So I took the class because there was nothing else offered that semester that seemed even remotely interesting. My choices were slim. I mean it was Advanced Latin for Geeks, Bowling for Advanced Dorks, or this: The Creative Self. Even though I had always looked upon poetry as a non-serious art, a flaky girly thing to do, I had done my fair share of writing, mostly put into teenage angst ridden song lyrics, but still, how different could this be--I could probably just use my old songs and hand them in as new poetry. It was senior year in High School, and frankly, I was sick of being part of this innovative new humanities based school where everyone was almost too bright for me. I just wanted at least on easy class, and this sounded like the key to a class where I wouldn’t have to think too much. Instead, it turned me into one of those creative writing whores I had always made fun of. It was solely her doing, Ms. R, the orange headed teacher that became my mentor, my muse, my subject.
From the second she walked in, she began to inspire me. She shuffled with her papers in a way that made us all wonder whether it was pure disorganization or classical genius. Her hair aflame spirals of pure citrus fruit, her long flowery skirt welcoming every bored teen aged eye; she woke me up. The woman woke me up from the longest sleep I had ever had. R, R, Ms. R. I remember her icy blue eyes and how she almost flew up at times when she got really excited about some poem or character sketch. She walked in and immediately asked us what we thought about poetry, about fiction, about the world, about ourselves, about love and sex and how we wanted to express that to the world. And so for a first assignment, she asked us to write about something we lo...
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...ld not write. And this has been the case since high school. When I have an stimulating teacher, one who praises me, who lets me be open, I excel. When I not taking writing classes, my writing is poor, stagnant, void of any originality. And let’s take this past year while I was working on Wall Street (can you say the coldest place on earth when it comes to the arts or even real human compassion, let alone inspiration?)--I wrote about 3 pages all year, all consisting of complete crap. But this past week alone, first week of grad classes, I’ve written more, and maybe not better yet, but at least more, than I have this entire past year. Now does this make me a dependent writer. A writer that cannot function without a muse? That will be my next exploration..... Can I survive as a writer without a Ms. R by my side, breathing literary genius into my otherwise ordinary words?
Mike Rose met many struggling students at UCLA’s Tutorial Center, the Writing Research Project, and the school’s Summer program. He first describes the loneliness students feel upon arriving at college, and that as they try to find themselves, they all to often lose themselves because they are bombarded with ideas that are so foreign to them. He introduces his audiences to Andrea, a bright young girl out of high school who, despite hours of memorizing in her textbook, could not obtain a passing grade on her Chemistry mid-term. How is this possible if she spent so much time studding? Rose explains that she failed because in college, and in this course in particular, it is not enough for a student to know the material, but rather, to be able to apply it in a various amount of problems. Yet the problem Andrea faces is that she was never taught this in high school.
...r’.” Poetry for students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 43 Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?>.
I have chosen to write about Virginia Woolf, a British novelist who wrote A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, to name a few of her pieces of work. Virginia Woolf was my first introduction to feminist type books. I chose Woolf because she is a fantastic writer and one of my favorites as well. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as stream-of-consciousness, was influenced by the symptoms she experienced through her bipolar disorder. Many people have heard the word "bipolar," but do not realize its full implications. People who know someone with this disorder might understand their irregular behavior as a character flaw, not realizing that people with bipolar mental illness do not have control over their moods. Virginia Woolf’s illness was not understood in her lifetime. She committed suicide in 1941.
In conclusion, the motivated girl turned influential inspiration became one of the most famous women in history through her literature, albeit she had some trouble getting started in her chosen industry. While Louisa May Alcott is most often identified as an author, she also was a dedicated daughter and sister, a Transcendentalist, and an inspiration. Part of the reason that Louisa May Alcott stands out is because of her interesting family, career, and medical history, but undeniably, the masterpieces she constructed in the form of prose will keep the memory of this outstanding woman alive for as long as persons on this earth can read literature, understand the context in which it was written, and truly comprehend Louisa May Alcott’s purpose for writing.
... of her life we see her long for the idea of love, yet denied the love of having a husband or being a mother. Brenda Frazer, gave that all up, for the love of creativity. Brenda speaks of this creativity when she says, ?I defined myself when I sat down to write. It was a rebellion against my most immediate authority figure, who was once again in jail. Writing was a therapy I could afford. It was exciting then and still is to give myself that freedom. Alone I evolved my personal story. There was no mentor or male muse to be an live-in example for me. I have more creativity now. Creativity is in the middle, at the turning point of gender, neither, either, nor.? (Knight, 271).
