That Sound Like Poetic Justice

We've gotten to a point in our humanity, that we can now describe ideas using a multitude of mediums. To be as clear are possible, that was a reference to the ever wonderful art form. I just read something called "Chocolate Legato." What starts off as a normal personal essay complete with anecdotes, spins into an unexpected poem. The whole idea of the work is about music and inspirations. It's something that definitely exists but that you don't see every day.

There are two comments I can make about that reading. The first is that I believe inspiration can come from anywhere. I know there is an earlier post of mines where I go into more detail. But it's true. And this even speaks to how the essay/poem went into detail about how music can evoke memory. There are so many items in the world that can evoke memory. Like, I've attached memories to things like a tube of Reese's chap stick as well as a composition notebook. But then you can also receive thoughts and feelings that aren't personally associated with you.

The second comment I'll make is that I love how he intertwines the essay and a poem. Well, he does the essay first, then the poem. I like it because I've done something like this just a few months ago. With the many artists in the world now, it's becoming increasingly difficult to be original. Anything I write will have roots to something else so the wave right now is to experiment. He utilized two forms of art in order to relay a message. A personal essay tells a story; a poem can also tell a story; music can also tell a story. So, there's three forms that all have the same potential being observed at the same time. It's interesting.

Modern

The other day my college hosted literary critic Stephen Greenblatt. He talked about his new book The Swerve and modernity. As a writer, it was a good idea for me to be in the audience for his lecture, but as a person who has never of him or hasn't spent much time looking up modernity, I was lost. When I went in, I noticed the dominant audience right away - old me with balding white hair. The minority in the room were students and female professors. It seemed like the younger you were, the more closer to the back you were pushed because the male professors showed up as early as Springfield teens waiting in line to buy a new Jordan release. It was difficult to keep up between a topic I wasn't learned in and references to dated things like the Rolling Stones.

What I could catch was somewhat important. The way it seemed, and this is something I've actually come across in other places, is that when we plan for the future, we look towards the past. There is a poem the book is based on; the poem is "On the Nature of Things" by Lucretius. When it was found thousands of years after being printed, it sparked a literary gold rush amongst scholars. Everyone was looking for old pieces buried, to initiate these conversations starting Renaissances - I believe it was the European Renaissance specifically. Discoveries help foster new ideas to work with.

Aside from trying to keep up, I think it was important for me to attend this lecture. It's good to see how literary critics think. The reason should be simple, I'm a writer and they will soon be critiquing my work looking to see if there are any ideas to build off.

Liberally Artistic

In what way can a liberal arts education be useful in today’s society? One of the biggest questions we humanities majors receive while in high school – I guess before we actually get to college and a major in a humanity is nothing more than an aspiration. From teachers and parents alike, they fear for our employment. Parents aren’t sure if they want to invest in an education that has no economic promises. One of my English teachers applauded my planned career and side-dream, but asked if I was ready to become a “starving artist.” Wanting to remain optimistic about my life decision, I said I was ready, and that I was after more than just money.

That kind of mindset is what’s featured in an article titled On the Uses of a Liberal Education: II. As a Weapon in the hands of the Restless Poor. We see that a humanities education is a way to interact with society – albeit it’s another form of socialization. It’s a recurring theme for us that we can be rich, we can wealthy, not through economic means, but through education. The article depicts Earl Shorris as he created an experiment based on a conversation with a woman in prison. She told him something he hadn’t expected, but someone like me could’ve said as well, that being educated about society is wealth as well. The experiment consisted of classes in the humanities area for poor or under-privileged persons. Some students’ lives were picking up a little bit, one even applying to an actual college. When you become educated about society, you can be a part of society’s conversation. 

In juxtaposition, the first part of the article was called On the Uses of a Liberal Education: I. As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students (this one by another college professor Mark Edmundson). Despite not being the wealthiest, that context in terms of monies, I could relate to this one as well. What happens is that classes in the humanities are taken for entertainment. That reason is correct. Edmundson notes that these students’ lives would be unchanged when the course ended – which is opposite to Shorris’ students. It’s not really something they need in their life … nothing more than a fulfilled credit requirement.

I must comment that both articles mentioned the Socratic Seminar. That’s something I’ve been doing in my AP 11 & 12 English classes. Both had two teachers and one of them was our teacher for 11 and also does 12. That one was a big fan of the Socratic Seminar. Instead of being lectured at, or having a discussion that’s emotional based, the seminar makes you think before you answer because anything that’s said will and can be built upon, or “deconstructed” (that was one of my teacher’s top phrases). But, without a liberal arts education, it would be difficult to maintain this type of seminar. Without one, they could easily devolve into simple discussions of identity. Seminars dig depth, discussions scrape width. This paragraph was something I just needed to insert…

When it comes to knowing about your humanity and your own humanity, a liberal arts education will give you the knowledge on how to tackle such philosophies. Putting the whole employment thing down, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, right? I welcome the argument because you’ll be proving me right. Even if nothing is referenced, you had to learn to think about how you’re going to argue in some way. Liberal Arts teaches society… imagine a life without it. People would know nothing of the Harlem Renaissance, the arts themselves would be as fantasy as teenaged vampires, if even those existed. Would religion even exist? Liberal Arts gives a window into the cultures of societies, so without that window, many things would not exist today. Think of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, where that society burns books because books contain knowledge. It keeps people in the dark with no power, while a democratic government can acquire absolute monarchy qualities. Don’t think of fun, don’t think of imagination, don’t think of creativity, don’t think of freedom… just, don’t think at all – and there you will find a dystopian society. 

