discussed, discussed, discussed.

The point I made in class was how in the writing down the bones, Goldberg said that you should write as if you are digging down deep, or writing down our bones. This would include the deepest things that we could think of to write down. It relates to what the writing prompt was about.

The writing prompt was all about writing down what came to our minds. Professor Darling would say a word (a prompt) and we had to write down everything that came to mind when that word was said. Surprisingly, when those words were said the words flowed from my pen onto the paper. A good paragraph was written for each prompt, I was overcome with a feeling of accomplishment when I read my paragraphs full of memories, thoughts, and other phrases that was almost poetic. That lead to this week's writing assignment.

Writing poetry about these feelings and words that only make sense to me may sound easy, but it is difficult. Trying to find a flow for the one prompt, to make it look like the other poems we looked at in class. I know I am not a professional poetry writer, but to make poetry that I think is good enough to share with others is very difficult. Let's see how it goes.

Sonnets and Poems...Sonnets and Poems

Last Friday we read some sonnets. One of Shakespeare's, one of Mullen's, and one of Berrigan's. I have to say, even though I do not appreciate sonnets as much as a poem fanatic, I did like these ones.

The first sonnet was Shakespeare's sonnet 130. In my group in class, we discussed how this woman that the narrator was talking about did not seem like an attractive one. Her eyes are nothing like the sun? Black wires grow on her head? YIKES! At the end, however, the narrator seems to be more attracted to her. Possibly by her personality, maybe just because opposites attract, or maybe he just feels bad for her. We were not sure, but we were sure that this love that the narrator was experiencing was more of a true love.

The same went for the second sonnet by Mullen. Mullen's sonnet was more of a revision of Shakespeare's, meaning that it was more modern. Her peepers are nothing like neon and the special at Red Lobster is redder than her kisser. Like Shakespeare's sonnet, he claims that he loves this woman more than any movie idol or lanky model that walked the earth. We thought this was also more of a truer love than the superficial "love" you hear and see in this time. Honestly, these two sonnets were really romantic.

The last sonnet by Berrigan, however, was hysterically funny. It was funny because it was pretty much true. This sonnet was more about the physical superficial attraction that we see so much of. The narrator speaks about going to the movies, having sex, and suddenly becoming pregnant. In this society we live in we see much of that. "Teenage love" is nothing more than raging hormones and having children young. Kids are raising kids nowadays! I did like this sonnet because of the humor and truthfulness in it, but it was completely opposite from what Shakespeare and Mullen wrote about.

Hopefully more poems will be like these in future readings!!!!

First Post: Introduction

Our first assignment for creative writing is to make an introduction about ourselves and the course.

My name is Eileen, I'm a sophomore at EMU, and have an undecided major as of right now. Some things came up last year and right now i'm taking classes and trying to figure out what my interests are and what I want to major in. I'm think communications because I love to talk to people and I love the performing arts..but who knows?

This class is creative writing. I'm taking it because it is always a good idea to take writing classes for whatever major you are looking into. I have much experience writing papers from the past (high school mainly) and now I thought it was time to take a writing class that is more fun. Who knows, maybe creative writing will influence what major i choose?

For right now I'm taking life one day at a time and seeing what life has to offer.