coffee with DT

So I went to the coffee meeting with DT Max at 2pm. I normally don't ever drink coffee but I needed something to do with my hands because I was just sitting there like:

The coffee was really hot and I got incredibly hyper towards the end of the talk with him. He doesn't drink coffee, he had brought his own tea. 

Anyway, so we were all sitting around in the Mandresa Den and we started off just talking about the work that he had been doing lately.. which was some piece on this cool place in Italy called Matera that is this city that was basically dug out of the side of a mountain and these people lived there since forever but sometime in the 1900s they were kicked out and then a few decades ago some hipsters (his word, not mine) took over the place and started living there. Here's a picture of that place:

And then we talked about publishing and things of that sort and then the evolution of his career from Harvard newspaper to working on the "slicks" magazines like Vogue and such to being an editor for the New Yorker and then being a writer for the New Yorker because he didn't want to be an editor anymore. Because that's just something you do because you feel like it. 

We talked about other things that he did and he tried to tie it in with whatever we were interested in. So he talked about some of his fiction that he writes and then we talked about what the hell "Creative Non-ficiton" is and then how advertisements affect how things are read and what are read and all things like that. We were theorizing what the New Yorker would be like in 10 years or so and how different it would be and how no one could possibly know what any of our jobs would be like in that amount of time, but we were pretty sure that what he did wouldn't be a thing that could still exist. 

Actually toward the middle of the hour and a half meeting, he told us that specifics of the chat shouldn't go anywhere. I think he was worried that we were taping him or something and that he had said silly things.. but he hadn't said silly things but none of us were taping him either but I will refrain  from putting in quotes here that I had written down. Just incase he sees this somehow.

DT Max

This talk was very different from all the other ones I’ve been to. Because this man was a biographer, his presentation was mostly on the subject of his biography. Therefore, instead of talking about his personal, like most guest speakers end up doing, the talk was mostly on David Foster Wallace.

To be completely honest the conversation actually inspired me to go read some David Foster Wallace. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by him, and if I did I don’t particularly recall. However, his life is pretty fascinating and I would love to see how that reflects in his writing.

I loved the fact that he was so smart, often smarter than everybody in the room even in graduate school. Also the fact that he was a competitor, David would not settle by getting his degree in whatever university; he needed to go to Harvard.

David Foster Wallace said, “I just don’t have enough gas right now to do things so well or so fast. And I’m trying to be okay with that.” Of all the talk, this line caught my attention and I needed to write it down because it is so real. As a perfectionist myself, I really understand where this sentiment is coming from.

Even though he was so smart, and had so many talents and abilities, David was not happy. He hated himself. It made me think about how in reality really intelligent people are often miserable, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Albert Einstein. I guess they see the world differently, perhaps even more realistically, and the cold hard truth makes them sad. I guess this is why some people say that ignorance is bliss.  

Writing Techniques

In the short story "Emergency" by Denis Johnson, I greatly enjoyed the tone. It helped the story flow and made the context easier to read and relate to. The tone of the story also blends well with the dialogue of the characters. Johnson's use of a sarcastic, humorous, and casual tone allowed for the reader to find the characters to be more relatable and create a setting that was interesting to imagine. The dialogue between the characters was also attention-grabbing because the content was unusual, weird and fun. Georgie, the orderly at the hospital, would talk about random or unusual things and because the two main characters were also pill-poppers, their conversations were still interesting. Tone is an important element in a short story or any piece of work because it helps to set up the mood for the reader to better understand how to interpret the setting and actions that are taking place. In regards to dialogue, Johnson did a wonderful job adding a significant amount of dialogue so that the story was continuously moving in a sense. The dialogue made the story more lively and it helps to ground the reader in what is happening in the story. Although the dialogue was a large portion of the story, the descriptions in between the dialogue were very thorough. "I saw bits of snow resembling an abundance of blossoms on the stems of the drive-in speakers - no, revealing the blossoms that were always there. A bull elk stood still in the pasture beyond the fence giving off an air of authority and stupidity" (Johnson 283). The metaphors and comparisons that Johnson uses to describe surroundings is interesting and keeps the wording and tone fun.

