Final Blog Reflection

      Since the very first day of this class, I have been trying to figure out what the exact purpose of it was. The class description via the CSUN portal was rather vague and the name of the class, “Multi Genre Literacy” implies a multitude of ideas that does not necessarily seem coherent. Now, in retrospect looking back at the semester, I feel as if I understand why this class would be considered a capstone for Seniors in the English Subject Matter. There was a progression from the basics forms of text based literacy, into a world of contemporary literacy where literature comes in a multitude of forms.

      The poetry and mythology portions of the class had me somewhat confused. They were both informative in their own individual way, but learning them back to back did not seem to make sense. Why would we jump from poetry to mythology within a week’s period of time with no explanation? Yet, looking back now, it is starting to make some sense. These were foundations of literacy. Both come from an oral tradition that has been transposed into texts. Therefore, each fulfill the standard medias of oral and textual literacy.

      As we worked our way into the study of media learning, it became evident why we were going in this particular order. We are now coming into a time period when literacy is not just associated with the ability to read and write, but also the ability to work on computers, play video games, surf the web, and send texts on your smart phone. Literacy is a field that is expanding into an overwhelming realm of possibilities, and it is forcing the individual to become much more sophisticated with their literacy skills.

Children no longer just hear stories and read them. They grow up watching, playing, and interacting with them. As a future teacher, I need to be affluent with all forms of media in order to remain contemporary with my students. If teachers choose to remain in a static state of only books and lecture, than we will surely lose our student’s interest. Our teaching style has to reflect the student’s life, and if they are deep in a world of smart phones, Ipads, computers, and video games, the teacher needs to learn how to incorporate the expanding realm of media into the classroom. One cannot inform if they cannot entertain. If a teacher can engage students with popular forms of media, they will be able to convey their message much more effectively. 

      So, ultimately I feel like this class makes sense to me. It showcased the gradual transition from traditional forms of literacy into the contemporary media and show how we are now living in a world of globalization where these new forms of media allow us to interact and effect one another in ways that have never been accomplished before. It’s a scary and fantastical world we are living in, and it has the potential for both good and bad. We need to guide our students in the right direction by not shying away from the new forms of media and literacy, but rather, we should utilize them and teach how they can be used to make the world a better place. 

Final Essay

Nicholas Jerrems

Dr. Wexler

12/11/2012

Globalization: An American Product

      Most people do not understand how the phone in their hands or the food on their plate got to them. In Western society, people are completely disassociated from how products get from concept to their homes. Little do most know, that almost all things American’s consume are available because of exploited countries carrying out production to lower costs and produce on a mass scale.  Everything is interconnected in this world, and the small choices people make on a daily basis can have almost instantaneous effects on others all over the world. Globalization is the primary theme presented in the film Babel, which shows how something so small as the gift of a gun, can have horrific results around the globe. Globalization is a dangerous trend in contemporary society, with mass production happening over seas and social networking connecting everyone, anywhere, anytime. Babel shows how globalization is a product of Westernized ideals of multiculturalism that enables the growth of an American capitalist system. How does a film that does not directly address these issues in its surface deep value present this? It does so with the primary antagonist of the film, the gun.

      Due to the actions of Yasujiro Wataya, a Japanese business man and single father, a woman was shot, a young boy in Morocco is killed by the police force, a mexican woman is deported back to Mexico, and two children come within inches of their own mortality (Arriaga) . What exactly did Wataya do? He gave a rifle, as a gift, to a hunting guide he had while on a trip to Morocco. But it was not just any rifle. The rifle was in fact, an American made Winchester model 70 rifle (IMFDB). The denotative meaning of this rifle is simplistic, but in a film such as Babel where every detail effects another, this cannot be overlooked. The connotative meaning associated with the gun contributes to the idea that the ultimate power behind every action in the film is America.

