Response to Szymborska’s Poem after the Class on 9.24

"Photograph from September 11" by Szymborska
After I read Szymborska’s poem “Photograph from September 11,” I browsed some photos of 911 days ago, and specially searched for the photograph as what the Szymborska describes. Then I was surprised how simple the way that Szymborska uses. She just simply contextualizes the scene at the moment without any explains to the image. I call this kind of rhetorical device “白描” in Chinese, which means “line-drawing.” Now I know it could be called more professional and academic—ekphrasis. And according to the evaluation criteria of a ekphrasis poem, I know this poem “Photograph from September 11” is a good one with concise words but thought provoking.

  By the way, I was also surprised by the point raised by Evan’s group. They pointed out that the shape of the poem is in tower model. We can discover it when see it in distance. They explained that the first line break means the top of the Twin Towers or the floor where the persons jumped from, and the second line break stands for the ground, which consistent with the text of the poem. It was really a smart point.

Writing Assignment 1_Ekphrasis Poem: Road in the Foot

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/fall092414/f09_55956524.jpg

Reality:
A cyclist rides through the morning light in Richmond Park in London on September 23, 2014. (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Change: 
A cyclist is riding in fog, or mist. The harder he peers the harder it is to see, but he still advances bravely. It suggests that on our road of advance we are bound of difficulties, as long as you firmly look at the front, face them and advance bravely, then you won’t lose, because it is clear that road in the foot. 

Poem: 

Road in the Foot

He cycled in the mist

with wheels rotated by turns－

once, twice, never stop.

He was halted on moving

and is being kept 

on the road toward the distance.

Only leaving a black figure

with a blurring setting

and a hidden face. 

Is it hardly to see?

It doesn’t matter, as long as－

looking at the front.

He was scared.

Really? But－

he was still advancing.

Will he lose?

No, he won't, because－

road in the foot.


Maybe this one is better:

Road in the Foot

He cycled in the mist

with wheels rotated by turns－

once, twice, never stop.

He was halted on moving

and is being kept 

on the road toward the distance.

Only leaving a black figure

with a blurring setting

and a hidden face. 

It is hardly

to see the front.

He was looking at the front.

It is hardly

to see the front.

He was still advancing.

The front was full of haze. I swear.

I can only see－

road in the foot.

Response to the poem "Drawing From The Past"

"Drawing From The Past" by Jane Kenyon

After listening the two presentations on last class, I am very impressed with the poem named “Drawing From the Past” which was recommend by Spencer and Ruth. We know that the whole poem describes the scenes in the past from the title. The scene that the poet, Jane Kenyon, eats sandwiches with her mother is described concretely through a series of specific images like red tomatoes, white bread and so on, from which, it is seen that the memory of eating sandwiches with mother is still fresh for Jane. 

   Jane treasures that moment but, as the title shows, it has gone. For its reason, the key is her older brother. The sentence “My brother was good at it, and I was alert to that, too,” shows that Jane’s brother is better than her. Also, she can only enjoy the moment alone with her mother when her brother absent. So she worries her brother would take mother’s love away form her. That’s why she use the word “alert” rather than others. 

  I think there are two interpretations towards the poet’s emotion. First, it may be that all these great memories are gone and what Jane worries becomes a reality. That’s why the title emphasizes “the past.” Thus, the poet expresses her sorrow in the poem. And the other understanding is that it simply expresses her nostalgia for old days. And the poem just reflects the cute little girl, the past Jane who worries about her brother would stole the mother’s love from her. 

Explanation for Journal Name

The submission #1: "The Stream Bed”

A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream. If the stream stands for all beautifully crafted poetries, then the stream bed represents a platform that collects all of those poems. I hope the readers can deposit the rocks (distracting thoughts) in their hearts and take away the clean water (a simple pure mind) after they read the journal.  

The submission #2: “Fantasy”

This journal is going to bring the audience a rich, full of wild notion of poetry tour. Audiences would revel in the world of fantasy and enjoy the adorable imaginations which comes from poetic language.

Response to “Photograph from September 11”

What make this “good” poetry?

"Photograph from September 11" by Szymborska

   Szymborska uses line-drawing technique to describe the photograph from September 11 or, as her words, “this flight.” Though the description is so concise and simple without any rhetoric, such as the line “They jumped from the burning floors—“ and “above the earth toward the earth,” it let audience to imagine the scene at that moment and get chills in the shortest time. All lines in the first two stanzas describes the photograph, but starting from the third stanza, the poet gradually exposes the images that are not in the photo rather than only what we can see. All those invisible images like “hidden blood” “loose hair” “falling keys and coins” inspire more offscreen imaginations. People are easily to connect the offscreen imaginations with the photograph, and there is a dynamic picture, which guides audience to think about the horrible end of the person in the photo and make them feel a surge of grief and pain. In a word, Szymborska’s simple words that lead audience to imagine from the photograph to the offscreen situations and to the tragic end makes the poem good. 

   Furthermore, Szymborska said she can only two things for those poor people. One is “describing the flight,” which records the last moment of their lives; and the other is “not adding a last line,” which means to hide the terrible outcomes and leave a space to imagination and thinking. Such space may trigger the meditation for life and let ourselves learn to revere life; such space may reignite the sense of anger and outrage over the terrorist attacks; or both; or more. In any case, the remaining space for imagination and thinking also makes this “good” poetry.

