For Tuesday: American Journal: read the poems below

On Thursday, we discussed what makes reading poetry different than reading normal writing (prose), and why poetry actually mimics much closer the way we think and experience the world. 

For example, most of the common statements we say every day are full of hidden metaphors that we forget are actually poetry. Examples are:

* I woke up this morning (you don't wake "up"--up is a direction; it suggests that you rise out of unsconsciousness)

* I can't get over him (you don't get "over" people--you simply have trouble forgetting them. "Over" is a metaphor similar to "up"). 

* I wish you would stop wasting my time! (you can't "waste" time, or spend time, or borrow time, or save time; time isn't money, though we think about it as if it is. It makes more sense to us, since money is abstract otherwise). 

Poetry tries to use our everyday metaphors in new, exciting ways to make them sound like poetry again. It also tries to take normal experiences such as going to the store, brushing your teeth, or looking at a sunset and frame them as completely new and unique experiences. Poetry makes us look at the world for the first time, much the way we did as children. 

So for Tuesday's class, I want you to read the following poems from American Journal and answer TWO of the questions below:

THE POEMS

* Girmay, "Second Estrangement" (we read this in class, but it's worth reading again--or for the first time, if you weren't there)

* De La Paz, "In Defense of Small Towns"

* Brown, " 'N'em"

* Voight, "The Field Trip"

* Jackson, "Mighty Pawns"

QUESTIONS (answer any TWO):

Q1: Remembering that metaphors substitute one thing in terms of another, discuss an interesting or unique metaphor from one of the poems. What does it make you see about the idea or object that you wouldn't otherwise see? Remember the painting we saw in class, where a glass could be a storm, etc. How might this poem change our associations with commonplace objects? 

Q2: These poems are all about everyday experiences from childhood and daily life: living in a small town, going on a field trip, getting lost, etc. These aren't typically the subjects of poetry for most people. So what makes these poems 'poetic'? How do they change our experience or understanding of these very normal subjects? 

Q3: Discuss a line in one of the poems that simply doesn't make sense to you. Why does it seem so difficult? Is it a series of words you don't know? A strange sentence construction? A confusing image or metaphor? A line that seems out of place? Why do you think the poet wrote it like this?

Q4: What poem could you especially relate to based on your own experience, memories, childhood, or ideas? Is there a poem that seemed to be taken from your own life? Why is this? Discuss a line or important image that you can specifically understand or relate to.