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.     

Lorrie Moore

The way a story is told can vary from person to person. It is subjective. The way the characters come alive depends solely on the author’s writing. Lorrie Moore has a magical way of storytelling. This became apparent during her reading at Tulane on monday, March 2nd. Moore shared her piece “Thank You For Having Me”, a story found in her upcoming novel. This was the first time I had ever attended a reading, and I found it interesting how subjective tone and flow are to the reader. She uses her airy, dry tone to flutter above her words, which is not the way I had imagined the flow to be when I first read a short story by Moore. I imagined the writer’s voice to be gritty, and forceful, with a fast-paced undertone to it. However, once hearing Lorrie Moore read her own work, I understood why it was better to read her piece in a slower pace. It almost seemed like Moore was indifferent to what was going on around her, which brought an interesting contrast. Obviously Moore had felt passionate enough about the event of her child’s former babysitter’s second wedding taking place during the weekend of Michael Jackson’s death enough to write a story about it and include it in her book, however you would never know when you heard her read the story. It gave the punchlines more importance and set the time frame, meaning that it expressed the fact that the story was occurring over a day, and not just a few fast moments. 

I also enjoyed how Lorrie Moore discussed incorporating her political opinions into her work. She often brings her thoughts on current events into her work. I found this incredibly valuable. Not only does it teach young writers that a news story is not the only way to express opinion on a political subject or  tell a historical story, but it also teaches young female writers that their political opinions are not to be hushed and can be published and acclaimed just as much as the next guy’s. 

Double Double Toil and Trouble Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

Lorrie Moore is a writer. No doubt about it. Writers are a special breed of human. They know how to use words. Some people say writers are just born with the ability to use words to create the "spells" that I call stories. Some say that writers are born when humans get bitten by a radioactive spider or dabble in witchcraft. However the breed of human called the "writer" came to be, they are forever remembered as the humans who entrance with words. They are known as the humans whose words are written and when are read, garner attention and evoke emotion. Writers are the ones who understand the magic of words and at 7:35 pm on March 2nd on the second floor of the LBC Center above a Panda Express, I realized I had listened to Lori Moore read her words out loud for half an hour straight without getting distracted.

Instead of siting in an auditorium daydreaming about all the pets I could own when I have a steady job and an apartment off campus, my thoughts were nestled exactly where Ms. Moore wanted them to be: in her story. I sat with her in the kitchen listening to a song to commemorate Michael Jackson's death about a rat while the chicken she was cooking became "unclean." I was there when she suppressed the urge to torment strangers in the buffet line at a wedding for fun. I laughed at her musical choices for her funeral and the motivation behind them only being "to fuck with people." I learned that a threesome of squirrels is menacing, rain can smell like old silver jewelry, and you're practically harmless if you're too stoned (especially even if you're in a biker gang). She used details wonderfully. There was something about each detail she said, and how she said it, made you realize its significance. She made the details significant to me.

It wasn't only her details that swept me in, but her voice. Her voice was like that of a person who knows. They know the ignorant confidence of youth. They know the complexities and predictability of heart break. They know the foolishness of the hurting pride. She read her words slowly when she wanted me to pay attention and quickly when she wanted me to laugh. Her voice mirrored the exasperated, yet slightly whimsical, tone of her daughter's voice when she talked about wanting a reality t.v. show so people could see the kind of mother the daughter had to deal with. There were times when she spoke that made me feel as if my head rested on her lap while she told me about her cheetah print shawl and love for the natural camouflage animals use. There even were moments where I felt she was drinking wine and was jokingly telling me that a man would rather look constantly petrified than 56 years old. Her voice and tone made it feel like she was talking to me. It was so personal. Her voice entranced me and cast a spell. It replicated the feeling of when I read a book alone in my room and loose myself in the story. I am a reader who has lived many lives and tonight, I lived a snippet of Lori Moore's. I have to admit, it's one of the best lives I've ever lived.


P.s. How do biker gangs even still exist?