Short Story Techniques

I think that the use of dialogue in Emergency is extremely powerful and makes the story much more believable, even if it may not be realistic. Dialogue takes up so much of the story leaving a lot of the characterization and plot development to the characters to relay to the reader. Having a character that works in a hospital that is freaked out by blood is a great character trait that makes this character three-dimensional. Creating a character like that I think makes dialogue both surprising and interesting to write and read because the character seems to talk completely from his own head, you seem to forget that this is a constructed narrative, and the character feels realistic. Other people's dialogue toward him also shape how we understand and know Georgie. When asking if he should prep the patient, the doctor asks "Is this a hospital? Is this the emergency room? Is that a patient? Are you the orderly?" (277) and the sarcasm here shows how people at the hospital view him. Instead of writing outrightly that people at the hospital see him as a joke and that they think he's not the brightest, this piece of dialogue conveys it perfectly. We also understand how much Georgie cares about living beings through his dialogue because instead of saying "he cared a lot about animals" we see him questioning the narrator repeatedly about the bunnies and trying to figure out ways to help them out even though they were already dead. Through dialogue we understand Georgie, a guy who works in a hospital, is freaked out by blood and death, but really wants to save lives.

Short Story Techniques-Emergency

I really enjoyed the story Emergency by Denis Johnson. It was interesting to me how the author chose to tell the story. He uses separate scenes that have honestly not much to do with each other in order to convey to the reader Georgie's character. I found this very realistic. When I'm describing someone to someone else, I often use anecdotes to give someone a full picture. The story is about Georgie and the main character’s relationship, and in that way doesn’t have an arc or this big climactic ending, it’s just a re-telling. I also enjoyed how the author used dialogue to tell his story as well. When we meet people, we form our opinions about them by listening to what they say and watching what they do. We aren’t given spreadsheets of a person’s likes and dislikes or characteristics-which can often be seen in writing. In reality, we have to be shown these things, and Johnson does a great job of showing Georgie and the main character’s personalities through their conversations together.  

Short Story Writing Techniques

            When I read Train by Joy Williams, I really enjoyed her writing style and how minimalist it is. She writes about a mundane situation, letting the readers take a glimpse of two young girls on a train ride and, while there isn’t any particular plot, I enjoyed the well-developed characters and I like how she uses dialogue to reveal character. Effectively using dialogue to reveal a character’s personality and motives, gives readers a sense of freedom because the writer does not spoon feed them what they need to know.

            I also like how there was not much of a substantial plot in Train. This short story is about ten-year-old Danica who is traveling to Florida with her best friend, Jane Muirhead and her parents. In a short duration, readers see the strained relationship between Jane’s parents as well as the relationship between Danica and Jane. While they consider themselves both best friends, both of them have the ability to make the other person mad. In addition, they act older for their age. 

            I like how the story was set during a train ride because it does reveal little about the time that passes between the characters as well as giving the characters a chance to have an outlet to reveal who they are without any day-to-day worries or interruptions.

            Overall, I really liked the writing style of Williams because my favorite part as a reader, is reading about flawed and well-developed characters and I think she accomplishes that by effectively using dialogue.

Short Story Techniques

The first thing I noticed when reading "Emergency" was how similar the writing style was to "Cathedral."  Both used styles of writing that were informal which reflected the characters in the stories.  For example, in "Emergency," the narrator is telling the story in a conversational style; when he calls for the eye man  he says, "The eye man is on vacation or something." Very informal.  "Cathedral" was similar in that the husband narrated the story in a tone that reflected his worldview which was kind of narrow.  This casual style isn't my favorite to read, but I do like how it reflects the characters' personalities.  The style says so much about the character without having to actually write "So and so is a working class blue collar kind of guy."
Jayne Ann Phillips did something kind of similar in her story, by not using much punctuation, especially in dialogue.  While reading dialogue without quotations, to me, it makes the conversation a little more flat and less significant.  I think that's also another reflection of the characters point of view; in "Home" it conveys to me that the narrator is kind of done with her mom's BS.

