I recently had the opportunity to read "We Real Cool", by Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem was new to me and I had mixed emotions about it. At the start of the poem you understand that the work takes place in a pool hall. The Golden Shovel seems to be an interesting name for a pool hall. The people there are drinking, smoking and having a good time. As you continue on, the mood remains complex. You can't tell if the people there are trying to escape reality or if they are there to just enjoy themselves. The very last line of the poem puts the reality back into the work. "We die soon". This line states the inevitable. Sooner or later everyone and everything dies. A very somber line if you ask me. Much like the changing of the seasons, the mood of this poem changed drastically. Poetry has the ability to change that quickly. The tone and feeling of a poem can change on a dime. Each year the seasons change, that’s a given. However, the speed at which they do is unknown. I can remember a few years ago, fall changed to winter almost overnight. I was not ready for that change, much like I wasn't ready for the last line in "We Real Cool". The way poetry is able to change so quickly amazes me. Seasons and poetry are similar and is able to affect people in different ways.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Seasons of change
Seasons change. Spring flows into summer. A summer change to fall, and fall fades into winter. This change in the weather can be seen in the change in our mood as well. Personally, I find that I am in a better mood when the warmer weather occurs. In the colder months, I tend to be less cheerful and it’s harder for me to stay motivated. Summer is my favorite time of the time year, partly due to the fact that school is out! The change of the seasons is a beautiful time. I love watching the leaves change on the trees and the smell of autumn. In poetry, you can watch the mood or tone of the poem change from the beginning to the end.
I recently had the opportunity to read "We Real Cool", by Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem was new to me and I had mixed emotions about it. At the start of the poem you understand that the work takes place in a pool hall. The Golden Shovel seems to be an interesting name for a pool hall. The people there are drinking, smoking and having a good time. As you continue on, the mood remains complex. You can't tell if the people there are trying to escape reality or if they are there to just enjoy themselves. The very last line of the poem puts the reality back into the work. "We die soon". This line states the inevitable. Sooner or later everyone and everything dies. A very somber line if you ask me. Much like the changing of the seasons, the mood of this poem changed drastically. Poetry has the ability to change that quickly. The tone and feeling of a poem can change on a dime. Each year the seasons change, that’s a given. However, the speed at which they do is unknown. I can remember a few years ago, fall changed to winter almost overnight. I was not ready for that change, much like I wasn't ready for the last line in "We Real Cool". The way poetry is able to change so quickly amazes me. Seasons and poetry are similar and is able to affect people in different ways.
I recently had the opportunity to read "We Real Cool", by Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem was new to me and I had mixed emotions about it. At the start of the poem you understand that the work takes place in a pool hall. The Golden Shovel seems to be an interesting name for a pool hall. The people there are drinking, smoking and having a good time. As you continue on, the mood remains complex. You can't tell if the people there are trying to escape reality or if they are there to just enjoy themselves. The very last line of the poem puts the reality back into the work. "We die soon". This line states the inevitable. Sooner or later everyone and everything dies. A very somber line if you ask me. Much like the changing of the seasons, the mood of this poem changed drastically. Poetry has the ability to change that quickly. The tone and feeling of a poem can change on a dime. Each year the seasons change, that’s a given. However, the speed at which they do is unknown. I can remember a few years ago, fall changed to winter almost overnight. I was not ready for that change, much like I wasn't ready for the last line in "We Real Cool". The way poetry is able to change so quickly amazes me. Seasons and poetry are similar and is able to affect people in different ways.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Lyrics and Poetry
Lyrics are amazing. They have the ability to change your mood almost instantly. Frank Ocean once said, "When you are happy, you enjoy the music. When you are sad, you understand the lyrics". Poetry is much like music. The words or lyrics written in a poem have many different meanings. Depending on your mood, those meanings can change.
Poetry is a great tool to express yourself. The words you write can give people insight into what you are feeling. They can also allow the reader to get in touch with their own feelings. Poetry, like music, has different genres. There’s happy poetry, sad poetry, and everything in the middle. Poetry can depict your life and allow people to better understand you. Modern artists such as Drake do this very well in his music. He writes music that expresses what he is feeling and how he feels about other people (sometimes not in a nice way!) When I listen to music, I pick songs that make me feel good. However, if I am in a bad mood, I understand the lyrics more. The music is still there and it puts me in a good mood, but the lyrics mean more to me. The music in my library varies from rap to rock to classic bands such as the Beatles. Each genre of music appeals to me for different reasons, much like how different genres of poetry appeals to people. The words on the page written by poets have meaning to them. Sometimes that meaning is not known. Sometimes it is. Sometimes the true meaning of the words on the page has to be uncovered. I think that’s why people enjoy poetry so much. It's complex. It is more than what meets the eye. When you read poetry it is easy to take away the meaning from reading it once. If you read it over and over again you understand things that you didn't the first time. The true story or the true value of the phrases and the stanzas come to light and you realize what you didn't before. Music and poetry go hand in hand. They are different but similar at the same time. Music can allow you to escape reality and go somewhere that is comforting. Each person is different. Music and poetry appeal to people for different reasons but they both have one thing in common. It makes people happy.