      With America leading the way of the industrial revolution at the turn of the 20th century, countries all over the world decided to follow on the heels of their success. Soon, demand became larger than supply, and America had to outsource to keep up with it. This opened up a network of trade and communications on a more profound level than ever before. Babel is merely commenting on how interconnected the entire world is now as a result of America’s thirst for capital. This thirst is quenched by extending foreign trade and outsourcing American commodities like Mcdonald's. Mcdonald's, for example, is all over the world, but with each different country, they undergo a multicultural transformation, offering a menu custom fit to each place. This attempt to fit in with each culture’s dietary needs is really just a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It furthers the commodification of each country through the guise of “multiculturalist” pursuits and ultimately feeds an American capitalist system. The Winchester rifle, similar to an item from Mcdonald's, is sold all over the world as a “universal” product, when in fact, the majority of the money benefits the American business behind the production of the gun.

      The gun represents much more than an attempt to fuel an American greed for income though. It is symbolic of the binaries that allow a specific country to undergo capital gain.

In Frederick Jameson’s article, “The Politics of Utopia”, he argues that there is a “dissociation into two distinct worlds which characterizes globalization today.” He is referring to the idea that in order for one country to thrive in terms of capital, they have to exploit another country. For America, this would result in having factories all around the world, with unfair and unsafe working conditions, producing the goods for itself to consume. Yet, in Babel, the exploitation does not go without negative consequences for the thriving country. 

      The gun starts as an American concept. It most likely undergoes production from various places around the world, exploited by the American capitalist system in order to raise profits and lower productions costs. The gun ends up in the hands of a Japanese man, that was somehow led to believe that the American gun was a necessity he needed in order to hunt. The gun eventually gets passed down to the children of a Moroccan farmer, who shoot at a bus of touring Americans and Europeans, hitting an American in the process. The entire scenario presented in the film shows that the exploitation of other countries by America will come back to haunt it, by utilizing the gun as a symbol of American Capitalism.

      It is necessary to discuss a need for globalization in the first place in order to give a film like Babel its appeal. In Randy Martin’s article, “Where Did the Future Go?” he states that “in the three decades since the utopian promises of the welfare state have beat their retreat, finance has been in ascendance.” Despite our efforts for capital gain, the nation goes into debt as a whole and as individuals as the appetite to consume grows beyond the ability to provide. We now finance and live off of credit. It is necessity and part of the American way of life. Our obsession with consumption is creating a larger demand, which increases our reliance on outside countries to produce our products. Globalization is a by product of our thirst for consumption. Because of the products we “want”, demand for production and travel becomes higher. But we do not just go into each country and make fair deals with them. Instead, we spread our own concepts of capitalism through false multicultural facades, projecting an American way of life on any country that does business with us. We provide income for many countries, but those countries in return control the products we use in our everyday lives. Globalization is a result of the American life style and its push to consume beyond recognition until we ourselves, are a product of capitalism.

      Babel implies a lot more than it denotes. It seems like a simple story portraying the results of a “butterfly effect” type action, but in reality, it is voicing a much larger concern. Our avarice for both product and income has created vast networks of communication, production, and travel, that inevitably link back to the capitalist system. The gun in Babel, is a tool used to convey the American capitalist influence on the rest of the world. The West’s attempts to appear “multicultural” is a mere facade for a capitalist purpose that ultimately benefits itself.  Each and every action we perform on a daily basis goes back to America’s ascension up the capitalist ladder, perpetuating reliance on a world that arguably may have been better off left alone.

Works Cited

"Babel." - Internet Movie Firearms Database. Media Wiki, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

Babel. By Guillermo Arriaga. Perf. Brad Pitt. 01 Distribution, 2007. DVD.

Jameson, Frederick. "The Politics of Utopia." New Left Review. N.p., 2004. Web.

Martin, Randy. "Where Did the Future Go?" Logosonline. Logos 5.1, 2006. Web.

