As this class first began, I thought "oh no this is going to be embarrassing." I'm not the most interesting writer or nor did I think I had great ideas. When asked to write our own pieces I didn't know what was needed to be or should be discovered. How do I get in touch with my creative side, did I even have one of those sides? I did. It wasn't till near the end of the class I knew what to put down on that pretty blank sheet of white paper.
Creative Writing class has made me think outside the box. When writing the same meaning from another person piece came really easy too me. I think it was because the idea was already in front of me. But, when it came to my own writing I had a writers block. I didn't know what I wanted to put down, or how to put it down. Yet, thats where the reading took place in the class that had really helped me out.
A book we were reading in class was the Goldberg piece that had really inspired me. She made references from everyday life relate to writing. From baking a cake, to obsessions. Writing consist of so many different forms of writing like this. Writing down memories, and experiences is a great way to speak to others. They understand that more, since they may have as well. This class has opened my eyes to these things. I just realized this at the end of the class. Thank you!
12/12/10
12/2/10
Close to the knife
As I was reading this piece called "Close to the knife" I found it quiet intriguing. I like how they started off stating how in another sense he was nervous and didn't know how to respond "I'm sitting in his hospital room so high in the upper reaches of the building that when I walk the halls or sit in the room or wander to the waiting room to have a cigarette". These are all signs of nervousness. When you go to the hospital you never see others sit completely still. You see them pace and smoke like a chimney. So for me it brings suspense. Also when you get nervous you look out the windows to see the scenery to take you mind off things he does too "the distant plains from this perspective they flatten out against one another into the distance".
I didn't quite understand when they did a part on whales. It didn't make sense to me at all. At the end of a paragraph to transition it to the whale part was "The iris was the size of the room...;it radicated across the heavy clouds with fifty thousand windows reflecting the blue of sky through it". As the whale piece stated" Whales can descend to a depth of five thousand feet where they can and must sustain a pressure of one hundred and forty tons on every square foot of their bodies" what does this mean? I don't understand what this has to do with this entire story.
In the middle of the story I liked how the author described the characteristics of his gay lover. When in the hospital bed he was very ill. When he said "he fell endlessly forward" I could see Peter falling without trying to grab a hod of something. I seen him keep going til he hit the floor. Also when stated "his arms spinning like windmills until on of us grab and guided him" got me thinking he was trying to balance himself out without any control, and he was lucky to have people there to help. When they went to go see the doctor at Penn Station his actions were over the top I believe. When the author stated "We had to go catch up with him" I didn't understand one why Anita would just let him walk away without following and two I believed that he wouldn't of walked toward them and back away again. He just needed sometime to cool down.
I didn't quite understand when they did a part on whales. It didn't make sense to me at all. At the end of a paragraph to transition it to the whale part was "The iris was the size of the room...;it radicated across the heavy clouds with fifty thousand windows reflecting the blue of sky through it". As the whale piece stated" Whales can descend to a depth of five thousand feet where they can and must sustain a pressure of one hundred and forty tons on every square foot of their bodies" what does this mean? I don't understand what this has to do with this entire story.
In the middle of the story I liked how the author described the characteristics of his gay lover. When in the hospital bed he was very ill. When he said "he fell endlessly forward" I could see Peter falling without trying to grab a hod of something. I seen him keep going til he hit the floor. Also when stated "his arms spinning like windmills until on of us grab and guided him" got me thinking he was trying to balance himself out without any control, and he was lucky to have people there to help. When they went to go see the doctor at Penn Station his actions were over the top I believe. When the author stated "We had to go catch up with him" I didn't understand one why Anita would just let him walk away without following and two I believed that he wouldn't of walked toward them and back away again. He just needed sometime to cool down.
11/17/10
Total Eclipse Packet
When reading the Essay Packet I really enjoyed reading the Total Eclipse essay. The author seemed to be talking in past tense meaning the story had already taken place "I lay in bed. My husband, Gary, reading beside me".
