'On Page 51 Coates Craft Of Poetry'

1. What does this statement mean to you: On page 51 Coates said, “the craft of poetry….what my mother taught me all those years ago – the craft of writing as the art of thinking.” What personal experiences have you had to illustrate this point?

Writing is a type of art because it requires you to think and be creative in the way you want it to be. I have a diary that I wrote almost everyday. They help me think about my day and sometimes turn my bad day into a good day. I write whatever comes into my head at that moment, and reflect on my day. Writing make me think deeper to what happen and help me turn my negative thought to positive. Writing is a very powerful tool. When I write, I have the power to change the story. I am the author of my own story so I can be as creative as I want.

2. What does Coates mean on page 60 when he says, “hate gives identity?”

It’s the way they see you and it’s the way they identify you as. They see you completly differently then you see yourself. You might do good deeds to people but they only see the bad deeds you did. They ignore the fact that you are a good person and focus on the fact that you are bad.

3. Do you agree that “love is an act of heroism?” (page 61) I agree that love is an act of heroism. We sometimes see people we don’t know on the street asking for money. We have no idea who they are and what their intentions are. We roll our windows down and hand them a few dollar because of the loving heart of us. He understand other people’s feeling and without knowing them, we rolled the windows down. It’s risking our own life to make someone else's day better. We believed that a few dollars that we give them will get them a good meal and they can go through a day without being hungry. So the loving side of us ignore the risk and helped.

4. Explain what Coates means when he says, “the god of history is an atheist.”