World Text Analysis Paper (Rough Draft)

(Rough Draft)

Nicholas Jerrems

Dr. Wexler

12/6/2012

Globalizing Our Brains: The Utopian Vision Behind Babel

What if the meat you ate so innocently was contributing to a monopolized production where Genetically Modified Organisms were the norm and animals were tortured for their short existence on earth? What if making the choice to buy organic produce helped the immigrant farm worker who came to this country to make an income that he could send back home to his family in Mexico who lacked the necessities we take for granted? Everything is interconnected in this world, and the small choices you make on a daily basis can have almost instantaneous effects on people all over the world. Globalization is the primary theme presented in the film Babel, and shows how something so small as the gift of a gun, can have horrific results around the globe. Globalization is a dangerous trend in contemporary society, with mass production happening over seas and social networking connecting everyone, anywhere, anytime. One nations utopia, is another nations living hell. Lets explore how globalization is presented in the film itself, and than take a look at contemporary American life and see how the themes of Babel become frightfully relevant in our everyday lives.

Due to the actions of Yasujiro Wataya, a Japanese business man and single father, a woman was shot, a young boy in Morocco is killed by the police force, a mexican woman is deported back to Mexico, and two children come within inches of their own mortality (Arriaga) . What exactly did Wataya do? He gave a rifle, as a gift, to a hunting guide he had while on a trip to Morocco. Nothing about Wataya’s actions warranted him as a criminal, but his lack of insight to the events is the exact point the film wants to make. It is not necessarily Wataya’s fault. The fault lies within the bigger picture. 

With America leading the way of the industrial revolution at the turn of the 20th century, countries all over the world decided to follow on the heels of their success. Soon, demand became larger than supply, and America had to outsource to keep up with it. This opened up a network of trade and communications on a more profound level than ever before. Babel is merely commenting on how interconnected the entire world is now, to the point were our innocent actions cannot help but sometimes having negative results. The film provides an up close view on one scenario that portrays the negative connotations of globalizing production, travel, and technology.

In Frederick Jameson’s article, “The Politics of Utopia”, he argues that there is a “dissociation into two distinct worlds which characterizes globalization today.” On one hand, you have the idealized fantasy of American “utopia”, which on the surface level, seems to be heading in the direction of perfecting human life. As a result of this false utopian ideology, third world countries suffer from poor work conditions and poverty that feed a corporate greed backed both by the business leaders of their own country, and our own. Utopia cannot exist. For one’s utopian ideal to exist, another must suffer from the production side of the line. Taking a structuralist point of view, these binaries comprise life. There is no good, without bad. There is no wealthy, without poor. If by utopia, someone means neutrality, than certainly they must be gravely mistaken, because neutrality is not pleasantness. Just ask the overabundant population prescribed high doses of anti-depressants. But than again, maybe the neutralized society is someone’s ideal of utopia.

The circumstances in Babel are a product of attempts to fulfill someone’s notions of utopia. A man from Japan, where a gun license is necessary and one understands the social repercussions of owning and using such an item, gives the gun to a small group of people, living in a third world rural setting. The children, although not innately ignorant, grow up with very differing social values and ideals. Therefore, the gun to them has less of an immediate impact in regards to its dangerous nature. The gun takes on different meaning because of the altering cultural perceptions of that item.

But how did this gun get passed down from one society to another? It is the product of travel, which ultimately is a product of technology itself. Technology has made traveling so easy that everyone and their grandmother has the opportunity to visit all parts of the world at their slightest whim. Cultures that differ in both norms and morality (which can be constructed from a perspectivist point of view coined by no other than Nietzsche himself), now have contact with one another, and the juxtapositions can be deadly, as seen in the film. It should also be noted that concepts of utopia, like morality, can be constructed on an individual basis from a perspectivist lens. Reality, in itself, lacks innate qualities, and therefore, there is no such idea as a universal “utopia.” At least this is the stance I am taking in my personal argument.

