Written 6 December 2016
“Culture
is ordinary: that is where we must start. To grow up in that country
was to see the shape of a culture, and its modes of change” (Williams 92).
Williams, Raymond (1989) Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism, London: Verso, pp.3-14.
When I thought about this further, I realized I agreed with it wholeheartedly.
Take, for example, my love of Japan. I have never been to Japan, but I desperately want to. When pondering this quote in relation to my yearnings, I wondered what exactly connects me to Japanese culture while I am here in America. Two of the closest things I have to Japan are anime/manga, and food. While the former is relevant to this specific country more than others, the latter is wholly ubiquitous.
Culture is ordinary. Food is ordinary. Food has to exist so that we may live. Food is in every culture, and often defines culture at first glance.
If Culture = ordinary
And Ordinary = food
Then Culture = Food ☺
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
Essay as a Mindset
Written 26 October 2016
I jotted down a quote from a collection of essays my Creative Nonfiction Workshop has been reading:
"Or maybe the essay is just a conditional form of literature--less a genre in its own right than an attitude that's assumed in the midst of another genre" (The Next American Essay).
This sort of goes along with my previous post about choosing to concentrate in poetry, rather than fiction or nonfiction. My sentiments about poetry are reflected in this quote: the versatility of a literary skill or genre is crucial to writing and to the writer.
I briefly spoke about how nonfiction, for me, is completely introspective, even if my entire essay is about another person or people. The essay is almost more of a mindset, an introspective mindset in my case, that one adopts while writing about something else. In my own nonfiction writing, I find myself wondering and writing how something or someone affected me, despite my intentions of narrating a circumstance outside myself.
In any case, this post is meant to promote nonfiction as a concentration and a genre, and the creative essay as a must for writers at one point in their careers. My writing in that class had me finding out so much about myself that I contemplated a career in nonfiction to see what other discoveries the essay has in store for me.
This sort of goes along with my previous post about choosing to concentrate in poetry, rather than fiction or nonfiction. My sentiments about poetry are reflected in this quote: the versatility of a literary skill or genre is crucial to writing and to the writer.
I briefly spoke about how nonfiction, for me, is completely introspective, even if my entire essay is about another person or people. The essay is almost more of a mindset, an introspective mindset in my case, that one adopts while writing about something else. In my own nonfiction writing, I find myself wondering and writing how something or someone affected me, despite my intentions of narrating a circumstance outside myself.
In any case, this post is meant to promote nonfiction as a concentration and a genre, and the creative essay as a must for writers at one point in their careers. My writing in that class had me finding out so much about myself that I contemplated a career in nonfiction to see what other discoveries the essay has in store for me.
Poetry Over All
Written 5 December 2016
This post is actually being written at the time it is posted. I have been thinking lately on what it means to be a Creative Writing major with a concentration in poetry. I chose to study poetry not because I enjoy it more than fiction or nonfiction, because I am not so sure that I do. Rather, I chose it because I thought it was the most applicable across the board--I chose it to obtain a mastery of language that I could use forever and for everything, whether it be in my future novel(s), papers, essays, cover letters, proposals, handwritten thank-you cards, blog posts, etc.
There are a lot of expectations when you say you are a poetry major. People automatically assume you are a poet, which is actually different in my humblest opinion. Then again, I think everyone is a poet whether they are aware of it or not, so my credibility may be diminishing. However, these expectations drive me toward writing better, smoother, using more action verbs (the daily struggle), fewer adverbs, fewer run-on sentences and lists (whoops), which I may not have faced had I been a fiction or nonfiction writer.
I am quickly learning through my Creative Nonfiction Writing class that nonfiction is very much about the self--or at least my class is. It is incredibly introspective and forces me to examine myself in ways poetry may not always do for me.
From my experience in my Fiction Writing class, I learned to take critiques when characters and plot lines were not as exciting and dynamic and complex as they could be. That was a highly critical class altogether, and I came to see exactly which elements of a story people liked, and which--no matter how unique and life-changing to you--were flubs.
But poetry taught me how to be different, how anything goes (but not really because there is an invisible line you cannot cross but you won't know until the feedback is terribly negative). That is exactly what I was hoping to take away from the concentration.
This post is actually being written at the time it is posted. I have been thinking lately on what it means to be a Creative Writing major with a concentration in poetry. I chose to study poetry not because I enjoy it more than fiction or nonfiction, because I am not so sure that I do. Rather, I chose it because I thought it was the most applicable across the board--I chose it to obtain a mastery of language that I could use forever and for everything, whether it be in my future novel(s), papers, essays, cover letters, proposals, handwritten thank-you cards, blog posts, etc.