First reading this I kept making references to death. I even started to see so many references to not death, but things related to supernatural or superticious causes. She kept refering to death in the first paragraph "It had been like Dying, that sliding...". I thought it was extremely weird that anyone would start an essay about death especially, when it was about something that doesn't occur very often. "Number 6" was repeated appoximately three times. What I had determined from this was something unusual would happen. Yet, it did since, an eclipse is very unusual. You don't see those every night. I also thought when she was descibing the eclipse its how she felt about life. When stating "at once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover" just made it seem like she tought life was dissappointing and she didn't want to be there.
"Between his lips were wet rows of human teeth and a suggestion of a real tongue" I felt as if that was strange when she was explaining how a clown made of vegtables. Many people are freaked when you mention a clown. Therefore, this had put me back on to the superticious track again. A clown made out of vegies would definitly be strange, just as strange as an eclipse.
First reading this I kept making references to death. I even started to see so many references to not death, but things related to supernatural or superticious causes. She kept refering to death in the first paragraph "It had been like Dying, that sliding...". I thought it was extremely weird that anyone would start an essay about death especially, when it was about something that doesn't occur very often. "Number 6" was repeated appoximately three times. What I had determined from this was something unusual would happen. Yet, it did since, an eclipse is very unusual. You don't see those every night. I also thought when she was descibing the eclipse its how she felt about life. When stating "at once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover" just made it seem like she tought life was dissappointing and she didn't want to be there.
"Between his lips were wet rows of human teeth and a suggestion of a real tongue" I felt as if that was strange when she was explaining how a clown made of vegtables. Many people are freaked when you mention a clown. Therefore, this had put me back on to the superticious track again. A clown made out of vegies would definitly be strange, just as strange as an eclipse.
11/11/10
Essay Packet one
As everyone may already know an Essay is very structured. It contains a lot of knowledge and is very concrete. Essay's are usually full of just knowledge of academic research. It's never really about experiences you encounter in everyday life. Yet, in this essay packet its totally the opposite.
In the essay packets I loved the first story about the fox. She is very descriptive which is 100% awesome! "As the fox disappeared, its tail was a wisp" I loved that line! It made it seem like I was there watching it disappear quickly. "The moon wasn't even a silver that night" instead of just saying the moon was not very bright or your common the moon was a dull oval in the sky she used "silver". Meaning the moon wasn't so bright like the color silver is. In other words you couldn't really see much that night when she believed to come encountered with the fox.
Besides the descriptive part of this essay I liked how well she used the concrete language and it made it abstract to me. "Red the last thing I could see that day" was very concrete and got straight to the point. Yet, it made it abstract to me because red is the color of blood. Meaning she didn't mean to hurt that fox that dull night. She had wished to make that day better but couldn't. Also, loved how everything flowed in her essay. She begins with the "I remember the fox in the light as I dove forth" describing how it was previous and then she went into the next morning.
In the essay packets I loved the first story about the fox. She is very descriptive which is 100% awesome! "As the fox disappeared, its tail was a wisp" I loved that line! It made it seem like I was there watching it disappear quickly. "The moon wasn't even a silver that night" instead of just saying the moon was not very bright or your common the moon was a dull oval in the sky she used "silver". Meaning the moon wasn't so bright like the color silver is. In other words you couldn't really see much that night when she believed to come encountered with the fox.
Besides the descriptive part of this essay I liked how well she used the concrete language and it made it abstract to me. "Red the last thing I could see that day" was very concrete and got straight to the point. Yet, it made it abstract to me because red is the color of blood. Meaning she didn't mean to hurt that fox that dull night. She had wished to make that day better but couldn't. Also, loved how everything flowed in her essay. She begins with the "I remember the fox in the light as I dove forth" describing how it was previous and then she went into the next morning.
11/4/10
Fiction Packet 3
I absolutely loved this packet, well at least the first 2 stories. Theses stories I felt was written by a little boy. When using "Us brothers" many times this would be incorrect english. And many boys I know speak this way. I also believe its written by a little kid because of the sound "We like to make mud, in the rain, out of the dirt" makes it sound like thoughts of a youngster.