Short Story Reflection

A short story is comprised of several different aspects in order to be able to consider itself a short story.  The story should have a strong introduction that introduces at least setting, characters, or even a conflict. A short story should also be short and should never be longer than a novel. The short story Cathedral by Raymond Carver is successful at portraying some of these aspects. However what is strange about this particular short story is that Carver never provides names for his two main characters, which are the narrator of the story and the narrator's wife. This concept certainly adds uniqueness to the way in which the plot builds up throughout the story. As a result of this the character's conflict is presented more dramatically than how it would be presented if the names of these characters where given. In the story the conflict in which the character's face is a dramatic one, the blind. Carver is successful at making his story more dramatic by using this specific concept. Carver is able to describe his characters in a different way by using different aspects that comprise a short story mainly conflict and use of description. By presenting this conflict Carver is able to reveal more about the characters rather than just stating a simple name.

Short Story Writing Techniques

Pacing in a story is what gives us a sense of time and how much has passed. It is a tricky device to use and writers that do indeed use it well create some of the best stories ever written. Unlike novels, short stories have an innate difficulty when it comes to a sense of time. It is difficult for writers to pace a short story and still make it feel as if time has passed. This is especially true in the short story Emergency by Denis Johnson. The time elapsed in this story is roughly 24 hours and throughout the story you can feel that sense of time passing, even though the story is only a few pages long. Moreover, the Johnson does an amazing job of pacing this story through the narrator who is also stoned out of his mind. This is an incredibly difficult and well executed task seeing as how throughout the story, the reader felt a sense of time passing the way someone stoned would feel time passing. Because Johnson paced the story so well, the reader also got a better feeling of how the narrator was perceiving the world. Johnson used different ways to do this. One example is that he would transition things calmly, something you would expect, and then out of nowhere, a very abrupt transition. This gives the readers a feeling like the narrator was completely zoned out, and out of nowhere noticed that something else was going on. Johnson also paces the story well in that he combines exact times with general phrases. For example, he says "Around 3:30 am a guy with a knife in his eye came in, led by Georgie." Since the setting of this story is a hospital, the exact time of 3;30 makes sense, but since the narrator is rapidly losing track of reality, the word "around" really gets that point across. He also paces the story rapidly by saying "We drove for hours, literally hours." In doing so, Johnson is able to take this story in a completely different direction. Johnson paces this story well, and it works very well to his advantage.

Writing Techniques

           One of the key writing techniques that I picked up in the short story, “Emergency” by Dennis Johnson was the ability to really imagine the character’s voices.  Instantly, just after reading the first sentence of the story, I could recognize the tone of the characters and what sort of person I was going to be “seeing.”  The reader is given the time and place the story is taking place, even though the main character is a tad ambiguous as are the details of when everything takes place.  We know the main character had been working in the emergency room for three works, it was the year 1973, and this was all, supposedly, “before the summer ended.”  The story is written in different time fragments based on the wording at the beginning of each paragraph, such as “I’d been working…” “I was hanging…” “Back in the O.R.,” or “Around 3:30 A.M…” etc. 

The time intervals seem to mesh into one another, the same effect nights in a hospital can have.  The first scenario begins with a guy coming into the emergency room with a knife stuck in his eye – everyone, even the patient, seem very calm about the incident admitting that his wife was the one who stabbed him, and “[he] didn’t want to call the police unless he died.”  The doctor doesn’t know what to do entirely, and everyone who has a specific position doesn’t even know how to directly respond to the emergency.  All the two main characters do is take more and more of Georgie’s pills that he sometimes steals from the hospital’s cabinets.  Thus, from this one sentence we are unsure whether the events taken place are hallucinations by the characters or if it is indeed reality. 

The narrative is mainly composed of constant dialogue between the main characters. We are given no other name for the main character other than his “unfortunate” nickname of “Fuckhead,” and his friend Georgie.  Throughout the entire story, Georgie cannot seem to remember exactly what time or place they are in, or he forgets certain events, which plays tribute to their drug usage.  The author, Dennis Johnson, works well to be able to teleport his readers swiftly to any place or time, even though some areas of the narrative leave one’s mind behind.  I feel that the confusion adds to the entirety of the story for a number of reasons mainly having to do with how one sees through the mind of drug addicts, or what it is like to be on drugs.  The events occur so quickly and haphazardly because of their condition.  At one point in the narrative, they are driving and Georgie accidently runs over a pregnant rabbit.  He tries to save the bunnies by cutting them from the mother’s stomach and talking about how he will raise them and take care of the bunnies; at the same time, the main character admits that he is unsure of how the rabbit got into the picture or whether it was from one time or another.  In any case, through the characters drug-induced moments, it shows another side of them that many people ignore when they picture “druggies.”  For instance, Georgie is tied to the idea of constantly wanting to save people.  Even if he imagines saving rabbits or people, or being empathetic in certain events in the hospital, he still thrives upon a philosophy on saving lives.  Thus, Dennis Johnson attracts readers through a different perspective that many writers do not take us through, while also incorporating a creative time and place combination that compliments what the characters are experiencing.    

