Blog # 4

I enjoyed the Interview with Wang Ping. It was fun. I like that she seeks the meaning of language by examining the root and its meaning. By doing this, she can find the perfect word that can reveal so much. I liked how Ping thinks of words as a playground that need to be played with and enjoyed. This made me think of my daughter playing with her Lego's and blocks. Each piece is a root word or a fundamental part of language that can be repeatedly manipulated and shifted to create new art.

What caught my eye in The Iowa Review was it's description. I liked that the review's purpose is to publish American work that is new but sticks to the ideas of traditional literature. I guess I am just one of those old die-hards. It is difficult for me to enjoy literature that is too far off of traditional idealogy. The more we, as a culture, break from our past traditions, morals, and ethics, the more we open ourselves to destruction. Look back to "The US Coming of Age," The Roaring Twenties. Drinking, movie-going, dancing, and shorter dresses and bobbed hair led to a fast break from tradition. Tradition such as caring for your neighbor and watching after his/her kids if you see them outside is a dying luxury in a world that is too fast, self-centered and selfish. Love for thy neighbor is almost nonexistant. I have neighbors that I have never met. Used to, families Knew everyone around the block, when there was trouble, when they needed food brought, when they needed prayer, etc. At least, for now, there are literary conservationists that set some boundaries in the work they put out there.

I chose another interview to comment on today. I have really enjoyed the interviews the most of all from the poetry resource list. I enjoy the voice of the writer, what goes through their minds when it comes to creating their work, and through this, I have learned a thing or two about writing. I read the Mez interview. To be honest, I don't understand her "mezangelle" language or work. If an exerpt of her net.art had not been translated, I wouldn't have gotten the meaning. E poetry is a controversial new genre. You can take it or leave it. One thing that Mez said that I enjoyed when asked, "What should good net art contain in your opinion?" Mez replied,
'I think it's probably easier to give my opinion on what 'bad' [or non-engaging] net.art is, and just work backwards. Work that puts the latest software/technique first [at the expense of the overall aesthetic/conceptual impact] or that panders to the established art market/bandwagon whilst making little effort to explore the medium [graphic designed made-to-order net.'art'] just doesn't grab me. Net.art that utilizes the very grain and grit of the network, that stretches preconceived artistic notions, that makes me unsure of the very principles that govern the interface/project, that throws a reliance on hackneyed dataface terminology out the window and creates its own, that blasts open my intellect and sensory faculties is what it should be all about.'
I liked her honesty. I think she articulated what we have all been trying to wrap our minds around when it comes to e poetry.

Blog #3

Winning Writers is a valuable resource for anyone who is interested in submitting their work in a poetry contest. You can even subscribe for a low fee to be updated with this sort of information. There are links for writer critiques, advice and services, but towards the bottom of the first page, there was a link that I was particularly interested in. It was Websites for poets and Writers. I scrolled through the various essays and saw one titled, "Bad Poets." It expressed that weekly mediocre work comes in, but worthless work comes in daily. Randall Jarell writes that it is like someone ripped their arms and legs off and sent them to him and called it poetry. In other words, many people fall into the habit of expressing their deepest feelings onto paper and think that they have created art. This made me think. I was told to write about things you know. I am only twenty six years old, but I have many issues with the closest people around me; therefore, most of my poetry is based on that. In a way it is therapeutic, but as some critiques I have read about my work say, my poetry seems to be about the same thing and is dull. If I had more time to spend on these assignments, I think I could dig deeper and write about other things, but in this moment, nothing else is as pertinent in my life. I don't want to seem discouraged, but poetry may not be this natural gift that someone has as I have thought. There is structure and language that must be conquered, as well.

Net Verse is an insightful resource. Peter Howard reflects on the advances of technology from when he began writing for the UK "Poetry Review" in 1996 to 2001. It provides links to a variety of e-poetry. I like how he took a neutral stance on technology based poetry. He mentions how some of his readers may view the work as poetry whereas others may not. One piece that I found interesting was Talan Memmott's "lexia to perplexia." There are many parts to her work, but a couple caught my attention and made me think. She has four Minifestos, and the final one contemplates the idea that her cell phone is a part of her. This was intriguing because she uses technology as a part of her poetry. Poetry is part of a person's soul just as her cell phone is a part of her everyday life. The final part of her poem, revealed the prefix "hyper," and several suffixes would flash on the other side such as: "text, texture, sensual, and topic." I enjoyed her play on words suggesting to the reader that there are many things in life that are "hyper." It seemed like a stand for hypertext poetry.

