In our haste to get the Author Packet together I missed the deadline for the class discussion questions for Tracy K. Smith. So...since I did the work and want to do something with them I figured I would post them as my Thursday Journal:
1) When smith was asked why she titled her book of poems "The Body's Question" she responded: "the title was something that came to me only after I started thinking of my individual poems as a unified body of work. I realized that, more and more, the poems were valuable to me as sites of questioning and exploration rather than for their ability to lead me to answers or resolutions."
How does this affect the meaning of "apatite", do we think the title was pulled from the poem to make a clever name for the collection, or visa-versa? How does this affect the value of that particular poem in its relation to the work, as we were discussing last class?
2) In Elizabeth Alexander's blurb of Tracy K. Smith she comments "If duende were wine, it would certainly be red; if edible, it would be meat cooked rare, coffee taken black stinky cheese, bittersweet chocolate."
If "The Body's Question were wine or food...what would it be? Do you think all poets should be reviewed using food metaphors? (the right answer is yes)
3) In an interview when asked about her use of the personal in her work, the speaker often being an I in her poems, and when this happened in the world of poetry (e.g. post modern?) Tracy responds:
"When I think about how truth that [writing in modernist style] is and has been in African American poetry, I realize the America has never been the same thing to whites as it has been to blacks. Modernism was born in part out of the shock and disillusion and shattering of the self, brought on by the atrocities of WW!. Maybe the biggest shock was the fact that, as Americans, these writers were somehow implicated by all of this- were responsible on a systemic level. But African Americans were never that complicit; they weren't allowed to forget that a division existed between American and themselves. SO while the nuances of self were guiding the modernist aesthetic, the energy at work within and upon the poems of the Harlem Renaissance was much more aware of the context within which the poems and speakers existed. And that context become a large part of the subject of those poems. This is simplification, but I cant help thinking that these key differences have never gone away." (Smith)
Do we see the same "awareness of context withing which the poems and speaker exist" In the body's question as Tracy attributes to the African American writers of the Harlem Renaissance?
How does Tracy situate herself in relation to the legacy of African-American literature is she implying this awareness was constricting or did it allow Africa American lit more options than the whit modern writers of the time?
4) In his introduction of the Body's Question Kevin Young writes:
"Desire here often means the desire for desire, and a desire for language itself"
What does this mean? How would YOU articulate what he is trying to say? Do you agree? Where in what poems, do we see a 'desire for desire'?
5) Commenting on Duende Elizabeth Alexander writes:
"Writers and musicians have explored the concept of Duende, which might in English translate to a kind of existential blues.Smith is not interested in sadness, per se. Rather in the strange music of these poems.
How does Tracy's work value and utilize the Lyrical? If the title could translate to 'existential blues' is there an inherent musical quality of her work and where does it come from?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
9-22-08 Week Four Monday
Today in class we discussed The Body's Question which I have only read about half of, but so far I very much like. I had not heard of Tracy K. Smith, or any of the authors in the VWS, before this class and I feel very privileged for this opportunity of exposure. In the introduction given by Kevin Young he briefly explains her poetry in a way that made me appreciate the pieces more.
In other readings for this "reading journal" of mine I am reading Shakespeare's tragedies for a course I am in with Professor Venturo. We have a paper due tomorrow, which is difficult in that 'first paper of the semester way'. I have Hamlet on my mind. Whenever I am studding old Literature intensely I start to unconsciously shift my thoughts into whatever style I'm reading, like my internal monologue starts to sound like Austen etc. Anyway lately I've found myself composing self-pitying soliloquy's about my existential woe without really meaning to, the word 'thou' is being used a lot. But through all of this I love Shakespeare of course, who doesn't hes like the Elvis of writing, and I secretly love writing papers so its a stressful but fun time.
In other readings for this "reading journal" of mine I am reading Shakespeare's tragedies for a course I am in with Professor Venturo. We have a paper due tomorrow, which is difficult in that 'first paper of the semester way'. I have Hamlet on my mind. Whenever I am studding old Literature intensely I start to unconsciously shift my thoughts into whatever style I'm reading, like my internal monologue starts to sound like Austen etc. Anyway lately I've found myself composing self-pitying soliloquy's about my existential woe without really meaning to, the word 'thou' is being used a lot. But through all of this I love Shakespeare of course, who doesn't hes like the Elvis of writing, and I secretly love writing papers so its a stressful but fun time.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
9-18-08 Week Three Next Year's VWS Round One
We did not get to voting for next years authors today which is a shame because I was looking forward to see how that process would work. However the class was able to present on twenty different authors. With such a mass of names and awards and grants the whole thing becomes a little overwhelming.
I like the pictures. I think we should just invite whoever has the best picture.