Short Story Reflection

Getting into the short story unit, especially right after poetry , was a bit difficult to accustom to the change. I saw poetry as saying the most possible with the least amount of words. Both use figurative language, specific diction and syntax, and especially drawing attention to details to get their story across. From the stories we have read, my favorite is probably “A Story About the Body” and this is technically not under the short story category at all. However, it manages to express everything and make the reader feel within sentences. The key difference  between poetry and stories is that in stories you have more room to expand, to really get into detail. I've realized that a short story can be from a paragraph to ten pages long, like "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates. In class we’ve gone over the main components of a short story: context, characters, and conflicts. However, these simple prerequisites can be interpreted in an endless amount of ways, and I find it crucial to know what you want to write even before you pick up the pen. At least for me, I constantly find myself changing the storyline. It’s infuriating but at the end I always find myself leading to a cliché, and I have yet to find a way to combat this propensity. Having so much room to expand opens all kinds of doors, some of which are better left closed. Believe it or not having too many options can be problematic. One thing that catches my eye in short stories is the fact that the author is able to paint a whole world for the reader, paying attention to detail. And I guess all writers due that regardless of the genre, but in this story this world is fictional, and we get to stay in it for a while. It’s not too long like a novel, and not too short like a poem. Instead, it is a happy middle. In my opinion, it requires a lot of talent to find the perfect balance to bring those elements together into a successful short story. 

Blog 6: Short Story Writing Techniques ~ (Joyce Carol Oates Writing Style-)

I believe short stories are much harder to write than a novel. It has to send its message while being short and sweet. The short stories that we have read in class were actually amazing. But the one that actually spoke to me and also made me uncomfortable was by Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been." I loved how the short story explained everything to the readers without giving any details of Connie getting raped or how even she got murdered. Oates describes everything so on point that it wasn't hard to understand what was going to happen at the end. I found her writing style quite journalistic as well as there were very few redundant dramatic embellishments. But her writing style definitely gives the reader those vivid images in a way that has a mysterious importance in it. Details such as Arnold's sunglasses give the readers that speechless emotional tension and everything becomes weightier. Oates made a simply short story so very powerful by her descriptive diction and imagery and made it real while keeping it interesting at the same time. She also uses a great deal of dialogues when she introduces her two main characters Arnold and Connie. The one thing that I absolutely loved about the story is how Oates portrayed Connie having these two different kinds of personalities. At home she was way different than what she was when she went outside. She always loved attention but never know that the whole concept of "attention" will hit her with Arnold Friend. As the story is written is Connie's point of view the tone of Oates writing is quite sympathetic towards Connie as she only discusses her thoughts, desires, and feelings. The tone definitely gets serious once Arnold is introduced and it keeps getting intense as it progresses with the threat of violence, rape, and murder. 

Arnold Friend: The Cat Torturer

Character: Arnold Friend

Place:  Shaw Middle School on the West Bank

Conflict: Arnold Friend, the cat torturer, goes to school on the West Bank and wants the chemistry kit from his Science teacher.  It’s hard to get the Chemistry kit because it’s for eighth graders and he is a sixth grader – plus the school is low on money, so there aren’t enough kits supplied in the school for him to get.  Not to mention, the school is locked up, which makes it even more difficult for him to retrieve the kit – so, he has to steal it.

First scene: 

Arnold Friend watches his cat, Diablo, through the screen door.  Diablo is catching lizards, batting them between his paws, when a bolt of lightning fries him and the lizard.  Arnold’s eyes crinkle.  The lizard skitters behind a flowerpot, but Diablo doesn’t move.  Arnold kicks the door open and checks the cat’s pulse.  He needs Diablo alive.   