Response to "Instructions on How to Play the Comb"

"Instructions on How to Play the Comb" by Katharine Rauk
This a sad poem describes a scene that Mrs. Delilah combs her hair lonely in an empty room. “comb” “hair” “grass” are three frequently used words in the poem. In my opinion, the comb is the bond between Mrs. Delilah and her son. Because every time Mrs. Delilah combs her hair, she is missing her son. What’s more, in some extent, the grass symbolizes the grass. Her son’s death (the death of body) leads to Mrs. Delilah’s spiritual death (the death of spirit). So Mrs. Delilah’s head just like her son’s grave. Therefore, Mrs. Delilah’s hair just like the grass on the grave. This is the explain of the sentence "Grass is the beautiful uncut hair of graves.” It is seen that Mrs. Delilah loves her son so much. 

Journal Presentation

Journal Presentation:

Labor Division: 
Re-organizing the information and materials, then presenting the speech. 

Overall introduction and Journal Editors: 

The Apple Valley Review is a semiannual online literary journal. Each issue features a collection of beautifully crafted poetry, short fiction, and personal essays. This journal was founded in 2005 by its current editor, Leah Browning. 

Content: (audience)

It covers poetry, fiction, essay; it also contains cover artworks which are used as a cover for every issue.

This journal combines different styles; it is unique and imaginative. The audience here is eclectic audience, who are willing to try new things.

Aesthetic:

Format/Layout

It is quite simple and clean, which shows a very concise beauty. It contains artwork at the top of the page, usually the pictures with painted figures and scenes. This kind of layout let audience easy to read. But it doesn’t have regular sections.

Genres:

Fiction, poetry, essays, artwork.

Publication platform:

It is published on the website where is accessible for most audience. Also, it is a print journal which published twice annually.

Like:

We recommend this journal because it is very suitable for those who prefer the literary works. We like the cover artworks, from which we can learn to adorn our own journal with several pictures to make the page more attractive. Also, we love the layout of this journal. As I said previously, this journal is simple and clean with concise beauty, which grabs the audience attention on the quality of the literature itself. 

Don’t like:

Actually, apart from its advantages, there are also some disadvantages. This journal is not rich in the content. The sections are very limited. It is exclusive of various fields, such as history, politics or science. 

Also instead of specifically categorize the works by its genres, this journal simply collect all genres in one issue, just like a book. So for our own journal, we suggest that we can contain more things to make the content rich. 

In addition, though it has pictures, but the meaning of the picture can hardly be delivered as it is simply used as cover of each issue without accompanying text to explain it. So in our journal, we will use the pictures /which are in accordance with the content of the poetry /in terms of its meaning. 

Sample piece:

The bees 

by Grant Clauser

First the bees disappeared
and the apple blossoms failed
to understand, so fell away
blown across the field.

The rivers shrank.  Dry algae
like dead skin, flaked off rocks.
Catfish settled into the mud
crusting over the roots
of weeping willows.

When milk stopped flowing
the mothers cried and everyone
noticed how quiet
the marsh had become.

We gathered the last books together
and told the children
to close their eyes
so they wouldn’t see
what was coming.

Next, let me show you a poem by Grant Clauser—-The Bees

(image)

We choose this poem as it has literary appeal through many beautiful images, such as bees, apple blossoms, river, catfish and so on. It is very finely written.

This poem is also very accessible as it not only describes the natural scenes, but also connects the things with our human beings, just like what the last stanzas describe. You can see mothers, children. It is very thought-provoking.

What’s more, you may notice that the bees only appear at the beginning of this poem. But with the disappearance of the bees, the emergence of many things follows, and leads us from a very beautiful moment to a thoughtful level. 

And what happens in the poem? I let you think for yourself.

In conclusion, his poem is consistent with the journal and can be a representative among his journal, as it is accessible, beautiful, and full of imagination. Just as the name of the journal shows in the words “the apple valley”

Response to "As We May Think"

"As We May Think" by Bush
1.What is the Bush’s context for research?

The article was published in 1945 when the Second World War had ceased. For years scientists devoted themselves to warfare. Inventions created at that time extended “man’s physical powers rather than the powers of  is mind”(The editor). Dr. Bush thinks that it is time to put energy in a new and meaningful direction which is inheriting knowledge.

2.What problem does he list?

1)There are lacking "bridge between disciplines.” Investigators cannot find time to grasp conclusions of thousands of other workers, let alone to remember.

2)The "methods of transmitting and reviewing the results of research are generations old,” which causes investigators cannot extract the “truly significant attainments” from “the mass of the inconsequential.”

3)Present processes to store a record will remain clumsy, slow and faulty in detail.

4)The problem to find an effective way to consult records.

3.What is the memex? 

               —description

Memex is a device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It consists of a desk, a translucent screen and a keyboard. Material will be projected on the screen for convenient reading. Keyboard sets of buttons and levers. What’s more, associative indexing is the essential feature of the memex.

               —what does it enable the research to do

Individuals can mechanically store all their books, records and communications in memex and consult with exceeding speed and flexibility. He can leave one item in position while he calls up another. Memex can also presumably be operate from a distance.

4.Do we have anything similar to the memex today?

In appearance, the computer including laptop is similar to memex. It consists of desk, screen and keyboard. In function, Search Engines like Google, Baidu and Yahoo are similar to the memex. They collect thousands of materials and run by associative indexing. It’s quite convenient for people to do research. 

Welcome!