It is necessary to discuss a need for globalization in order to give a film like Babel its appeal in the first place. In Randy Martin’s article, “Where Did the Future Go?” he states that “in the three decades since the utopian promises of the welfare state have beat their retreat, finance has been in ascendance.” Despite our efforts for capital gain, the nation goes into a debt as a whole and an individual as our appetite to consume grows beyond our ability to provide. We now finance and live off of credit. It is necessity and part of the American way of life. Our obsession with consumption is creating a larger demand, which increases our reliance on outside countries to produce our products. Globalization is a by product of our thirst for consumption. Because of the products we “want”, demand for production and travel becomes higher. We provide income for many countries, but those countries in return control the products we use in our everyday lives. So much of globalization is a result of the American life style and its push to consume beyond recognition until we ourselves, are a product of capitalism.

Babel implies a lot more than it denotes. It seems like a simple story portraying the results of a “butterfly effect” type action, but in reality, it is voicing a much larger concern. Our need to “perfect” life and make it more pleasurable in Western culture, has created vast networks of communication, production, and travel, that inevitably link back to the capitalist system. The ability to travel at ease and communicate that are utilized as plot devices in Babel, are results of the capitalist push for consumption. Facebook, although seemingly innocent on the surface as a way to connect people all around the world is a business that corrals individuals into a site that they can mass market product to according to watch the individual looks up in their search engine.  The ability to travel on vacation at ease is the product of companies needing to find ways to get products back and forth from continent to continent. Each and every action we perform on a daily basis goes back to America’s search for utopia, perpetuating reliance on a world that arguably may have been better off left alone.

Disneyland: Globalization on a Small Scale

    Did you know that if you throw your trash into the River's of America in Frontierland, that it can end up in the Story Book Canal in Fantasyland? Or did you know that if one person acts idiotic and sticks a foot out of their ride vehicle on a dark ride and it gets caught in the track, other rides on the other side of the park might be shut down because they utilize the same ride system and all will need inspection? While at Disneyland, lands that feel distant in theme and representation are so much more interconnected than we may realize as average park goers. This microcosm of society is the perfect small scale representation of globalization.
    Almost all of the main waterways in the different lands of Disneyland are connected via underground tubes. Therefore, all the water is constantly being recycled through the different lands. If one person decides to toss their trash in the duck free pond over by the Matterhorn in Fantasyland, that trash may end up in the duck's home over in Frontierland at the River's of America. Something we do so apathetically, like toss trash in an uninhabited pond, can have such a profound and dangerous effect on another area that seems completely unrelated.
    Another example would be if one person decides that they are going to impress their friend by stepping out of the ride vehicle on the Haunted Mansion. Once they stick their foot out, it gets caught in the ride mechanism, they get hurt, and the ride is temporarily shut down. While this happens in the Disneyland park, over across the esplanade at California Adventure, the new Little Mermaid ride may be closed down for inspection as well since it utilizes the same omni-mover technology that the Haunted Mansion uses.
   What we do can have profound effects on areas that we view as unrelated. Disneyland experiences its own type of globalization, within its own berm. Think before you do. You may be causing issues for others even if you think your actions are going unwarranted.

Another Day, Another Reflection: Globalization in Babel

    My mind is still reeling from the implications that the film, Babel, proposed and the effects of globalization have never seemed so instantaneous. In the film, a simple gift of a rifle to a hunting guide connects people all around the world as one unfortunate incident effects another. This chain reaction that some people refer to as "The Butterfly Effect" seems quite plausible after seeing how the concept was presented in the film.
    It got me thinking about my personal actions. One aspect of human life the film did not tackle was the internet. I soon realized that something as simple as the words we say online can have great potential outcomes globally. We have the power everyday, to alter lives with both the potential for good and bad. A simple joke made about someone at school on Facebook could lead to a suicide. A hateful film produced by religious extremists in America can lead to the death of an American ambassador in another country. It's terrifying how much power not only our actions have, but our words as well. The internet is a global vessel that can effect people on the other side of the globe form where you reside.
   But globalization goes far beyond the internet and into almost everything we use. The very computer I am working on most likely has parts assembled in different areas of the world. The food I ate for dinner came form multiple sources, possibly funding an immigrant's family south of the boarder who came here to work the land in order to support his family back home. Every single thing we have is part of a larger picture we rarely think of. We take for granted what we have and use. We may very well be buying products that promote horrid working conditions on the other side of the planet. It is important to take a second to remind yourself, that we are truly interconnected and part of this "cosmic being." What we do matters, which in return, means every single individual on this earth matters, no matter how small.

