I attended the poetry reading on Monday night October the 17th and listened to Jamaal May and Tarfia Faizullah’s excerpts from their poetry. Firstly, I noticed the style of the performance that Jamaal May had throughout his reading. Jamaal read with extreme conviction and confidence. His voice filled the room and forced the audience into a trance because of the beautiful tone that his voice held. His style was performative, but it was not over the top. It was controlled in a performance value. It seemed as though Jamaal really knew his poetry by heart because he had good eye contact throughout his reading; even though he often looked down to confirm his place within his poems. Throughout his reading, I felt as though I was in a trance because …show more content…
The poems contained many lovely images that illustrated passion and empathy. My favorite images in his poems, “The Birds Are Here” and the poem about his FBI interrogation, were of the confetti and explosives. I thought both of these images were interesting portrayals of each poems’ situation. I believe Jamaal’s poems are appropriate lengths and they seemed to vary depending on the poem. For example, the FBI interrogation based poem was shorter than a couple of his other poems that he read; but, I did not question why it was shorter in fact it made sense within the context of the poem. I imagine the interrogation did not last long once they realized that Jamaal May was not who they thought he was; the poem matches this idea. Overall, I really enjoyed Jamaal May’s abstract betrayal of his poetry. He mentioned after the readings were over that many of his poems were based off of life experiences and although I understood that idea after listening to his explanations, I thought they did not take a literal approach which I think benefitted his performance overall. Jamaal May was a fantastic beginning to the reading on Monday, October the 17th. Ultimately his performance style really contrasted that of Tarfia …show more content…
For example, Tarfia’s poems did not illustrate her own experiences, instead her poems portrayed the stories of women who were raped in Bangladesh. Tarfia mentioned in the question and answer session that at times she almost felt uncomfortable in her writing situation because she did not live her poetry. I really resonated with Tarfia at that moment because when I write poetry, I sometimes feel uncomfortable with the subject of my poetry because I did not live the things I write about in my poems. I thought Tarfia’s performance style was also strong but in a humble way. She was very controlled on the stage but she was not restrained. She was also quieter than Jamaal, which portrayed a different kind of respect for the subject matter. Although her style was not necessarily performative, I felt it was appropriate for the context of her
The marginalised Australian experience traps groups and individuals based on one or many aspects of their life. Both the poem ‘capital letters’ by Omar Musa and Craig Silvey’s novel ‘Jasper Jones’ explore the Australian Experience of marginalisation. They share many aspects of marginalisation including racism, injustice, resilience, consequences and life on the margin. Marginalisation can have negative psychological and emotional responses, however in capital letters and jasper jones, the consequences of overcoming marginalisation and the build-up of resilience are emphasised. Omar Musa’s poem capital letters looks into his own life and experiences growing up on the margin in Queanbeyan, Australia. The poem displays both the harsh consequence, as well as the
What is the relationship between the self, death, and nature? In his poem, “Hymn,” A.R. Ammons explores the speaker’s position in the world in relation to the other forces that surround him/her daily. S/he seems to be in search of the larger force that controls the smaller natural operations around him. It is unclear as to whether or not the speaker believes that this larger force is a traditional “God” figure, but the title of the poem connotes a praise for a larger being. In addition, Ammons takes on a transcendentalist style in this poem—the belief that a divine spirit composes everything around the speaker. This spirit is “partial and entire” (Ammons 19), “inside of everything and on the outside” (20). There is a significant tension
...the reader to think in a different mindset. By creating this mindset Hughes and Brooks communicate thousands of years of black history as the speaker of “The Weary Blues” has the singers blues echo through his head so too do we have the weary thoughts of generations past echo through ours. Their creative use of words creates connection between performer and audience through the style of communication. Hughes doesn’t just use the grief of the singer’s lyrics; he uses the moan of the piano to express sorrow. Brooks doesn’t just ponder the life choices of the young boys; she forces the reader to think from their point of view. Brooks creates a connection between the speaker and the reader through the style of communication. By using these styles Hughes and Brooks prove that creating connections is less about what is said and more about the music that drives the poetry.