Kidding. But I was surprised at how passionate two class members were about the author Claudia Ranklne. I have not read her but I plan too. Her work seems very smart and funny, even the title of the book Don't Let Me Be Lonely is humorous. One of the class members described her as "post-9-11" which I totally understand why, but it makes me uncomfortable to hear. I'm sure it my issue. I understand the beyond tragic profound impacts of 9-11, or the holocaust, or slavery, or patriarchy for that matter, but to classify literature as simply "before" or "after" these events seems to deny both the trauma of the events and work of writing. Sorry I'm off on a Tangent and don't know how to return.
I think I need to relax and let my sub-conscious wander through these authors in its own time. As we were going over them I marked NO or MAYBE or I LIKE so I can start sorting and reading more from the people I liked. Or, if all else fails, I just vote for the most attractive.
I like the pictures. I think we should just invite whoever has the best picture.
Kidding. But I was surprised at how passionate two class members were about the author Claudia Ranklne. I have not read her but I plan too. Her work seems very smart and funny, even the title of the book Don't Let Me Be Lonely is humorous. One of the class members described her as "post-9-11" which I totally understand why, but it makes me uncomfortable to hear. I'm sure it my issue. I understand the beyond tragic profound impacts of 9-11, or the holocaust, or slavery, or patriarchy for that matter, but to classify literature as simply "before" or "after" these events seems to deny both the trauma of the events and work of writing. Sorry I'm off on a Tangent and don't know how to return.
I think I need to relax and let my sub-conscious wander through these authors in its own time. As we were going over them I marked NO or MAYBE or I LIKE so I can start sorting and reading more from the people I liked. Or, if all else fails, I just vote for the most attractive.
9-15-08 Week Three Next Years VWS Round One
Today we began a sharing our picks for next years authors. I did not know how to go about picking my two author suggestions because I am not particularly familiar with the kind of writers TCNJ would have at the Visiting Writers Series. So I looked over the speaker schedule I received at the Brooklyn Book Festival and found a series of readings called "Brooklyn in the House" that featured local readers. I saw a name I remembered from the anthology Legitimate Dangers that I remember Trisha presenting on, Nick Flynn.
It was the poem we called "Emo" in class. I read his work in the anthology and did some research. He has an interesting bio, including homelessness. Apparently he wrote an acclaimed memoir about being homeless that from the excerpts I read looks artful and well written.
It was the poem we called "Emo" in class. I read his work in the anthology and did some research. He has an interesting bio, including homelessness. Apparently he wrote an acclaimed memoir about being homeless that from the excerpts I read looks artful and well written.
9-14-08 Brooklyn Book Festival
Today my boyfriend and I went to the Brooklyn Book Festival. It was a hot, muggy, and sweaty. We got to the festival at four o’clock and spent an hour or so walking around checking out the different booths and areas where people were reading. It was all outside and there were multiple stages where you could sit down and listen or leave as you pleased. I’m super sensitive to physical sensations and my environment so it was hard for me to experience the readers; too many people, bodies, smells, sounds, people smoking cigarettes, faces…It was overwhelming.
What we did see was the readings by Esmeralda Santiago, Dagoberta Glib and Jessica Hagedorn. They were on the Main stage, which sat people on the steps of Borough hall. I enjoyed all the pieces they read to the extent I could pay attention. After their reading was Chuck Klosterman who I would have liked to see becuase I am ambivalent towards his work. I think some of his pieces are hysterical, like the story about his bizarre experience with Val Kilmer and his essay on Saved by the Bell, but I find some of his other work sexist, arrogant, and ignorant. Unfortunately we had to meet my sister at a restaurant so we did not have time to hear him.
The whole book festival experience was, to be truthful, awful. I know the goal of the assignment was to experience a community of writers, to spark an interest in something new, to possibly find someone for the VWS, and I am sure that for the majority of students it will be just this. But the way I relate to books is in the dark, in the air-conditioning, by myself. Reading is something I do alone like showering or singing in the car. If my anxiety is low I can usually handle a class discussion. But put me outside where I feel hot, and fat, and uncomfortable, and my shirt is clingy, and I’m sweating, and eww that person just touched me, and this stone is too hard to sit on. If Jesus Christ came back to answer some quick questions I don’t think I could listen. I feel like running to a cold dark empty starbucks, snuggling into a plush chair to write an intelligent poem about how superior I am to these frauds of the book show. No REAL writer could handle so many other humans with their faces and sounds and stories congesting ones mind. I, Gabrielle Reed, am obviously the only true artist who appeared at the book festival today. I am kidding. I enjoyed the book festival it was just a little too much stimuli for my fragile self. But still I get it, I get why people go to readings why their good and why someone without social anxiety disorder would have had a wonderful time.