I love ow it has this special rhythm to it. While, reading this I kept finding myself in a pattern especially when he stated "The rain, when it drums down on the tops of our boys heads, the sound of it falling, it makes music in our ears". I also liked how visual that statement was. I also liked how when he was tellings us about the rain druming down on them and with the next line he made it connect with singing "We sing and sing and dont stop singing until the rain stops drumming down...".
"Welift our hands, our ouths, up to the sky" this gave me a visual of them looking up to the sky with mouths open to cathch the rain in their mouths. I absolutely love doing this. Therefore, I definitely thought I connected with this piece from the packet and thought a little kid may have written as I have been called a little kid from doing this often.
I love ow it has this special rhythm to it. While, reading this I kept finding myself in a pattern especially when he stated "The rain, when it drums down on the tops of our boys heads, the sound of it falling, it makes music in our ears". I also liked how visual that statement was. I also liked how when he was tellings us about the rain druming down on them and with the next line he made it connect with singing "We sing and sing and dont stop singing until the rain stops drumming down...".
"Welift our hands, our ouths, up to the sky" this gave me a visual of them looking up to the sky with mouths open to cathch the rain in their mouths. I absolutely love doing this. Therefore, I definitely thought I connected with this piece from the packet and thought a little kid may have written as I have been called a little kid from doing this often.
11/3/10
Burroway 11/26
Was a piece that just sort of kept telling you how to write. It tells you what sorts of things are needed in your writing "arouse and hold the attention of your reader". This being said is the biggest thing in my writing I'm trying to withhold. I for some odd reason just keep on loosing my readers. "Great writers are effective...because they deal with particulars and details that matter. I am always putting in details that are non important in my writing. Perhaps thats why my readers tend to lose interest.
Details are very important. They tell how you want one to feel about a certain subject like how Burroway stated "a handsome young man of 22 was 6 foot and had medium blond hair which set off the blue of his intense long eye lashes" I believed what was trying to go about here was focus on details. how you describe someone gives a great ideal of what they look like in your mind. They way you say things means everything to the reader.
"On his heels with excitement" I loved this line from the text. This really showed me how you could use little detail of being on his heels could be excitement. I could relate that to a little kid. I usually just tell someone in my writing they were excited or something I couldnt really show it as well as Burroway. "The same words can be said in a different view" this was said because everthing can be said in a different mood. And thats what gives a story that certain bounce to keep reading.
Details are very important. They tell how you want one to feel about a certain subject like how Burroway stated "a handsome young man of 22 was 6 foot and had medium blond hair which set off the blue of his intense long eye lashes" I believed what was trying to go about here was focus on details. how you describe someone gives a great ideal of what they look like in your mind. They way you say things means everything to the reader.
"On his heels with excitement" I loved this line from the text. This really showed me how you could use little detail of being on his heels could be excitement. I could relate that to a little kid. I usually just tell someone in my writing they were excited or something I couldnt really show it as well as Burroway. "The same words can be said in a different view" this was said because everthing can be said in a different mood. And thats what gives a story that certain bounce to keep reading.
11/2/10
10/21 late response
While reading the book "To after that" was sort of frustrating to me. Renee Gladman the author was always jumping around some way some how. "Crossing the street was atrocious. Yet I would wake and write this novel and I would stay up late and write it. But I was not alone: there was a lover, who knew me." this made no sense. She jumped from one topic to another, without using a common transition.
Many common stories use different types of writing. This to me was out of the ordinary. She used this book as a memory as she hadn't remembered many things. She couldn't keep track of when she even wrote the book until she found her "journal in 1998". How do you not remember some of the biggest accomplishments in your life? I didn't understand also, how she came up with these nicknames for her lovers nicknames. "Chubby and Frog" if I was called this I would be highly upset because you dont refer to people as these. You dont because they are insulting who wants to be called chubby or look like an amphibian.