Weekly Reflection: Video Games and Literature

   I must confess that I am a huge nerd. I enjoy video games, anime, and Tolkien novels. I have performed in a band at the Los Angeles anime expo and have cosplayed (dress-up for adults) with my fiance. What is really exciting about being part of the nerd kingdom right now is that boundaries are being pushed not only on the aesthetic level, but also on an intellectual level. My case in point is one of my all time favorite video games, Bioshock,
    In some bizarre way, I can thank Bioshock for my love of critical theory. Bioshock is a first person shooter, or FPS for short, that follows a survivor of a plane crash that discovers an under water city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This city, Rapture, resembles a 1940's New York. The big difference between the two, despite one being under water of course, is within the city's political boundaries. Andrew Ryan, the creator of Rapture, wanted to build a city where objectivism reigned supreme. What people earned was a product of the "sweat of their own brow" (Bioshock). Does objectivism ring a bell? It is the same asinine philosophy that Ayn Rand tried to pour down the throats of commy fearing conservatives between the 1930's and 1960's. I apologize if I sound biased in my views of Ayn Rand.
   By the time the protagonist reaches Rapture, the city has gone to hell. Due to a lack of government regulation in the sciences, people were able to alter their genetic make-up to give themselves super powers called Plasmids. This, of course, turned them into crazed psychopathic junkies that killed for more of the addicting Eve that fueled their plasmids. Obviously the creators of Bioshock are not on the side of Rand's objectivist philosophy.
   I became infatuated with Ayn Rand's philosophy. I hated it, but I read numerous books by her and just loved the anger her character's political rants would fuel inside me.I soon found myself in Dr. Dawahare's Critical Theories at CSUN and I felt like a child at Disneyland. I loved theory and the heady maelstrom of thoughts it would send me into whenever I sat down with my textbook.
   It seems that video games may be defying the age old stigma that they make children brain dead. Forms of media that were once considered for children, are now going into more artistic and intellectual territories. There's an interesting future for education and video games, and it is exciting to see where these two cross paths again.
  

Weekly Reflection: Mythology and the GRE

    The GRE exam is required by many grad schools to be admitted to their program. It is a computer based test that requires each prospective grad student to answer questions related to verbal reasoning and quantitative math, while also writing two analytical essays. This type of "entry exam" is based off the archaic mythological archetype of the intellectual. It's belief is still rooted in the concept that nearly every supposed "intellect" needs to be an exemplary test taker in order to achieve status in higher academia.
    This notion isn't only wrong, it's also discrimination against a lot of powerful minds that suffer under the pressure of test anxieties. The people that still insist on keeping these types of examines alive are not up to date with modern day academics. Instead, they are on their hands and knees trying to pleasure an impotent old idea that's past its prime. It makes students obsess over scores instead of encouraging them to learn. But this is the education system that America has created. It is one that lacks the creativity to push the boundaries but chooses to instigate narrow minded thinkers.

I'll leave you with a quote by Albert Einstein:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Reflection: Mythology in Everyday Life

