The process of creating poetry that
a publishing company accepts is a creative but stressful period. Over the last
eight weeks of senior spring, I have written six poems about experiences I have
encountered by living in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This independent
project challenged me to dig into my creative side and pull out scenes and
pictures through letters and words that express them.
Over the
last few weeks I have been editing my poetry with Mr. Igoe and Mrs. Moore. This
period of editing in the project was the most stressful part. At some points I
would get frustrated with some of their comments and not want to change it at
all because I was infuriated that they changed my work and critiqued it so
harshly. By hearing the edits coming from more experienced people, I understood
that they were not trying to ridicule my work, but were trying to make it so
the reader felt as if he or she was watching the scene play out. By changing a
few poems from third person to first person, I was able to write much more
fluidly than I had been before showing actions in the movement that defined the
character and the scene I was attempting to display.
The, “Show,
don’t tell,” concept is the most crucial part of the poetry. To capture the
audience’s pr reader’s attention, one must vividly display actions of scenes
and characters play out right in front of them as if they were watching a
movie. Grasping a picture from the words is praised because it grips the reader’s
attention. In the poems that I wrote, I showed vivid actions that were necessary
to display the thought process of each individual kid. I expressed these
actions in such poems as “Conscious Mistakes,” “Course of the Night,” and
“Scrap.” The edits were the most angering part of the project.
Mr. Igoe.
In the final presentation asked if I would like to be able to write in a
happier state of mind. My answer was no. The reason for this is because my work
flows out of my fingertips much easier when I am upset and angered at something
or someone. When I attempt to write when I am in a good mood, it was a
difficult time for my brain to work well with my hands. They would not connect
in the same way they do when I am in a bad mood. After arguments with friends
or girls, I would try and write based off of an idea that I had for an
experience in Cambridge. This was much easier to write then having a good day
on the quad listening to music and hanging out. So no, Mr. Igoe, I do not want
to be able to write when I am in a good mod because I am afraid that it will
not turn out the way I want it to. This sounds depressing, however when I write
poetry that I am proud of, I become in a happier place right after I finish the
poem I am writing.
My skills
sets of writing, reading, listening, thinking and speaking have improved in
certain ways from using my creative side. My writing ties in with my reading
Walt Whitman’s book, Leaves of Grass.
By reading these poems by one of the best Poets of all time, I have increased
my vocabulary and writing skills dramatically. Learning and understanding his
use of commas and grammar marks has benefitted my sentence structure and line
breaks in each stanza. By listening to high level poets read and edit my
poetry, I understood that if I were to make a descriptive poem I would have to
really show and not tell. This was stressed so hard that I have it now branded
into my brain. In the last few weeks I have been helping juniors and seniors
with their poetry and short stories, ding small grammar edits and larger
showing edits, brain storming to make their writings more expressive. Even by
teaching these kids the art of poetry has helped me understand my writing
better, by what not to write. Thinking comes naturally with a creative project
like this. When the creative juices were flowing, the reader can see that my
thinking process was fluid in my poems. Reading poetry out loud has been
something that came so naturally to me. I am not afraid of speaking my mind in
front of a big room or a small class. Thankful for this, I was not afraid to
speak in front of teachers or students. Also, the E block bonded quite well and
the chemistry of the class was never tampered with since the beginning of the
year.
The blogs
were always a problem for me. I never saw the benefits that came out of
blogging. A check up every day was worthless to me and I just gave up on doing
them. Towards the last three weeks of the project I really was not looking to
make everyone else like my poetry. I wanted to like and be proud of my poetry
that I produced and by the end of it, I created six poems that I was proud of
writing. I started not to care about the grade as much as I should because I
was happy with the things that I was writing. The poetry that was being
produced by me is some of my best art and I hope that I get positive
reinforcement for it.
Overall, I
think that my project was a success. I will look back in a few years on senior
spring and realize how I had a lot of fun creating these six poems that I
really enjoyed writing. I will also remember how I had so much help along the
way, and I will cherish memories and advice that I will take on with me through
college and more. Thank you Mr. Igoe for having a great year in English class,
I look forward to shaking your hand at graduation.