Apart though I did find a bit encouraging was when stated "It does not matter how you live." I love how she applied this to writing. Basically, she doesnt care how you use your time to write you just keep writing. You can write from everyday expeirences and so on I got this by when she stated: "we exist on city streets".
Many common stories use different types of writing. This to me was out of the ordinary. She used this book as a memory as she hadn't remembered many things. She couldn't keep track of when she even wrote the book until she found her "journal in 1998". How do you not remember some of the biggest accomplishments in your life? I didn't understand also, how she came up with these nicknames for her lovers nicknames. "Chubby and Frog" if I was called this I would be highly upset because you dont refer to people as these. You dont because they are insulting who wants to be called chubby or look like an amphibian.
Apart though I did find a bit encouraging was when stated "It does not matter how you live." I love how she applied this to writing. Basically, she doesnt care how you use your time to write you just keep writing. You can write from everyday expeirences and so on I got this by when she stated: "we exist on city streets".
10/14/10
Poetry Packet 1 (Absent sorry) =[
I was reading the poetry packet and I thought of it to be very interesting. These stories are very confusing and to make no sense. They talk about one subject and then jump to something not truly in the same category. For instance in the story "Survivors" they were talking about who wanted to die first, because "didn't want to deal with lovers family" since they knew there sexual orientation. Then they jumped to ..."tropical birds" which I didn't completely understand.
"Walking the baby to the Liquor store" was a crazy piece. I had felt many different emotions. At first I had thought the father was a bad father with a bad habit. I felt as if he was doing one bad thing and making it up by taking the baby for a walk. He says "..He wouldn't give these up for the world" his adventures or the liquor? I was very confused on this part. So I also believe that he doesn't know how else to be a good father, but taking her on these walks.Yet, I had a different vision that he was just trying to make the baby more aware of things like bad substances so he took her to the store. Also, he wanted her open her vision away from just what she knows "mommy, daddy, banana, and dogie".
I also had read "Misdemeanors". This short story was very funny to me. When he "took off his socks and put them on his hands" I thought as if he didn't put much thought into what he was going to do. He just kind of winged it. He also "walked down the street with the socks on his hands" still?? Normally, most people who would have done that would have hurried and at least put socks back on their feet. I just thought this was tremendously funny. I also liked how the author had said "he was a penny short from a felony charge". I had thought that was very ironic, because he just robbed the bowling alley the waitress had said.
"Walking the baby to the Liquor store" was a crazy piece. I had felt many different emotions. At first I had thought the father was a bad father with a bad habit. I felt as if he was doing one bad thing and making it up by taking the baby for a walk. He says "..He wouldn't give these up for the world" his adventures or the liquor? I was very confused on this part. So I also believe that he doesn't know how else to be a good father, but taking her on these walks.Yet, I had a different vision that he was just trying to make the baby more aware of things like bad substances so he took her to the store. Also, he wanted her open her vision away from just what she knows "mommy, daddy, banana, and dogie".
I also had read "Misdemeanors". This short story was very funny to me. When he "took off his socks and put them on his hands" I thought as if he didn't put much thought into what he was going to do. He just kind of winged it. He also "walked down the street with the socks on his hands" still?? Normally, most people who would have done that would have hurried and at least put socks back on their feet. I just thought this was tremendously funny. I also liked how the author had said "he was a penny short from a felony charge". I had thought that was very ironic, because he just robbed the bowling alley the waitress had said.
10/7/10
Blood Dazzler
In the book of poems called Blood Dazzler really intrigued me. I believe Patricia Smith is one of the best writers I've read. She makes you feel as if you are right there in the disasters. She makes you tremble for those who have experienced these horrendous things.
I really loved the way she had started this piece off. She started off with MartiGra because many people are familiar with that. She relates this to the hurricane because after the party its a disaster "Its shattered beads, stomped flowers, and vomit" and after the hurricane it was also a disaster.
