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.

Farder to Reache

I have always been a big fan of studying astronomy and anything outer space related. I have found myself on countless occasions wondering about to ends of the universe and trying to wrap my head around abstract concepts. This can go one of two ways, either you are amazed by what you are thinking about and want to continue, or you are terrified by the thought of uncertainty and the unknown. The writing "Farder to Rache" by Albert Goldbarth touches this very subject and puts this subject into a very approachable manner.

"Then the fog disappears - which is, of course, the day clearing its throat for clear speech." This was a very interesting and catching way to compare the matter of time and life as a whole, to a human or living organism of clearing their throat. My interpretation of this was that it would make much more sense to humans if time was to be more like a living organism. A beginning and a end. A place to start and a place to finish. The unknown of the universe and time is what keeps us thinking for eternity.

I also enjoyed the fact that the writer used historical figures in their writing. This caught my attention because it portrayed the idea that they were looking at the same picture we are looking at when we stare up at the night sky, so it was not unrealistic to think how they did back then. It's amazing that we have learned so much more than we ever thought was possible, and we are still nowhere near close to anything truly, and I mean truly significant. As humans we will always be chasing our minds, but who knows, maybe one day we will get our answer.

Violent Rooms

For many of the big moments in one's life we remember more about where we were rather than what actually happened. This can be seen in the writing of "Violent Rooms" by Dawn Martin. My interpretation of this writing is a dark one that depicts a women being, or about to be raped. The reason I linked "location" and "moments in one's life" together is because when an event as traumatic as being raped occurs then the victim will forever associate that moment with that location. This is extremely popular among many people, not just rape victims, and the events do not need to be bad in any way but most are positive events. Much like when you were a kid and you learned how to ride a bike. Most people will remember where they learned and associate that location with that event.

My interpretation of this piece was of a woman being raped for a few reasons. "As in yard rake pressed to roof of mouth. A fragrant rod. Suh-ssuh-ssuck. Insistence." To me this seemed to be someone forcibly putting their hand in the girl's mouth and holding it open with the fingers being compared to the fingers of a rake. The attacker seems to be the one telling the victim to perform oral sex and is very persistent. "The contours of the girl blue. She is both becoming and fact." This shows that in those life changing moments we don't always quite remember every detail or we may of been so caught up in the moment that our imagery is blurred. She is "becoming and fact" because she is now a statistic of rape victims and this moment can not be erased and is now true forever.

"Having not ever been whole. Or simple. Or young. Just split and open." This may refer to the victim talking about how after the event occurred she never felt the same or life was just never easy anymore. This leads me to infer that she was young when this took place because she says she has never been young, so she may feel she never had a real childhood due to this event taking place. Also she may feel used because she is nothing more than just a "sex object" and is not important. Everything tying back to the title that she will always remember the room she was in where this horrible event took place.

Night Women

At some point in all our lives we are put into a situation where we must decide what we are willing to do in order to protect our family. That situation can be seen in this fiction story that we discussed in class called "Night Women" by Edwidge Danticat. This story in about a women with an internal battle about her own morality in her line of "work" and an external battle to support and raise her son in the right way. Throughout the story we are given clues that the husband is either an ex client of the women that has ran off, or he had died along time ago when the son was young. The "work" that the women does is not one that is seen in a positive way by the community. We are not told if the women is being paid for her actions, but it can be inferred that she is some form of a prostitute and sleeps with married men.

"The night is the time I dread most in my life. Yet if I am to live, I must depend on it." This is suggesting that she internally despises what her line of work is and knows that what she is doing is not morally right. However, she knows that the night is when she makes her needs to survive so she must bare through it every single day. She tries to hide her work from her son and uses this old radio that was given to him to play at night so he does not hear what is happening on the other side of the room. The women tries to keep her son as far away from her lifestyle as possible to make sure he does not end up on the same path.

"There is a place in Ville Rose where ghost women ride the crests of waves while brushing the stars out of their hair." I took this line as the "ghost women" being street hookers and that the stars in their hair is some form of glitter that is being brushed out. The women in the story does not seem to find herself in the same category at these "ghost women". It is almost inferred that she is some sort of "higher class" prostitute because she has clients that come to her on a regular basis, and does not need to walk the streets looking for some. Also her clients are typically wealthy men who are doctors and musicians.

The Falling Girl

All poems and short stories raise questions among its readers, but I have never seen so many possibilities with this one. The story "The Falling Girl" by Dino Ruzzati is one about a young girl who seems to of jumped off the top of a skyscraper and by the time she gets to the bottom she is an elderly women. I love that idea by the author and really enjoyed reading this story. As the girl is falling off this rooftop to her death, the author actually gives you a few hints that the fall is taking a lot longer than we might think. I feel this is a way for the author to symbolize how some people want to "live the fast life" and never stop to really enjoy it.

With reference to time the author gives the reader clues about how this plays a factor. When the girl initially jumps off the rooftop the sun is out and there is light. However, by the time she gets to the bottom the sun is set and nowhere to be seen. So it seems that this fall is stretched out over an entire day, but actually it is over her entire life time. By the time the girl gets close to the ground, and we never find out if she hits, she is an old women and has gone through her life. As she is falling she also mentions past lovers, friends, parties, and aspects of her life as she is going through them. The "falling" concept can be seen in this way as the girl going through her life in a way of no control or slowing down because when you are falling you can't control your falling or chose what speed to fall at.

When the girl also initially jumps she sees a party at the bottom that she wants to go to. I liked this idea because to me it shows that a lot of people will do anything just to be partying or trying to always have fun and do anything to get there. This raises the question of why didn't she just take the elevator down? Or even the stairs if you needed to, why jump off the building when you know what price you have to pay that comes with it. Also at the end of the story a man named Roberto mentions an advantage to jumping from the bottom when you are already old, "...you can hear the thud when they hit the ground." This to me was saying that when you are old you can see your death coming and it's not as much of a shock, but when you are young and take the leap, you have no idea what will happen.