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
5 comments:
As for the poetry practice, write about things you like. Write about the birth of your child or the love you have for your child(en). As for your blogs, I enjoyed reading what you wrote. I also try to teach my students to use prior knowledge. I can also relate to your poet, because I have lived in Texas my entire life, until I moved to California at the age of 19. Talk about culture shock, that is culture shock. I really enjoyed your blog entries.
Emily
I related so much to your post on "Levertov's Final Interview" I too moved from a culturally reach environment (with a beach) to Texas far away from my nearest family and soon found myself pregnant with my second child. By chance have you read any of her poems?
Your post encouraged me to write down her name to look up some of her work.
Michan
I agree that the paper and pen is much more stimulating as a writing process than typing on a computer. I have often felt that something is lost in the process. Personally, I use a pencil and paper. I love the way it feels to write in a pencil and to erase my thoughts away when better ones come to mind. Yes, it takes me much longer to write in this manner, but it gets my creative juices flowing...and it could have something to do with the fact that I actually used to write this way (you know...before computers!) That is showing my age!
I like how you reflected on the importance of writing about one's surroundings instead of continuously about one's self and one's thoughts.
Lyric poetry is a lot more difficult for me as I feel like all writing should tell a story. I'm not sure why I think that, but your comment forced me to do some self-reflection and see that I have a weird blind spot.
I too think it is important to connect or at least try to connect with what we are reading to understand it better. When reading stories or poems I try to picture the scene in my mind and I try to smell the smells. For me smells and songs can send me back to a place in time. I like how you have praised this among the author in the website.
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