Poetry is a great tool to express yourself. The words you write can give people insight into what you are feeling. They can also allow the reader to get in touch with their own feelings. Poetry, like music, has different genres. There’s happy poetry, sad poetry, and everything in the middle. Poetry can depict your life and allow people to better understand you. Modern artists such as Drake do this very well in his music. He writes music that expresses what he is feeling and how he feels about other people (sometimes not in a nice way!) When I listen to music, I pick songs that make me feel good. However, if I am in a bad mood, I understand the lyrics more. The music is still there and it puts me in a good mood, but the lyrics mean more to me. The music in my library varies from rap to rock to classic bands such as the Beatles. Each genre of music appeals to me for different reasons, much like how different genres of poetry appeals to people. The words on the page written by poets have meaning to them. Sometimes that meaning is not known. Sometimes it is. Sometimes the true meaning of the words on the page has to be uncovered. I think that’s why people enjoy poetry so much. It's complex. It is more than what meets the eye. When you read poetry it is easy to take away the meaning from reading it once. If you read it over and over again you understand things that you didn't the first time. The true story or the true value of the phrases and the stanzas come to light and you realize what you didn't before. Music and poetry go hand in hand. They are different but similar at the same time. Music can allow you to escape reality and go somewhere that is comforting. Each person is different. Music and poetry appeal to people for different reasons but they both have one thing in common. It makes people happy.
January 5th 2015. First Blog Post
Poetry. What does it really mean? This is the question I found asking myself sitting in class on the cold morning of the fifth of January. Poetry is something that I am not well versed in. I read poetry and even attempted to understand it in high school. However, it was a failed attempt. To me poetry is just words on a page. Sometimes I could pick up on subtle words that evoked meaning to me, but most of the time it was just a boring read. My interpretation of poetry could be completely different from the person next to me.
The thing about poetry is that it allows you to be open with your emotions. I've always wanted to write poetry. I believe that it could be a way for me to express what my views on the world are, and even convey my emotions to the people reading it. I remember one time in High School, our class was assigned to read a poem by William Shakespeare. The poem was one of his more famous works and it was titled "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The first time I read the poem, it was confusing. The grammar used throughout the work was challenging at times to read. This was my first real encounter with poetry and it did not boost my confidence in understanding it. When my teacher asked people what they thought of it, almost everyone had a different explanation. The overall events in the poem were the same for everyone, however, the mood and emotions the poem evoked differed from person to person. I enjoyed listening to what other people thought of the poem. As each person said how they felt, I could understand why they felt like that. My overall understanding of the poem increased by listening and relating to my peers. A similar event happened toady in class. As we read and broke down the poem "Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath, my understanding of the work was enhanced. The idea about pregnancy brought up in class was enlightening for me. As I re-read the poem, I could see signs of that idea throughout the poem. For example, when Plath writes "I'm a riddle of nine syllables", this could be interpreted as a pregnancy which lasts nine months. I found that reading poems more than once is a good way to grasp a better understanding of the work.
Poetry is still challenging for me to understand. The words and underlying meanings take practice in order to understand. I am starting to enjoy the poems I read more since I have techniques that help me understand the work. My peers help me shed light on poems that are difficult for me to understand. I look forward to reading more poetry in class, and I think i'm going to begin reading poetry on my own as well.
The thing about poetry is that it allows you to be open with your emotions. I've always wanted to write poetry. I believe that it could be a way for me to express what my views on the world are, and even convey my emotions to the people reading it. I remember one time in High School, our class was assigned to read a poem by William Shakespeare. The poem was one of his more famous works and it was titled "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The first time I read the poem, it was confusing. The grammar used throughout the work was challenging at times to read. This was my first real encounter with poetry and it did not boost my confidence in understanding it. When my teacher asked people what they thought of it, almost everyone had a different explanation. The overall events in the poem were the same for everyone, however, the mood and emotions the poem evoked differed from person to person. I enjoyed listening to what other people thought of the poem. As each person said how they felt, I could understand why they felt like that. My overall understanding of the poem increased by listening and relating to my peers. A similar event happened toady in class. As we read and broke down the poem "Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath, my understanding of the work was enhanced. The idea about pregnancy brought up in class was enlightening for me. As I re-read the poem, I could see signs of that idea throughout the poem. For example, when Plath writes "I'm a riddle of nine syllables", this could be interpreted as a pregnancy which lasts nine months. I found that reading poems more than once is a good way to grasp a better understanding of the work.
Poetry is still challenging for me to understand. The words and underlying meanings take practice in order to understand. I am starting to enjoy the poems I read more since I have techniques that help me understand the work. My peers help me shed light on poems that are difficult for me to understand. I look forward to reading more poetry in class, and I think i'm going to begin reading poetry on my own as well.
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