What we did see was the readings by Esmeralda Santiago, Dagoberta Glib and Jessica Hagedorn. They were on the Main stage, which sat people on the steps of Borough hall. I enjoyed all the pieces they read to the extent I could pay attention. After their reading was Chuck Klosterman who I would have liked to see becuase I am ambivalent towards his work. I think some of his pieces are hysterical, like the story about his bizarre experience with Val Kilmer and his essay on Saved by the Bell, but I find some of his other work sexist, arrogant, and ignorant. Unfortunately we had to meet my sister at a restaurant so we did not have time to hear him.
The whole book festival experience was, to be truthful, awful. I know the goal of the assignment was to experience a community of writers, to spark an interest in something new, to possibly find someone for the VWS, and I am sure that for the majority of students it will be just this. But the way I relate to books is in the dark, in the air-conditioning, by myself. Reading is something I do alone like showering or singing in the car. If my anxiety is low I can usually handle a class discussion. But put me outside where I feel hot, and fat, and uncomfortable, and my shirt is clingy, and I’m sweating, and eww that person just touched me, and this stone is too hard to sit on. If Jesus Christ came back to answer some quick questions I don’t think I could listen. I feel like running to a cold dark empty starbucks, snuggling into a plush chair to write an intelligent poem about how superior I am to these frauds of the book show. No REAL writer could handle so many other humans with their faces and sounds and stories congesting ones mind. I, Gabrielle Reed, am obviously the only true artist who appeared at the book festival today. I am kidding. I enjoyed the book festival it was just a little too much stimuli for my fragile self. But still I get it, I get why people go to readings why their good and why someone without social anxiety disorder would have had a wonderful time.
9-05-08 Week Two Issues and Arguments Fiction
We had class today and Prof. Row explained the chronological movements of writers in American from 1900 to now, which I was absolutely delighted to learn. I’m going on five years of undergraduate Literature classes and no Professor has ever explained the movements of fiction in such a comprehendible way, it was an accessible and informative history. I keep thinking about my father, J.D. Reed, in this class, who was a writer in the seventies and eighties; he published a book of poems and some fiction. Although his first book of poetry won a Guggenheim he was never a literary superstar (he taught creative writing at Amherst before moving to SI, Time, and People) but he was friends with some “real” authors. When he and my mother lived in Montana he was in a circle of Alcoholic writers like Jim Harrison and others whose names I forget.
My family has an odd relationship to the writing world, the popular eighties novel The Sports Writer was based on my family. I’ve never read the book and never will because Richard Ford who wrote it used my Dad’s friendship for material and presented my parents in a not too good light. And later my sister Alicia looking down for her cigarette lighter crashed her car into Joyce Carol Oates pulling out of her driveway. My family dislikes Oates because, well, she’s not a very good writer, but more importantly she was very difficult in the trial.
Anyway now that I’ve shared to much personal info I will return to my original question. What I’ve been wondering in this class is where my father, or the more-famous writers in his circle, fit in the movements you discussed. He was born in the forties and came of age in the era during and right after World War Two so maybe he would be considered post-modern. My mother, who also published some (not-too-good) fiction, always says my Dad and his friends all wanted to be Hemingway and all their poems were about food and sex, so who knows.
My family has an odd relationship to the writing world, the popular eighties novel The Sports Writer was based on my family. I’ve never read the book and never will because Richard Ford who wrote it used my Dad’s friendship for material and presented my parents in a not too good light. And later my sister Alicia looking down for her cigarette lighter crashed her car into Joyce Carol Oates pulling out of her driveway. My family dislikes Oates because, well, she’s not a very good writer, but more importantly she was very difficult in the trial.
Anyway now that I’ve shared to much personal info I will return to my original question. What I’ve been wondering in this class is where my father, or the more-famous writers in his circle, fit in the movements you discussed. He was born in the forties and came of age in the era during and right after World War Two so maybe he would be considered post-modern. My mother, who also published some (not-too-good) fiction, always says my Dad and his friends all wanted to be Hemingway and all their poems were about food and sex, so who knows.
9-4-08 (After Class) Week One Orientation
In class we discussed one of the poets I read, and a few that I liked that I had not read. I liked Juliana Sphar's poem (pg358 in Legitimate Dangers), which prof. Row told us was influenced by the Language Poets like Gertrude Stein. Poetry is such an interesting medium of art because it is both cerebral and lyrical, almost music and almost philosophy. I think Spahr’s poem embodies this type of light almost playfulness in language with her “and we…/and we…/and we…” line beginnings, it reminds me of a five year old telling a story. But the content of the poem is dense and a little to abstract for my liking. There is nothing concrete in the poem, which I assume is the point of something titled “localism or t/here”, but I like poetry where the grand concepts are entered through concrete detail.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