There are a lot of expectations when you say you are a poetry major. People automatically assume you are a poet, which is actually different in my humblest opinion. Then again, I think everyone is a poet whether they are aware of it or not, so my credibility may be diminishing. However, these expectations drive me toward writing better, smoother, using more action verbs (the daily struggle), fewer adverbs, fewer run-on sentences and lists (whoops), which I may not have faced had I been a fiction or nonfiction writer.
I am quickly learning through my Creative Nonfiction Writing class that nonfiction is very much about the self--or at least my class is. It is incredibly introspective and forces me to examine myself in ways poetry may not always do for me.
From my experience in my Fiction Writing class, I learned to take critiques when characters and plot lines were not as exciting and dynamic and complex as they could be. That was a highly critical class altogether, and I came to see exactly which elements of a story people liked, and which--no matter how unique and life-changing to you--were flubs.
But poetry taught me how to be different, how anything goes (but not really because there is an invisible line you cannot cross but you won't know until the feedback is terribly negative). That is exactly what I was hoping to take away from the concentration.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Paperback Frankenstein
Written 8 August 2016
In my own commonplace notebook (from which I am extracting for these posts), I came across something I wrote after I finished Frankenstein for the third or fourth time:
Finishing a book is like reaching a destination to which you didn't want to go--it was all about the journey, but you let it pass you by, and now it's over, and what have you got to show for it? It's silly to cry for the death of a fictional world you didn't know you were a part of until you weren't anymore. If only you had enjoyed what was happening when it was happening...
This really feels applicable to the last short paper on "media, technology, and the way you read." In my paper, I adamantly express the preference of a paperback book over an e-reader. This sentiment, paired with the above excerpt after finishing the novel, brought me back to the days leading up to my finishing of the book.
I read the same ragged copy I've always had on a bus to New York to visit my sister. I read it on the lawn in Bryant Park, in Central Park, in her apartment in the East Village, on the subway, by the Hudson River in Chelsea, in Rockefeller Plaza, and finished it on the bus back home. Would any of that have been possible with an e-reader? More importantly, would it have been the same?
And what have I got to show for it?
Certainly not a digital screen--rather, the same ragged copy resting comfortably on my bookshelf, waiting to be picked up again, one day.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
A Nocturne
Written 26 October 2016
On the same day we brainstormed the qualities of an English major, our discussion got me thinking (and writing):
The English major--the pleasure of reading and conversation--is much like the old days of poets and playwrights (although then they were exalted and I in turn am scoffed at), where the "pretentious" are only following their dreams and those looking down on them are secretly jealous we chose fulfillment of the soul rather than the body.
Then I made a self-assignment and wrote a nocturne for my poetry workshop:
Write a nocturne in the style of Walt Whitman's "A Clear Midnight," addressing a non-physical entity (apostrophe), while keeping the poem as brief as possible.
On the same day we brainstormed the qualities of an English major, our discussion got me thinking (and writing):
The English major--the pleasure of reading and conversation--is much like the old days of poets and playwrights (although then they were exalted and I in turn am scoffed at), where the "pretentious" are only following their dreams and those looking down on them are secretly jealous we chose fulfillment of the soul rather than the body.
Then I made a self-assignment and wrote a nocturne for my poetry workshop:
Write a nocturne in the style of Walt Whitman's "A Clear Midnight," addressing a non-physical entity (apostrophe), while keeping the poem as brief as possible.
To
a Witch
At last the final moon ascends!
Come now before the light subsides
Lest all is lost—
Look!
Through the gaping window,
past the curtain dancing,
though
there is no wind
and I have not stirred since
the moon arose—
a figure appears.
Skills of an English Major
Written 26 October 2016
- The ability to present your ideas in a cohesive and interesting way
- Meeting the requirements and following the rubric for papers shows you can follow directions. For example, when proposing a contract
- Mastery of the English language to set you and your ideas apart from the norm
- Understanding of your audience (for a paper, poem, story, etc.) is applicable for marketing, sales, publicity
- Excellent writing sure does help in building a resume and a cover letter
- You can talk yourself into a job because you know how to present your thesis and back it up with evidence
- You can think outside the box
- You are observant and a deep-thinker
- Analytic and research skills
- The ability to think, read, write, and talk creatively is applicable for every job
Is this a love letter to myself?
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Preface
I have taken a lot of notes in various physical journals throughout the semester, so I am going to start posting them on a semi-daily basis. I'll mark the dates where I wrote each idea, so my posts won't correspond with the present date! Basically, I am transcribing handwritten notes into a digital blog post format.
This is a bit of a boring post, as a preface. Perhaps a caveat is more in order, since the reader will be getting insight into the weekly workings of my mind.
Here is what is on my mind today:
This is a bit of a boring post, as a preface. Perhaps a caveat is more in order, since the reader will be getting insight into the weekly workings of my mind.
Here is what is on my mind today:
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