Catherine Anderson's poem "Womanhood" tells about a young girl and her transition to womanhood. In this intricately woven poem the reader will learn very little about the girl. Neither she nor her mother are ever named, and no information is given about them or their family life. What the reader does discover is what lies ahead for her as she begins her first day sewing rugs. The poem begins a few moments before she enters the gates of the sweatshop that symbolizes her entry into womanhood. Anderson uses metaphor within this poem to dramatize the difference in what lies ahead for her. She should be looking forward to a bright and cheerful future, instead, she is faced with the drudgery of a life working in a sweatshop sewing rugs. Anderson has woven this poem together so there is a link created between the first and second stanzas of the poem. Each line in the first stanza, describing the carefree attitude of the young girl correlates with a line in the second stanza illustrating how her life will be far different after she enters the gates of the factory and womanhood.
During my first semester of college, I felt like this course overshadowed all the others. I faced many challenges, gained better habits, and even increased the value of myself as a scholar. Not only did my professor provide her students with the course material she built a confidence inside of us that will allow us to be able to tackle any task, especially pertaining to any written compositions. The things that I have learned from this course could and will be applied to any and everything I do from here on out, whether that writing an essay or even taking a test. Again, the journey was long, but I will be forever grateful for the things that I, and all of my peers have gained from this
This reaction from the blue poetry book shines a light on the power of literature- what occurred after she had read the first lines altered her state of mind,.
...n the last week of class, the entire process comes to fruition as each student in turn brings the dulcet tones of Virgil to life two millennia after they were composed. The individual recitations are a learning experience for the whole class, because each performance reflects a unique interpretation of the poem and demonstrates how even a classical language can be personalized by a modern reader.
At a time when women were seen as no more than commodities or accessories, Edna St. Vincent Millay shocked the country with her post-war sexual defiance. Her bold and dramatic personality garnered both great interest and great criticism. Millay was able to be one of the pioneers for feminist philosophy, practicing her natural sexual desires: an area only familiar to men. Whether she intended to or not, she demonstrates to readers everywhere that it isn’t only men who hold the strength; women are fully capable of living a hedonistic lifestyle. Her willingness to venture into uncharted territory leaves traces within her poetry, and only by divulging deeper can one understand the truth Millay has left behind. Whether it was trying a new writing style or new way of thought, Edna St. Vincent Millay remained true to her individualist manifesto until the day she died.
This class has been significantly more difficult than any other English class I have taken all throughout high school. This semester, I have been introduced to different styles of writing that I have never been exposed to before. This class has been stressful, but also fun. With using all of the resources I have been given throughout the semester, I have been able to do my best to further my writing abilities and hopefully only continue to grow them as I finish my later years in college. Throughout this essay, I will discuss my failures, my successes, my overall performance in the class, and my skill development skills.
It is a way to crucially engage oneself in setting the stage for new interventions and connections. She also emphasized that she personally viewed poetry as the embodiment of one’s personal experiences, and she challenged what the white, European males have imbued in society, as she declared, “I speak here of poetry as the revelation or distillation of experience, not the sterile word play that, too often, the white fathers distorted the word poetry to mean — in order to cover their desperate wish for imagination without insight.”
illuminated her disparity of being a woman in a man's world. As one reads her
As the semester comes to a closure, this reflection provides a good way to look back on my experiences in English 204 class. I truly appreciate the growth I have gone through to become evidently a skillful writer. In fact, it encouraged me to write creatively, to think clearly, and to show my personality. In particular, our class seemed interesting unlike other courses because interaction between students and the teacher was produced and expression for opinions was fostered.
Many female writers see themselves as advocates for other creative females to help find their voice as a woman. Although this may be true, writer Virginia Woolf made her life mission to help women find their voice as a writer, no gender attached. She believed women had the creativity and power to write, not better than men, but as equals. Yet throughout history, women have been neglected in a sense, and Woolf attempted to find them. In her essay, A Room of One’s Own, she focuses on what is meant by connecting the terms, women and fiction. Woolf divided this thought into three categories: what women are like throughout history, women and the fiction they write, and women and the fiction written about them. When one thinks of women and fiction, what they think of; Woolf tried to answer this question through the discovery of the female within literature in her writing.