I especially, like the Voodoo money poem. She makes you think of what is really in control. Money has a great control of us. Well after the hurricane she believes money cant save us "Money passes through hands...won't ever spend well". After the Katrina had hit New Orleans people were stealing televisions and dumb priceless things like she said "a shield against weather, you will know. It's too thin to hold tomorrow back". In other words the Voodoo poems tell us about things like how incentives control us not how we control them like we believe.
I really loved the way she had started this piece off. She started off with MartiGra because many people are familiar with that. She relates this to the hurricane because after the party its a disaster "Its shattered beads, stomped flowers, and vomit" and after the hurricane it was also a disaster.
I especially, like the Voodoo money poem. She makes you think of what is really in control. Money has a great control of us. Well after the hurricane she believes money cant save us "Money passes through hands...won't ever spend well". After the Katrina had hit New Orleans people were stealing televisions and dumb priceless things like she said "a shield against weather, you will know. It's too thin to hold tomorrow back". In other words the Voodoo poems tell us about things like how incentives control us not how we control them like we believe.
9/30/10
Goldberg Reading
When first beginning this CRTW class I was a bit nervous when our Professor said we had to read as well as write in this class. Then I have came to realize these books so far are really intriguing. I love the way the author Natalie Goldberg comes up with her titles for writing. "Baking a cake", "Obsessions", are tremendous titles for the way she creates writing, because writing is exactly that way.
In the book Writing Down the Bones I can really relate to what she is saying. When she is saying "...real details of the way things were and are, you hardly need anything else" I think that's very knowledge able. Many writers use their personal experience more than anything else. I even see that in my writing. I believe this to be true, because you already have so much knowledge from that experience and want to tell others, because just maybe they can relate to it as well.
When reading the chapter about "Obsessions" I seemed to find that a bit strange. When she said that " your main obsessions have power...". I didn't really understand what she meant by that. How could my obsessions have power in my writing, that just doesn't make sense. Then as I kept reading the piece she said "...they are what will come back to in your writing over and over again". Now, I can officially see what she means. I constantly, find myself writing about depression or when I was hit by a car. They are both something I attend to keep going back to in my writing. So, does that make them my obsession??
Finally, all of the previous chapters for me made me understand the "Baking a Cake" chapter. When I first write any kind of paper or poem, it makes "goop"; that's what usually happens when you mix all of the ingredients of a cake (Goldberg). Yet, I then re-write them to make them go together, for me that's like smoothing out all of the bumps or lumps in the mix. You put your heart and soul into it you want the finishing piece to come out perfect like a cake. I just thought this was a tremendous reference and really relates to everyone.
In the book Writing Down the Bones I can really relate to what she is saying. When she is saying "...real details of the way things were and are, you hardly need anything else" I think that's very knowledge able. Many writers use their personal experience more than anything else. I even see that in my writing. I believe this to be true, because you already have so much knowledge from that experience and want to tell others, because just maybe they can relate to it as well.
When reading the chapter about "Obsessions" I seemed to find that a bit strange. When she said that " your main obsessions have power...". I didn't really understand what she meant by that. How could my obsessions have power in my writing, that just doesn't make sense. Then as I kept reading the piece she said "...they are what will come back to in your writing over and over again". Now, I can officially see what she means. I constantly, find myself writing about depression or when I was hit by a car. They are both something I attend to keep going back to in my writing. So, does that make them my obsession??
Finally, all of the previous chapters for me made me understand the "Baking a Cake" chapter. When I first write any kind of paper or poem, it makes "goop"; that's what usually happens when you mix all of the ingredients of a cake (Goldberg). Yet, I then re-write them to make them go together, for me that's like smoothing out all of the bumps or lumps in the mix. You put your heart and soul into it you want the finishing piece to come out perfect like a cake. I just thought this was a tremendous reference and really relates to everyone.
