Sam Hamill and Carolyn Forch were very interesting to read and both had unique views on poetry of witness. They shared some similarities as well as differences.After reading these two authors' ideas on poetry, it opened my eyes even more to the poetry that was read in last week's assignments. Hamill's idea of poetry is "Writing is a form of human communication expressing ideas regarding the human condition". (546) What this meant to me was, using words as a tool to express oneself through writing. One thing i agreed with Hamill, is the way he expressed poetry as teaching others life lessons that one may go through. He made it very interesting to read because he put himself in the situation where people were in the wrong and helps them.
On the other hand, Forch's view was a totally different direction. She used poetry towards political problems and social classes. Discussing political issues is very important to get out different opinions and to show the younger generation how crucial it can be to one's life. One thing it definitely shows is the history in poetry and how it became. It's not that I didn't agree with Forch's view on poetry, it just didn't catch my eye on the first glance.
Reading these two views really opened my eyes to new ways of viewing poetry and to stay open minded reading towards anything. Although, many people may not agree with these views, they bring new styles of interpreting poetry to the plate and shows the audience there are various ways of writing.
picture link:
http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/hamillview.htm
picture link:
http://poetrydispatch.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/carolyn-forche-the-colonel/
Hello Sierra,
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation of Hamill's writing: “One thing i agreed with Hamill, is the way he expressed poetry as teaching others life lessons that one may go through. He made it very interesting to read because he put himself in the situation where people were in the wrong and helps them.” Although I did not agree with your interpretation completely, it game me food for thought. I too felt that Forche's article was very different from Hamill's essay, but felt that hers was more of a teaching article, and Hamill's essay was more of him chastening us all for all the wrong doings in this world. I agree that Forche's was political, but Hamill's was very political as well. In fact he still has a website dedicated to poets against war – very political: http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org/default.asp
There are a few things you need to watch out for on future assignments. Make sure the author's names are spelled correctly, Forche has an “e” at the end. I know what you meant by the statement, “Sam Hamill and Carolyn Forch were very interesting to read...”, but the wording sounds funny. Indicating that their articles, essays or writings were interesting to read instead of them being an interesting read would be better. There were a few punctuational and grammatical errors that you need to watch out for such as making sure you have spaces after your periods, and the phrase, “One thing i agreed with Hamill, is...” the pronoun “I” needs to be capitalized. This phrase also seems incomplete, but can be fixed by simply adding the word “on” after Hamill (example: One thing I agreed with Hamill on is...). Also, in the statement, “One thing it definitely shows is the history in poetry and how it became.” - It became what?? You may have wanted to state “came about”, but leaving it as “became” is leaving it as open ended and unfinished. I would have also have liked to see a quote from Forche's article as well.
I agree that both of these writings were eye opening, and help us to remain open minded towards both the main focus and the underlying meanings of poetry. Overall, this was a good post – It made me think, which is what it was supposed to do. It had good photos/graphics, and good citing, just watch out for those grammatical and punctuational errors. You may want to include an “interesting link” next time, in addition to the source links for the photos. Good job.
I really liked the pictures you included in your post. I think you have a good start on the differences between the two authors. I felt the differences where more fundamental. Hamill deals with the personal issues such as domestic violence, prison reform, child abuse...etc, while Forche dealt with global issues of war, human rights and oppression.
ReplyDeleteI also found a deeper meaning in our readings after having read Forche and Hamills articles.
The previous post from shormann was very useful.
Hey Sierra, I liked the way you interpreted both the texts. I too enjoyed the manner in which Hamill turned his life around to help others in prison express themselves through writing. Also, as you said, one can learn new things from poetry because it is a part of history. Anyhow, keep on keeping on.
ReplyDelete