When I first read about Marina Abramovic, I found her performance art can be both shocking and hold the attention of one. Her work ranges in physical intensity, emotional exposure, and sadness. Marina Abramovic work is about self abuse, self discipline, and unreasonable punishment and great courage. Through the conditions she puts herself and her audience in her performance. In my opinion, I feel Marina Abramovic and my main goal as an artist is not only to completely change the way art is seen by the public, but to push the performance the same line as fine art.
The poetry by these two poets creates several different images, both overall, each with a different goal, have achieved their purposes. Though from slightly different times, they can both be recognized and appreciated as poets who did not fear the outside, and were willing to put themselves out there to create both truth and beauty.
On example of contrast between Baba and Rahim Khan, is their attitudes toward Amir’s writing. Baba feigns interest in Amir’s writing, refusing to read his story. Rahim, contrasting Baba’s views, supports and praises his writing. He writes Amir a letter urging him to continue with his passion. Amir reflects on this saying “As always, it was Rahim Khan who rescued me.” The reason for Baba’s disapproval stems from the sexist belief that creative writing is not masculine enough.
He uses powerful imagery and onomatopoeia to achieve the desired effects that make the poem more realistic. All this combined together produces effective thought provoking ideas and with each read, I gradually get an improved understanding and appreciation of the poem.
With poetry coming in many different styles today, writing comes easy for some. One way that poetry is written today is in the form of rap. The artist known as "J Cole" is one of the best rappers of the 21st century. J Cole went double platinum with top hits such as "Wet Dreamz" and "Love Yourz". In both of these songs Cole connects the listener's with relatable stories and scenarios. Both of these songs are forms of poetry somehow.
Poetry is a versatile avenue from which waves or ripples can be made potentially. A writer of poetry has the ability to make their readers feel a while wide array of emotions and situations synonymous with the human condition. I, at first, was completely turned off to the idea of poetry at first because all I was exposed to early on by way of poetry were bland professions of love or lust or seemingly simple poems I was forced to process down to a fine word paste. Edgar Allan Poe was interesting, but it was a tad bit dry to me. But, after reading poems the Harlem Renaissance gave me a bit of hope for poetry. To me, the poetry written during that time period has a certain allure to it. They have serious depth and meaning that I, myself and empathize
The writings of both poets can be described as both simple and complex at the same time, just like the world they’re writing about. While on a purely literal level you may be reading about loss, family, traveling, or nature, all of the poems have a deeper meaning about these topics that the poet leaves the reader to discover.
It is a way to crucially engage oneself in setting the stage for new interventions and connections. She also emphasized that she personally viewed poetry as the embodiment of one’s personal experiences, and she challenged what the white, European males have imbued in society, as she declared, “I speak here of poetry as the revelation or distillation of experience, not the sterile word play that, too often, the white fathers distorted the word poetry to mean — in order to cover their desperate wish for imagination without insight.”
artists because they lack the confidence and skill to do so. Her way of keeping the belief to
“Billy Collins' “Introduction to Poetry” isn’t an ars poetica poem about writing poetry, but about reading poetry. The speaker is a teacher who tells his students that they should experience a poem, rather than dissect it. The f...
When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.
If Sylvia Plath lived in the era of Aristotle or Plato, or even Horace or Longinus, these entire great names might not even take a second glance of her poem because all the four hold different perspectives of art and literature. The critics from Plato to Shklovsky might all treat the poem differently. Plato makes the feeling artist important. He addresses authenticity in a work of art, otherwise artist not having experienced what he writes about, would be a liar. Aristotle emphasized credulity, consistency, and emotional identification of the reader to the work of art. Horace and Longinus talk of moral, aesthetic experience and effect of and intention of the work. However, Shlovsky, the one who introduce the term of defamiliarization sees art for innovation, in language as well as form, and seeks to bring poetry into the realm of science and emphasizes technique. He wants poetry to shock the readers into true perception. Plath has managed to do that. Her poem hardly fits in the conception of what a poem should be as envisioned by the Aristotle, Plato, Horace and Longinus. The way s...