    Mythology has never ceased to interest me. It is the center point of all cultures and despite modern lives becoming more secular, it can be seen in pop-culture world wide. It's attempts at demystifying creationism and death are both varied yet inter connective. These questions have been with man kind from the beginning and no matter what region of the earth you are from, you are culturally soaked in ideas and myths that reflect your beliefs. There are many examples of how these mythologies still exist and have even been commodified in popular culture. One of particular interest is our love of the flesh eating undead.
    According to Wikipedia, the zombie origin is from an African descent associated with voodoo practice. This myth was eventually popularized in the 60's thanks to George A. Romero's terrifying films and still holds relevance today. AMC's the Walking Dead is a cultural phenomenon. It's popularity as a comic has spun off into a television show, video game, and theme park attraction. Why we are so attracted to the idea of our loved ones coming back to rip us to shreds and eat our flesh needs a lot of research from both a sociological and semiotic approach, but one thing is sure, this mythology about life after death has existed for years and doesn't seem to be dying fast (No pun intended).
   There is no escape from mythology. They are the most important stories we have to share, and one could even argue that all stories stem from some sort of mythology. All you have to do is look at the cover of a movie or record and you will see connections to mythologies thousands of years old. Every death metal album cover is caked in blood and features the demonic image of some satanic figure or another. We are steeped in myths no matter where we go.

Poems #2 & #3: Two Haikus

The Wheel of Becoming

The Buddha is here –
A rabbit eats the new grass 
in the dead of fall. 




Gert

The cat brought a gift
A rat head clung to its spine!
Thank you my dear friend

Poem #1: The Bookstore Shelf

The Bookstore Shelf

I laced up my boots and headed west,
My big toe stuck out like the hand of a compass.
Yearning for answers the search engine just could not find,
I scoured the remains of bi-ways, high-ways, and filth ridden city streets
Longing for the jazz that was birthed from Benzedrine poetry.
Wanting to read the sun drenched wrinkles of an immigrant’s face like a sacred map, 
To find the callused feet of a biblical martyr
Who could reset my path like a wipe of a hard drive.

Too many dreams wound up in poetic devices to see
The new mother’s milk that is tainted with melamine,
A father despondent in his cubicle cell,
And the older sister with ringing ears in her superstore hell. 
While grandmother calls for comfort only to find
A backed up answering machine that chimes: “Inbox full”


Everyone is full of these things that define
Us not as people but the commodities we buy.
But who am I to judge such findings?
I embody a commodity so over played and overpriced. 
The college student who believes that the book store shelf 
Provides truth to this life with words that are dead. 
Created by those whom time has declared
Commodities to buy from a bookstore shelf. 

Poetry Exercise

ENGL 495: Multigenre Literacy in Global Context
Poetry: Creative

Complete the following creative writing (poetry) exercises. 

1. Alliteration and Assonance Lists

Create a list of word pairs and phrases that are built around alliteration or assonance. Remember, alliteration is when words in close proximity start with (or contain) the same consonant sound (as in pretty picture). Assonance is when words in close proximity echo vowel sounds (bent pen). Try to come up with at least ten of each. 

1.       crazy cat

2.       sad song

3.       right flight

4.       bad fad

5.       can’t rant

6.       slick Rick

7.       sour skittles

8.       damp dog

9.       dirty Dan

10.   flower power

11.   hot shot

12.   zany zebra

13.   mellow yellow

14.   mighty mouse

15.   won’t worry

16.   ask Allison

17.   night flight

18.   stable cable

19.   worry wart

20.   quiet queen

A quiet queen murmured a sad song

As the damp dog swallowed the mighty mouse

“Oh slick Rick cannot please me!” she cried

So dirty Dan quieted that worry wart

With his hot shot skills and a bag of sour skittles

2. Metaphors for Life

Make a list of significant life events – birth, death, graduation, marriage, having children, starting your own business. Next, come up with a metaphor for each of these events. Remember: a metaphor is when we say one thing is another thing. A simile is when we say one thing is like another thing.

Metaphor: Life is a dance.

Simile: Life is like a box of chocolates (as a metaphor, this would be life is a box of chocolates)

Tip: Choose metaphors that are visually interesting. Metaphors for life as a dance or box of chocolates are both concrete and easy for readers to visualize.