Reflections

I took many art classes in high school and participated in critiques. I was exposed to several environments where piers review each others works. My prior experience with this dynamic has made me appreciate a healthy atmosphere for critique. Our poetry workshop was a nice place to be able to give desired constructive criticism to my classmates. I enjoyed how we began critiques by saying positive things about the piece then followed by specific advice on how to make our poems better.

I appreciated deeply the critiques I received for my poem. I'm in an experimental stage in my writing. I am applying things, like meter and rhyme, to my poems in which I have never done before. I used these techniques to serve a purpose and try to convey a message. From my classmates, I was able to see what was communicated to my reader. Sadly, all my classmate-edited poems were messed up by the rainy week, but I audio recorded my workshop so all was not lost. Workshop was a surprisingly pleasant experience and I don't know why I was so nervous about it.

Poetry Workshop

I found the poetry workshop very helpful. I originally took this class because I know I sometimes lack sparkle and coherence in the creative writing area; so, this allowed me to address certain problems head on. I liked having the input of everyone in the class because it allowed me to pick and choose which criticisms I wanted to use. The class corrections also came in handy when all members agreed that the meaning of my poem was not clear. Now I know what to do to make it more clear.

Correcting other people's poems was also useful because I was able to grab inspiration from those who wrote something that I liked, and to learn from other people's mistakes. All in all, I felt that poetry workshop was useful and productive

Reflections on Workshop

             Poetry workshop was an entirely new experience for me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. One of my greatest flaws is being fearful of critique. Therefore, I was a bit worried when Dr. Groner introduced us to workshop—just the idea of reading my poem aloud for others to critique gave me an overwhelming amount of anxiety. My fear was that no one would like my poem or that my poem would be weak compared to others.

            Needless to say, workshop was the best thing that could ever happen to me as a writer and I am so happy with how it turned out. It was a pleasant feeling to have when others discuss your work in front of you and you aren’t able to defend your work or respond back. You just have to take it all in and it made me reflect on not just this particular poem but all my other work as a writer.

            Workshop has made me completely change the way I feel about critique and now I am more confident to show my work to others and to be more open. It was a delightful learning experience and I loved how we came together as a class to praise each other’s work as well as providing suggestions to make our work stronger.

            I feel like every college student should experience workshop at least once in their academic career because it serves as a great foundation to hear critique in the most rawest and genuine way. I absolutely loved it.

Poetry Workshop

Poetry workshop has been an enjoyable experience. At first, I was nervous about reading my poem out loud to the class and getting critiqued on it. After the process, I felt almost relieved because I was receiving great feedback to help enhance my poem. This process also allowed for me to become better at receiving feedback from others - especially during class. I wouldn't usually share my work with others unless I really wanted someone to hear it and this process allowed for me to become more comfortable with sharing it. I loved hearing the feedback and interpretations that others had of my poem. I also loved being able to openly comment and critique other classmates' poems in class. I'm glad that everyone was able to share a work they can be proud of to the class. I am developing an interest in poetry and this class and workshop has helped me to  be able to read, interpret and analyze them better. From hearing and being able to critique other classmates' poems, I have learned how to write and improve my own writing and poems. I want to have a workshop for my other pieces of writing now.

Reflections on Poetry Workshop

I have so enjoyed poetry workshop.  I loved that we start each edit going around and talking about something we like about a poem and then making suggestions.  I also liked the opportunity to write little notes all over a poem because personally, I love scribbling all over a poem while analyzing it.  The most trouble I have had so far is actually writing the poem... It's one of those things where the infinite possibilities make it even harder to narrow down and come up with just one piece.  I really wish we had more time to workshop ALL of the poems that we make a part of our portfolio, because I think the whole process really makes the poems that much better.  Also, discussing them with each other is really good for bouncing ideas back and forth.  I can't tell you how many times listening to someone else talk about a certain poem (or line or stanza, etc.) made me see a different perspective.

At first I was terrified to show others my poem, but it ended up being a really awesome experience and I'm so glad to have gained so much new insight.  I think it will only benefit my poetry... No drawbacks!! Except that we don't have time for more!