 

Collage or Composition

A collage with no title. Actually, not titling it myself, or at least not revealing my title, leads to the theme of my work. I knew what idea I wanted to work with when I first started – and that somewhat expanded into a more broad, abstract concept – although something that everything has no choice but to be familiar with. However, I did not use any conventional or concrete examples for this. I used things from my life… my roommate commented, “Is that supposed to be your desk?”

I hadn’t made that realization until then. During the creation, my mind was lost to both Marshall Mathers LPs playing through the speakers. Sub-consciously I would pick off items – like the Altoid case or my laptop. Anything that got added from my real world, received a touch up. Even though the picture isn’t the clearest (soon I will have a scanned copy up so the detail will be more noticeable), I don’t want to disclose everything. My clippers, instead of saying “Made in US” like the actual pair in my room, say, “Made in HAH-C,” my initials. That’s one of the big hints towards the idea I wanted to convey. Another item present does not even exist yet anywhere but in my head – the cover of my book. There’s no title and I actually printed a partly-legible sentence on a page where the chapter is “Chapter A” and not the usual “1” or “I.” I had some fun with that where I took my old penname and wrote a boastful comment about the book and it’s ideas – the company that houses the penname is called “Hopper-Collins Perspectives,” another hint at this poster is supposed to mean. 

The version posted, and the version I have now are actually a little different. I decided to change two items, and add an entirely new one. I just felt I should point that out. Also, unless you went to my high school or were in my Upward Bound program, I wouldn’t expect you to figure out what “S.Goodbye” and “Public Trans” stand for. They are titles for two poems I wrote, the latter actually called Public Transit – and also has a second marking in another form of writing. They aren’t my favorite pieces, albeit in the top five, but it’s the creation that caused their appearance. Some other items include headphones that interact with my book, a lamp and a fist. The fist is actually interesting because I had originally intended it to be the black power fist – which in my opinion it still is. One of the cords for the headphones runs through the fist, which would change the perspective of what it could mean for different people. Out of all the little scenes in the collage, the fist is the only one I could come up with a color scheme – something personal to my identity. 

And there is a reason this is colorless. Not because that’s how I see the world. Some things might be a different color for different people; different perspectives were important creating this. Look at all the little stick figures. However, don’t just take my words for what my art means. Other people have already expressed their ideas of what things meant that I hadn’t thought of – it’s like literary criticism, for visual art.

in the middle of my alone time...

When my professor made us read an article about teens and technology, she was right, we heard it all before. It’s almost like an invisible battle adults (40 years plus) are having with the generation that’s growing up with this technology. People such as Mark Bauerlein would even go so far as to say I am a member of the dumbest generation – though for reasons that aren’t exactly parallel to the article I have read. The piece was “the End of Solitude” by William Deresiewicz. The focus was about solitude. 

In a much simpler way, we that are growing, and dependent, with technology – cellphones, internet etc – have lost the idea of solitude. He says this is the case for every teen and young adult – however, I haven’t lost it. Recently I completed a Strengthfinder test (noted in an earlier blog). As a refresher, my first strength was intellection – which is all about one’s thoughts and intellect. Now, I just don’t understand how I could achieve such a status if I don’t spend some time to myself. As I read the article, and wrote this blog, I as alone. I go on late night walks alone. A lot of the time I spend is alone. And I also spend a lot of time on these devices and social networks. 

This is really where his argument (amidst the references to modernists and transcendentalists and Romantics) really takes place. It’s true that with the current technology and social networking, it’s difficult to truly be alone. His example of the young female sending out a hundred text messages was a great. When your friends are always at your disposal, can you ever really be alone?

I first heard about Transcendentalism in the 11^th grade. My AP English teachers felt it necessary that we read, annotate and struggle with Emerson’s Self-Reliance. To cast ourselves away from society, from conformity, from evolved technology we should be able to learn about ourselves.  This idea would be isolation – forced solitude. There’s no communication with others, let alone the ability to tweet, or better yet, Instagram the scenery with added filters. 

While I don’t consider myself a transcendentalist, I do cut myself away from society during my walks. I have my phone with me, but I don’t connect to the internet, I barely take it out my pocket. I don’t go deep into the woods because this is at night. Back then, it was easier to tear away. Now if you tear away, our society deems you missing or crazy. I wouldn’t say it’s technology holding us back from taking advantage of solitude. I would say it has been socialized into us that we must feel connected to the world. Deresiewicz did in fact bring this up – it’s one of the things the “contemporary self” wants. I think that part is correct. We have this need to feel connected and there’s the birth of social media. 

The argument has always been there – that we, my generation, is too connected to our devices. And it’s because we were taught that lonely people are depressed or lonely people are antisocial (in the sense they are bad for society). That, being by yourself will not help you lead a healthy, happy life. But when people need to think, what happens? “Shut up, I’m trying to think dammit!” or “please? Can you please just leave me alone so I can go over all of this?” Our nature has encoded in us the instructions in which we think best…