Final Blog Post!

The end of this class is near but looking back on this semester I couldn't of asked for a better creative writing class. Fun assignments, expressive classmates, class discussions, everything was there and I got more than what I was asking for from this class. However, there were two readings that really stood out or challenged my writing skills in a new way that would help me in future writing. Those readings were "Tocqueville" by Khaled Mattawa and "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. Each reading expressed its own form of uniqueness and played a role in changing how I thought about my own writing.

"Tocqueville" was a personal favorite that I enjoyed reading because of the feeling I got when reading it. I felt as though it wasn't just poetry about abstract feelings or depression, but real life events and emotions. "Imagine not asking the questions. That's the trust you must begin to afford." I enjoyed this line more and more as I thought about it because to me it means that when you put all your trust into something you have to give up free thinking and not question any aspect of what you are trusting. As I read, I had a very strong sense of attachment and felt as this was real life poetry. By that I mean the writing here seemed to be simply experiences and thoughts that were written down for the reader to extract all the emotions and deeper meaning from on their own. Nothing was sugar coated which gave an even greater sense of connection. The events and thoughts were given and nothing was censored to remove the realness aspect of the writing. This affected my own writing because it showed me that your real experiences and emotions are the most powerful words you can put on paper.

"Writing Down the Bones" gave me a very strong sense of, maybe not breaking the rules, but making the rules what you want them to be. For the majority of our lives we are told how to write, how not to write, what is good, what is bad. However, at the same exact time we told that all the great writers of their time were the ones that did not write "by the rules" and chose to create their own. So as students we are told to stay confined within the box of rules if we want to be good, but to think outside the box and fail our classes if we want to be great. I enjoyed the chapter "Syntax" and the writing assignment that came along with it. This really got me to think about how I structured my writing and gave me a lighting on how to break down the box I was given, and create my own.

The combination of these two readings really did a number on me. When I reflect on these two writings I have a desire to write my own true experiences in a way that isn't so self centered and breaks the rules while inspiring whoever so reads it. After all, when it is all said and done the reader is truly the mastermind behind the whole operation. As a writer, there would be no point to my passion for writing without someone else to do the most important part of reading. These two readings gave a me a truly new perspective of what is to come of my future writing and I'm glad that they were chosen for the class to read.

The House of the Future - Bernard Cooper

To grasp an emotional yet intellectual stimulating essence in writing is not your average day occurrence. In the essay "The House of the Future" by Bernard Cooper, the reader is filled with excitement and imagination for the mind to feed off of. However, at the same time you are also compelled to worry about the present and hold on to what you have. This can be seen from the narrators brother Gary, who is currently dying and we have no clue as to why. You are almost forced to open your imagery of the future and get excited for the mystery that is to come, but this does not always me new is better.

"I prefer items with preservatives like polysorbate and BHT; they had a shelf life of several years, stayed fragrant and moist against all odds and offered a taste of eternity." This line really caught my attention in the reading. To me this means the narrator loves things that last a long time or things that are "forever" in a sense. This is extremely ironic that at the same time we are being reminded that his brother is dying and will not be around very soon. It also meant to me that we put so much time and technology into trying to preserve materialistic items and goods, but not as much into what really matters to us.

"It could be said that hardly a natural material occurs in it's original state anywhere in your new home!" This line was another big one to stand out for me. This however, was for a reason to rebel the future. You can not stop the future from coming, but we can most certainly change it. To me this came from the narrator's decision to actually try to run from the future even though he claims he is excited for it. As if he wants the future to come so quick but he wont be exactly pleased with what comes with it.

Maps to Anywhere - Potato Spirit

Choosing a single food item and writing an essay about it that holds the reader's attention throughout is not an easy task to accomplish. However, "Potato Spirit" from the novel "Maps to Anywhere" by Bernard Cooper did just that. As a reader you would go into this reading a bit skeptical because there isn't much to say about just an ordinary potato right? Well that is where Cooper outdid himself. The narrator begins with their almost insane obsession with potatoes and tells the reader about the different views of the potato throughout history and how the potato can represent the worst of times but also the best of times. 

"If I were to paint a portrait of my friends each would be posed before a fresh hot potato." To me this goes along with the narrators insane obsession or craving for a potato. All the narrator can think about is potatoes and can't even imagine painting their friends without the presence of a potato.The strange and obsessive passion for a potato caught my attention from the beginning and got me hooked for the rest of the essay. I found myself extremely curious as to my the narrator had such a great liking for potatoes and I needed to find out why.

The essay then goes into the dark essence of the potato and depicts Van Gogh's painting "The Potato Eaters" to give a better image to the reader. The painting shows peasants eating from a bowl with potatoes in a dark area and the narrators claims that the potato "could never appease the growl of human hunger." However, despite going into such dark imagery, the narrator switches to an uplifting mood that claims the potato to be a almost a hero. This is because the potato has been through so much and still finds a way to fill the belly's of the hungry and always thrives on. There is a Potato Spirit in all of us and we must keep moving forward even when times are dark.