Poetry Workshop

Workshop is one of my favorite things to do; not only do you get to read what your peers are putting out/capable of, but you get to be a voice that guides them to something stronger, hopefully. I think the importance of starting on good things is key because it creates a safe environment and makes the poet realize that the workshop purpose is not to tear their poem to pieces. The point is to take the parts that everybody already likes and to enhance the parts that aren't as strong to match the good parts. It also lets the poet see what in their poem is unclear; if the poet knows what an image is supposed to be, it doesn't really matter if that doesn't appear to the reader without the poet's aid. The role of workshop is to point out those moments.
Workshopping my own work is also great, no matter whether the feedback is good or bad. There have been workshops that I've come out of feeling incredibly dejected and awful (not in this class, don't worry) but when I come back to that poem later with a clear head and the comments on my poem it always make sense. The poem was a mess and it was never malicious. One thing that has been strange for me in a new workshop setting is to try and figure out how harsh I can be. I am used to going into workshop and being very blunt about the things that are not working, but in a new setting, and with people that are new to it, that doesn't feel appropriate. New workshop settings are strange and it takes a lot of trust of the peers around you.

Poetry Workshop

Poetry has never been my strong suit. I typically don't understand anything about it from what it actually means to why I read it. However, during workshop, I felt a little more safe and a little less lost. Workshop was a time and place where I could finally ask questions and say things like "I just didn't get the last stanza" to the author of the poem. Workshop definitely helped in my overall all appreciation of poetry.

With that being said, the days riding up to the day my poem was to be workshopped were absolute torture. I suffered this irrational fear that after I read my poem, the class would just tell me how horrible it was and how I should just quit. Now, I say irrational fear because I knew in the back of my mind that nothing like this would happen and even if something remotely close to this happened I would just shrug it off, but still, when it came time to workshop my poem, I was fairly nervous. However, the workshop helped a lot while simultaneously didn't help. A lot of directly conflicting views on what to cut and what to keep made the revision process that much more annoying. Although, in all, it was very nice to have a "test group" try out my poem and tell me what they did and did not like.

Poetry Workshop

Honestly, the poetry workshop was a new experience for me. One, that at the beginning was full of fear and anxiety. I give props for the person that went first. Because i would never be able to do that without a minor panic attack to say the least.
However, above all i think it was very useful. When i read the instructions about how this is a privilege, i didnt really understand it until i experienced it. In reality it is such a rare experience to having so many people take apart your writing and criticize it. There's growth that comes from such criticism. Having a classroom full of student take the time to read your writing and pinpoint what is wrong with it helps. Believe it or not. And i want to thank all of you who gave my writing such importance. To say the truth, when it was my turn to read my poem i was freaking out, as to be expected. I read it a few times before class just to be sure. And i knew you will all hate it. I compared myself to some other poems written in class, and i knew for sure i sucked to put it in colloquial terms. When you went around saying what you liked my poem, you literally took my breath away with all your compliments whether they were sincere or not. I appreciated that, and i needed to hear that, and i would like you to know that you put a smile on my face for that whole day.
I spent a few days after that working on your suggestions to make my poem even better. And some of the lines that i thought were terrible were actually one of your favorites, which caught me by surprise. Honestly, the idea for this poem came to a surprise to me, so i was really awaiting your response to it. Im glad it was a good one.
Overall workshop was an amazing experience, there was a great balance between compliments and criticism. And though quite intimidating, i wish i could have this for every piece i write.

Workshop Revision Process

          Throughout the workshop revision process for our poems, I was very intrigued by everyone’s beautiful poems, and the process that they might have gone through into creating their poem, or the story behind the meaning of it.  I also enjoyed being able to puzzle together the interpretation of the poem right in front of the poet – giving myself and others a chance to officially see if they came close to the actual meaning of the poem.  It was also interesting on the writer’s side of the revision process to see if others could actually interpret the message throughout the poem, or that they did a good job portraying their message across the poem somewhat clearly.  On the other hand, as much as I absolutely love reading other people’s writings, I was a little nervous to workshop my own poem. 