Beehive has a unique varitey of hypertext poetry. Juliet Ann Martin's "Hyperbody" is a sexual poem that uses visuals and hypertext to express the speaker's lust and sexual sensation. Some of the pictures were graphic, which made me feel uncomfortable possibly because of my Church of Christ upbringing and I have a three old running around that asked, "What's that?" I am interested though, in going back to this poem to try to understand it better because I know there is more to it than just the sexual imagery. Some of the other works were more of a novella form, but seemed worth checking into.

Blog Entry #2

If you are like me, and like everything organized and straight in a row, then you will have ease looking around in Patrick Martin's Poetry Resource. The first page is a vertical list of links that are helpful to any poet or poetry lover. The are links to hundreds of poets, poems, publishers, organizations, forums, and what intrigued me was the link that grouped poetry together from each different country or region. This resource is user friendly and is a great guide to the poetry universe.

The Electronic Literature Directory is another online resource that is very user friendly. The links are also vertically organize and lead to an abundance of information. I don't know about you, but whenever I go to a website that has pictures, and flashing things, and scrolling things, and links scattered everywhere, I go ADD or something, I can't focus on what I am trying to do. I like to see the information and get right to the point. This resource does that, and I appreciate it because E-poetry is overstimulating as it is, or at least, when I am in ADD mode or something. Anyways, I read the poem, "ABC." It had flashing things, strange sounds, scrolling letters; you get the idea. Well, I was able to get to business and focus. I liked how the top left corner scrolled through the alphabet, and every letter represented a feeling of love for someone such a "J- We're Jack and Jill." Thus, meaning of the title is revealed. I love you from A to Z. At the bottom left there are pictures that change. I think it is the speaker. Over the face of this person, there is child-like writing that reveals things the speaker does not like such as: "that woman...that teacher." There is also a blue square that changes and is located above the picture's face. Perhaps, it is suggesting that the man in the picture is a square. On the lower left, there is a circle that shows clips of what I think is a picture frame. If this is the case, I suppose he and his lover are complete as a frame completes a picture just as how a circle is complete. There is also a computerized shadowy face that looks as though it is speaking. Perhaps, it is the speaker remembering his feeling of love at a young age because the other picture reveals an older man. Also, I think the fact that the handwriting looks childish and the expressing one's love through the alphabet reveals an immature expression of love.

For my final resource this week, I read the interview with Luis Erdrich, "An Emissary of the Between World," contains a great preview that reveals Erdrich's many works and suggests that all her works bring the questions of religion and identity together while adding a complex layer to a character. It is also suggested that Erdrich may be complex because she is from a German and French-Ojibwe heritage. She sheds light on Native Americans, in general. This culture is so overly stereotyped. Erdrich points out that every tribe has a different tradition, history, religion, and world view. I had never given much thought to the vast differences among each tribe. Each tribe has its own culture that can't be categorized under Native American. Erdrich explains that she is bringing awareness to the Ojibwe tribe, but not necessarily to all Native Americans because she only knows Ojigbwe culture. I am interested in reading some of her work to see for myself how she deals with complex issues in her writing and how she builds it around Ojibwe heritage. By reading these interviews, I have been made aware of different authors and types of writings that I have never been open to before, but these people behind the work seem so interesting that their work must be even more so and worth looking in to.

Blog #1-3

One thing that I try to teach my students is to use prior knowledge or experience when reading a selection because when we connect to what we are reading it makes more sense to us. We can feel that we are not alone in our thoughts and feelings. That is the fundamental approach that I took in reading "Levertov's Final Interview." Especially, since this article deals with the poet's thought processes and feelings, it easy to connect to Levertov. She explains that when she moved to America, she felt culture shock, she had to actually live alone with her husband, and she was suddenly pregnant. I have felt the same way, when my family moved to Texas, it was a huge culture shock. Where we moved in Corsicana, Texas, there was no beach for miles, people dressed differently, there were people publicly speaking a foreign language everywhere I went, race riots were taking place when I moved here, and the list goes on. Also, I got married, and within two months found my self suddenly pregnant, which was too much for my husband to handle, and I spent my entire pregnancy alone. (We are going on five years of marriage now-things did get better), but the difference is that Levertov wrote about these things and I didn't. For the practice poetry, I could not think of anything to write. I felt empty. What can I write about? Nothing interesting happens to me or goes on in this town, but perhaps, I have overlooked things that are important. By reading and connecting to this interview, I feel like I can go back to our poetry practice assignment and actually have something to write.

Levertov made the point that she is tired of reading poems about a person's ego, and after reading her interpretation, I can see what McCaffery was trying to say, but in not such a way that I could connect to as I could when reading Levertov. I can admit I was too harsh on my last blog entry, but not entirely so. Levertov suggests that we should focus more on our surroundings than ourselves. Take a look at nature, for example, as she did when she wrote her poetry at Mt. Rainer.

