Monday in seminar we began presenting our poems.  I’ve read and analyzed many poems  in the past for academic and recreational reasons, but I have never been asked to recite poems, or for that matter, seen poetry performed.  I enjoyed the ways my classmates interpreted their poems and presented them to the class, whether is was a poem about the threat of nuclear fallout, a lively interpretation of a city street, or a mournful tale of death and sorrow.  Each recital was unique and touching, I could really feel the weight of the words as my classmates performed them.

The first book of poetry that I remember really enjoying was in 5th grade and it was called Hailstones and Halibut Bonesby Mary O’Neil.  In this book of poems the poet, Mary O’Neil describes the colors of the rainbow with beautiful descriptive language.  Each poem in this book starts with the question, “What is?”. “What is red? Red is a sunset Blazy and bright. Red is a feeling brave With all your might Red is a sunburn Spot on your nose, sometimes red Is a red, red, rose…”  When I was ten this was the best thing since sliced bread.  I continued to enjoy poetry well into my intermediate school years (at which point the majority of poetry which I listened and read came in the form of song lyrics).  In fifth grade I also had the pleasure of writing my own poetry anthology.  Within this collection I wrote a poem entitled Crescent Moon.

Crescent Moon

Like a slide in the sky you shine from on high

In front of the tar, you shine from afar

And are replaced by the sun

After the crickets have sung

My Crescent Moon

My Crescent Moon

It’s not going to win any awards anytime soon, but I was proud of it.

What appeals to me about poetry is that it isn’t obvious.  Poets take great care in crafting each word, choosing their diction and syntax to portray their message.  In order to really get to the heart of a poem you have to dig and sort through all of the layers that the poet has developed.  As a lover of theater, poetry also appeals to me because it is an art form which is best performed instead of read.

I look forward to hearing the rest of the poems presented in class.

~Naomi

On monday’s seminar class, we started the recitations of the poems given to us by professor Kahan. I was excited to hear everyone’s poems and their interpretations of the poems. Knowing that professor Kahan chose the poems for my classmates and I personally, I knew that this was going to be an interesting experience.

Austin,very bravely, volunteered to go first. He read a poem called To Brooklyn Bridge by Hart Crane. I was very interested to hear his poem because I too have a poem written by Hart Crane and wanted to compare the two poems to better understand Hart Crane’s writing style. To me, Hart Crane’s poems are very difficult to interpret and understand. However, I think that Austin did a great job!

My favorite poem of the day was Ariana’s poem Love and Marilyn Monroe (after Spillane) by Delmore Schwartz. This poem discussed Marilyn Monroe and how she is more than a just a beautiful and desirable woman. Even though Marilyn Monroe was known as a promiscuous woman during her time, she wanted the public to take her and her acting profession seriously. She basically wanted to be treated the proper way a woman should be treated. She did not want the attention just because she was a desirable and beautiful woman. I especially loved this poem because I believe that it is easily relatable for all women. All women want to be treated respectfully and properly for who they truly are and not because of what they look like.

I enjoyed all the poems on monday’s class. I know how difficult it is to present something to others, especially your friends and classmates, and I believe that all my classmates did an amazing job presenting their poems.

It was nice to jump back into seminar after a week off from classes.  This session was very enjoyable since the class had plenty of engaging discussions.  However, even though the discussions were a blast, my favorite part was rereading my poem to the class.

At first I felt uneasy about my second reading, I thought that it was not the way it was supposed to be read.  The recording of Langston Hughes on Youtube had been in a very slow and mellow tone.  I realized after the session that my personality and the way I read Night Funeral in Harlem the first time did not flow in harmony.  Instead, presenting the poem with a sarcastic tone was a much better performance.

As a matter of fact, Langston Hughes was known as a comical man.  Imagining Hughes read the poem in a manner such as mine would not be too farfetched in my opinion.  Perhaps Hughes was at a very old age when the recording was made, which would justify his slow and smooth reading.

Even though I initially felt uneasy with my second reading of the poem, it was still a good time.  In all honesty, I think of myself as a great presenter. I was in a presentation team for a business program in my senior year of high school and I did pretty well.  The program had multiple competitions in which the presenters had to present lengthy business plans and sit through grueling Q & A sessions.  The reason I did so well was due to the fact that I presented with my natural personality; I did not try to mimic someone else as I did with Langston Hughes.

Hopefully, we will have more presentations in the future.  Presentations are vastly more enjoyable than a meer essay.

Let me begin by saying I really enjoyed Monday’s seminar class.  We began poetry recitations and while poetry is not my favorite topic, I do enjoy hearing poetry being read and hearing other people’s interpretations of poetry.  I love how one poem can mean several different things to different people, and how there is not one concrete answer about a poem’s meaning, because a poem speaks differently to each individual person. 

There were two aspects of Monday’s class that both surprised me and resonated with me.  First, after reading my own two poems, “Lament” and “Recuerdo,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dr. Kahan pointed out that sometimes, a poet’s personality and the way they write are at odds with each other.  Millay was known to be a very flamboyant person around other people and in society, and yet, the poems I read seemed to be very conservative, simple, and moderate.  I had never given much thought to the idea that personality and writing style can be so contrasting for one person.  I personally liked the idea of having two different sides: one everyone sees and one that is more private and hidden, just for that own person to express his or her feelings or ideas.

The second class discussion that particularly interested me was the discussion that began with Marilyn Monroe and ended with the idea that the way people are portrayed is not necessarily true, nor is it “their own fault.”  Everybody knows Marilyn Monroe as a promiscuous, provocative, showy actress, singer, and model from the 1940’s and 1950’s.  However, as we discussed in class, how can we know that this description was who she really was?  What right do we have to judge her and label her?  Some people might argue that she wanted the attention and knowingly made a name for herself.  But in reality, what we know of Marilyn Monroe is a result of the media and other people’s ideas about who she was.  Sure, she is and was known to the American people as one of the most well-known sex symbols in contemporary culture, and that was no doubt, a result of the time period when she was popular; but there was so much more to her than we could ever know.  We tend to label people based on what we see and the gossip we want to start; the catch is that the gossip we start and the labels we attach usually only refer to one aspect of the person’s personality.  They most likely have much more substance than we give them credit for. 

I look forward to hearing the other poems in the class and seeing the kinds of discussion they lead to.  These discussions not only interest me, but help me develop a more open mind about the world around me.