          I have done this same sort of workshop process before at my High School, and later on as apart of our poetry portfolio we would hand in everything that we had written on to gather our inspirations for our poems, whether that be writing on parts and pieces of napkins, the sides of plastic cups, or scraps of paper – we would hand in everything.  I think the entire process of workshop is a fantastic way not only for the author to get a chance to officially show their work and generate feed-back on his or her writing to help them to better improve themselves, but it also helps the author to feel a lot more comfortable with sharing his or her work with other people – in a sense, it almost forces them to get their work out for the public to see.  

          As we were reviewing the first couple of poems people automatically knew just how to “jump in” and what to say for someone else’s poems.  If anything, everyone gave really good, honest advice on how someone could improve his or her poem.  Although at times people did not feel or wish to talk about how one could fix their poem simply because they could have been tired, or no one wanted to talk, which did tend to take away from the revision process.  Other than those minor aspects, the entire revision process for our poems has been quite enjoyable – it makes me even more excited to write even more poems with some of the suggestions mentioned from class towards my future writings. 

Workshop is nice unless it's your turn. Then it's ok.

I like workshop. I like deciphering things with fellow classmates that were written by our other fellow classmates, looking at the different ways people write. I think it is lovely to have the class work through everyone's ideas about all of the different aspects of the poems. I think that big picture analyses are the most helpful, rather than little grammar things.

The best and worst part about workshop was workshopping your own poem. Even when the class would be saying nice things about the poem, it was incredibly strange. Still, the general experience gave me happy feelings. I am not dreading the next series of workshopping. 

Workshop Reflection!

This was my first time workshopping and critiquing other people’s work in an open environment. I actually enjoyed the whole process very thoroughly, especially the part when the writer had to be mute the whole time he/she was being criticized. I believe this workshop process made everyone of us open minded towards criticism and taught us to accept and appreciate criticism the way we tend to accept compliments. Before this workshop, I never really enjoyed reading poetry or even writing it. I thought writing poetry was one the hardest form of writing. But this class, and especially doing workshops made me love reading other people’s poems and even writing my own. Most of the poems I wrote during this process was solely based on my personal experience, which made it easier for me to write about my emotions, thoughts and opinions. The criticism and compliments that I got for my poem from my fellow classmates and professors really helped me to revise and write a better form of it. I really can’t think of any draw backs, from the workshop process. I think this method really works for rising poets and writers to be open to criticism, compliments, judgments, confrontation, and much more. Poetry is very creative, and sometimes the readers may not quite understand what the poet is trying to convey through those detailed imagery, or even not using any imagery at all. Thus poetry is very subjective, as the audience can only analyze and criticize what is written in front of them, and trying to think outside of the box which sometimes works very nicely and other times its literally redundant and painful. Even with these certain flaws, I think talking about poems and discussing it in front of the writer, lets the writer know what is their writing is actually portraying towards other people. Thus it can be very helpful for them to change and revise their work, or leave it as they have written it already.

Workshop Reflection

I had a positive experience with workshopping. I enjoyed it. It’s always constructive to give and receive feedback during a creative process. Usually, however, i give and receive feedback as notes on a paper and this was the first time it ever became confrontational. I haven’t had much exposure to poems throughout my life-it’s probably the one style I don’t read much of-so it was hard to nit pick what worked and what didn’t. Some things that I found bothersome and unnecessary others claimed were these powerful techniques that only the greatest poetic writers used. This process gave me a better understanding of poetry as I could see it working right before my eyes. I enjoyed the way workshop was run as well. I found it easier to become comfortable with giving constructive feedback if the author knew what worked in their poem first. In the beginning, it was hard for me to criticize another person’s work. I felt like I was being mean. However, after my own revision process for my poem “Michael” I began to become unafraid of sharing my opinion. The editing of my own work was probably my favorite part of workshop. I actually liked hearing how others interpreted my piece. It’s interesting to me how different people will view the same thing. One person will see things in someone’s work that may be completely hidden to others. I thought I was being clear about what the “ivory curves” were, but the class had trouble understanding it. This goes to show how any art or expression of creativity is entirely subjective, and once it is exposed to the world, the artist has no control over how it will be received. 