A final connection between Levertov and I was that she believes that writing thoughts on paper is an important part of the creative process. The hand, connected to the body, must expel the words onto the page. This is spiritual, and the writer is naturally connected to what is going onto the page rather than what is typed onto a computer screen where the writer becomes detached from the creative process. I have never given much thought to this before, but any time I write something that is creative, I instinctively reach for a pen and a notebook where more comes to me than when I am staring at a blank computer screen. I feel like I have tried fighting technology because it appears as though, as a people, we are further detaching ourselves from each other, nature, and our own spirituality

Blog Entry #1-2

Resources for Poets: Articles on Writing Poetry is a wonderful site full of endless material and links. The information that I read ranges from "How To" information for beginning poets to tips for educators. The first article that I read, Alex Keegan's "A Cool Dark Guinness and Something About Adverbs" was an enjoyable as well as informative read. After reading so many articles by "Know-it-all-writers," it is refreshing to read something that has a valid point and support, but it is written with a voice that I almost feel like I could open my mouth and talk right back. I never before thought about the idea of overusing adjectives and adverbs. Whenever I attempt to write poetry, I immediately feel as though I need to find the most elaborate descriptive words I can and inject them into my writing. This article suggests letting the verbs or nouns stand for themselves, and his point is backed by excellent examples of when modification is good and when it is more effective to not flood a work with frilly words. I love Keegan's first example, "Would you rather drink a cold, dark pint of Guinness or a Guinness? And would you rather make slow, delicious love or have a quickie?" Obviously, a cold dark Guinness sounds more appealing than just a Guinness and as for me lately, a quickie sounds better than the thoughts provoked by "slow, delicious sex." I apologize if that was too much info.

For anyone out there that have a phobia or are new to criticism, I recommend reading "How (and why) To Take Criticism." My feelings are easily hurt when my work is criticised because it feels as though that person is calling me failure, is saying that I cannot write, and is calling my baby ugly. I learned that it is okay to feel these things because a critic is reaching your innermost person, your creativity. It was comforting for me to read that not everyone will like my style, but it doesn't make it wrong. Someone out there eventually may enjoy my poetry. It is important to not lose yourself because of criticisms that have an alternate motive or want you to practice poetry as they do.

I was overall pleased with the majority of articles on this site, but I really did not understand why McCaffery's "Pitfalls of Personal Poetry" was a part of such a great resource site. He basically complains about reading too many biographical-like poems that are over the same topic. He particularly points out Anne Sexton. For example, she wrote a poem about abortion. This topic may be overdone, but it was a concern and taboo topic for people of her time. In my American Literature class, one important thing that I teach my high school students is that people write about what is important to them, which is usually what is going on whre they lived and during their time I get, "Miss I thought this was English class. I just left my history class." I especially get this when we get to the American Revolution, and my classes have to read diaries and journals from this time. Back to McCaffery, he can point out over done topics in personal poetry, but what about other poetry types, such as Haiku, aren't they all about the same topic pretty much? What original topics are there really?

By the way, for any teachers out there. Check out "Online Poetry Classroom (for educators)."

Blog Entry #1-1

For my first reading from the Poetry Resource list, I chose to read "A Quick Buzz." I cannot tell you how glad I am that I read this one first. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know what epoetry was or that it even existed. This site was perfect for anyone who needs an "Epoetry for Dummies" approach to this genre. For this reason, I could use this site to send my high school students on an online scavenger hunt. I think that this type of poetry would really gain their interest. Today's younger students are such visual and hands on learners that epoetry might be the key to regaining a younger audience's interest in poetry. I am so sure that these kids could come up with great visuals and sound effects. (They know how to text message without ever looking at the keys on the phone! The phone is hidden away in their pocket!) Poetry can leave the dull textbook page and enter a multidimensional world, through technology, that is constantly changing, which is right up any high schooler's alley.


As I became more acquainted to the concept of epoetry, I began to think, "Is this considered poetry or art?" Well, in some cases, I could definitely tell that the work was poetry as in Robert Kendall's poem, "A Study in Shades," use of epoetry technique truly enhances his poem's meaning. As a man's Alzheimer's progresses, the picture of his daughter fades away. As the daughter sees her father's digression, his picture darkens revealing that he has become the shadow of the man he once was. On the other hand, I found "Nio" extremely cool and fun, but I am not sure if this is poetry, art, or something that could be used to teach a class of hopeful musicians. The work had several items that could be clicked on to add or take away from the music created. Some works seemed more like art or something a computer programmer would come up with. As I read further, I saw that it is still a current question among scholars on how to label the variety of epoetry there is. As a people, we are rapidly advancing, and we can't even keep up with how to categorize ourselves-something that has always seemed to be so important.