9/23/10
Compare Readings
Shakespeare has a lot to offer other poets. Shakespeare writes how he feels, but puts it in a way to everyone to understand for ex. "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare". Shakespeare is a wonderful writer, he makes you visualize everything he talks about ex."If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun". I feel as if Shakespeare writes about love in his sonnets, yet its not your typical fluff as we discussed in class. He digs deep down into his soul and brings out this wonderful piece of writing. While, many others just type out there feelings without much thought, or worried if others will understand.
We as a class came up very little detail about "Thirteen Way of Looking at a Blackbird". We all thought it was a dark poem. Just, because black is a superstition. It was also a very detailed poem. It was always describing the blackbird doing things or the blackbirds surroundings such as "..twenty snowy mountains, the only thing moving was the eye of the blackbird". Yet, the writer Wallace Stevens seemed to be very talented, I understood nothing from this poem like most in our class discussion.
Therefore, I believe poetry can be exciting and dull at the same time. I enjoy reading sonnets when I actually understand what they are getting at. When we were assigned to re-write sonnets from Shakespeare I found myself having writers block. It made me wonder how these poets actually did this. Yet, after 2 hours wasting my time pondering thoughts to write, it came to me. Write from the soul, and everyone will understand. Goldberg puts it all in perspective when her friend said "Trust in what you love,continue to do it and it will take you where you need to go" this is what I believe that all poets do.
We as a class came up very little detail about "Thirteen Way of Looking at a Blackbird". We all thought it was a dark poem. Just, because black is a superstition. It was also a very detailed poem. It was always describing the blackbird doing things or the blackbirds surroundings such as "..twenty snowy mountains, the only thing moving was the eye of the blackbird". Yet, the writer Wallace Stevens seemed to be very talented, I understood nothing from this poem like most in our class discussion.
Therefore, I believe poetry can be exciting and dull at the same time. I enjoy reading sonnets when I actually understand what they are getting at. When we were assigned to re-write sonnets from Shakespeare I found myself having writers block. It made me wonder how these poets actually did this. Yet, after 2 hours wasting my time pondering thoughts to write, it came to me. Write from the soul, and everyone will understand. Goldberg puts it all in perspective when her friend said "Trust in what you love,continue to do it and it will take you where you need to go" this is what I believe that all poets do.
9/13/10
Tiffinni's CRTW Blog 5-6:15 class
To whom this may concern,
Let's start off saying hello, my name is Tiffinni Thornsberry, and this is my first time blogging so bare with me if ya must. I'm an 18 year old freshman at Eastern Michigan University. I'm completely, stoked for how this year is going to turn out for me. I went to Belleville High for 4 years. I'm very athletic, but yet I love being lazy. I'm definitely a jokster. I'm usually always sarcastic. I've enjoyed playing softball, volleyball (terrible at it), and bowling. I love to hang out with my friends, and text a bunch like any other teenager. I'm horrible when it comes to spelling and grammar. If I had to pick some words to describe me better yet, if my friends had to describe me they would say I'm energetic, sarcastic, dumb, weird, funny, all that and a bag of chips (not really) , also very chipper. So, yeah that's me a spunky teen in a nut shell =].
xoxo
Tiffinni Thornsberry
Let's start off saying hello, my name is Tiffinni Thornsberry, and this is my first time blogging so bare with me if ya must. I'm an 18 year old freshman at Eastern Michigan University. I'm completely, stoked for how this year is going to turn out for me. I went to Belleville High for 4 years. I'm very athletic, but yet I love being lazy. I'm definitely a jokster. I'm usually always sarcastic. I've enjoyed playing softball, volleyball (terrible at it), and bowling. I love to hang out with my friends, and text a bunch like any other teenager. I'm horrible when it comes to spelling and grammar. If I had to pick some words to describe me better yet, if my friends had to describe me they would say I'm energetic, sarcastic, dumb, weird, funny, all that and a bag of chips (not really) , also very chipper. So, yeah that's me a spunky teen in a nut shell =].
xoxo
Tiffinni Thornsberry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)