Reflection on Workshopping (benefits/drawbacks)

Having experienced workshopping in class for several weeks now I am able to thoughtfully recognize the benefits and drawbacks of it. With that I am able to conclude that there are more benefits than drawbacks from workshopping. The intentions of workshopping are nothing like the intentions of critiquing. The point of workshopping is finding ways of improvement for the piece not to criticize it. Now the drawbacks of workshopping lie at this thin line of criticizing. The point of workshopping is not to discourage the writer to the point where they no longer want to continue improving their piece however, it is suppose to inspire the writer to do better. Similar to the way Burroway states in the text book - refrain yourself from using "I like", "I don't like", "this works", "this doesn't work"... The drawbacks of workshopping arise when these certain words are used in a workshop. Whenever I am workshopping a piece I always like to look back on page 11 of Burroway and use the helpful tips on how to workshop a piece properly. The outcomes of a workshop are intended to be beneficial which is why I view them in this sense. After a workshop I would hope to see improvement in my piece because I have been able to thoughtfully listen to the advisement of my piers. As times passes I am able to use the time to apply the advisement to my writing in order to improve it. However, a beneficial outcome may not arise from a workshop if the advice given from my piers does not aid in improving my piece. If the act if workshopping is done correctly and the tips from Burroway are applied then I believe that workshops benefit rather than drawback.

Workshop reflection

I'm going to be honest, I have always been pretty bad about analyzing poetry because many of the nuances in it tend to fly over my head when I read. But this workshopping experience has helped me understand this a little better. It was a combination of having to do it for a couple of weeks plus listening to my classmates and what grabbed their attention that really made stuff click. Also I was finally able to understand some poetry terminology by connecting them to actual examples used by my classmates and I can't thank them enough for that. Granted, I still have some issues and I tend to focus more on the surface level of meaning rather than trying to find deeper levels of meaning, but this experience has helped me be more confident at my skills in analysis and critiquing. As far as the experience of getting workshopped by my peers, it was nothing new. I'm a musician and so I'm pretty used to my teachers and peers critiquing my works.

At The Columns With Jesmn (yes, first name basis)

So Jesmyn Ward happened along with Joseph Gehringer and two other Tulane students. It was a lovely reading that was greatly supplemented with the lunch that I attended with Jesmyn earlier that day where a group of students got to talk with her. She likes rap music a lot and it was awesome hearing her talk about her new favorite artists and about the publishing process and her journey as an author. 

At the reading for 1718, she read our of her newest book, The Men We Reaped. They were passages mostly about her father. There were great words that she wrote about her first time eating an oyster, that was my favorite. After the reading was over, a bunch of people talked to her and got her to sign their books and then bought some books. Then some of us took a picture with her (see below) and we look like a great big happy family!

                   

Lorrie Moore - "Thank You For Having Me"

          After hearing Lorrie Moore’s speech, I felt that her writing and way of talking were calm, collected and had an interesting tempo to her language that matched the rhythm of her writing.  Upon going, I had never read any of her work or pieces of writing before, but now I definitely have another author added to my favorite writing list.  When she first came out to read to the crowd, she came up upon the podium with such a nonchalant aura that what she was about to read was certainly unexpected – her writing was composed of these wonderful and perfected “one-liner” sort of sentences, whereas her voice complimented the lines in order to draw them out with a witty joke from ordinary day to day experiences.  

          Much of what she read from her story Thank You for Having Me was full of unexpected truths and humor that I feel up to this point, only Lorrie Moore can really pull off.  For instance, she read us a part in her story where her daughter, Nikki, like the typical fifteen-year old teenager would state that she really did not care what she wore – rather, as the speaker and her daughter were driving off to their babysitter’s wedding she stated the reality of the matter – “the person that needed to be careful about what she wore was me.”  It was not in it so much that younger people, or the younger generation should really worry what they wore, but that as they got older, would need to consider.  

          Although many of the parts in her writing are covered in a tint of lament, she still finds the humor is these small moments, such as when she read,  “You were alone when you were born, alone when you die – really absolutely alone when you are dead.  I learned to be alone in-between, and if you quickly forgot it would come back to you.  Aloneness was like riding a bike…at gunpoint…with a gun in your own hand.  Aloneness was the air in your own tires, the wind in your hair – you didn’t have to go looking for it with open arms – with open arms you fell off the bike.”  The entire way that she read this – the entire tone of sorts was read with such a lyrical rhythm to it that, although the tone and language were full of lament, you absolutely had to love every bit and piece of it.