 Birth is a death sentence

Birth is like a blooming flower

Death is an open door

Death is like a homecoming dance

Graduation is a terrible lie

Graduation is like a kick in the ass

Marriage is a foot that found its shoe

Marriage is like a bear constantly clawing at a beehive trying to consume what’s left on the inside

Having children is an open wound that you love to smell

Having children is like eating an apple and realizing it’s bruised

Starting your own business is a sure fire way to becoming a greedy asshole.

Starting your own business is like kicking yourself in the genitals.

Birth is a death sentence

With each contraction you become aware

That life is a stopwatch

Constantly counting down your seconds with each

Tick Tick Tick Tick

You are four ticks closer

To an inevitable end

But do not fear a tragedy

Death is an open door

Taking you beyond

To where we know not

3. Lyrics and Musicality

Choose a catchy song that you enjoy and rewrite the lyrics, but stick to the rhythm and meter. Try to go way off topic from what the original lyrics were about. You can play the song while you work the exercise or search for the lyrics online and use those as your baseline. The idea is to get your mind on the musicality in your writing.

(Original Song: “Tuna in the Brine”)

I swallow tuna fish whole while everyone’s hole

Gets sewn up

Yet you stuck around

In my room and straddled the polar bear’s neck

That’s nesting

The hound in the farthest corner is near

Eats all of my fingers raw off so

Please leave your heart to feed it

You’ll have to fake another lie and chew another pill

And empty your lunch like a kid against their will

Grab everything that you are and feel free to

Tamper the sacred fat bible

Cause you’ll forget it all son if you come at all

To keep your word you’ll have to lose, lose, and lose

Forcing the truth seeing the colors but you see

Nothing is everything

Lusting for change yet changing nothing

Feeble imbeciles are ruling everything

It’s time for your pill like a kid against their will

For my pregnant eyes are mind fucked permanently

To all of the people who keep drinking the spit

From my mouth

You’re feeding my ID

Yet you still take it rough

You’ll have to fake another lie and chew another pill

And empty your lunch like a kid against their will.

http://www.writingforward.com/writing_exercises/writing-exercises/poetry-writing-exercises-post

Reflections on Poetry

    I found it interesting trying to explicate a poem by an existentialist thinker like Walt Whitman by utilizing poetic devices. There seems to be so much personal interpretation that happens when each individual reads his poems, that viewing his poetry as a formalist seems pointless. I am a firm believer in the idea that meaning doesn't only come from logic. Meaning can be a product of experience alone.
   In the Zen school of buddhism, the practice of koans is trongly emphasized. Koans tend to be similar to word problems one might find in math, yet they have no logical answer. This might seem silly for some people, but the idea is to seek out meaning in an emotional realm rather than a logical one. In a sense you feel the answer rather than think it.
   This is how I feel about some poetry, and in particular the poem A Noiseless Patient Spider. There is only so much you can do through explication. This poem requires both a logical interpretation as well as an emotional one in order to fully appreciate it.

Final Poetry Essay

Nicholas Jerrems

Professor Wexler

English 495esm

September 13, 2012

Poetry Analysis

The transcendentalists of the late 19th century were known for their philosophical exploration of experiences outside of the physical realm. This type of search is evident in Walt Whitman’s A Noiseless Patient Spider. Whitman’s poem explores themes relating to the meaning of life, or rather, the search for it. According to an essay from Papers on Language and Literature "For Whitman, the very process of questioning, searching, and existing in uncertainty is the vital element of spiritual health, as opposed to certainty of the soul's destination" (Smith). Explicating this poem would prove to be quite fruitless from a strictly formalist school of thought, so it seems necessary to adopt a transcendentalist lens in order to fully appreciate the texts meaning. This meaning not only exists in its content, but its form as well. In order to explicate Whitman’s poem, it is necessary to focus on its imagery, free verse form, and its objective correlatives.

Imagery plays a vital role in Whitman’s poem. From the very first line, “A noiseless patient spider” (1), whitman is utilizing a small physical image to eventually convey a large spiritual experience. The poem flows thematically in the shape of a triangle. We start at the top focusing on a small image, and move down to the large open base at the bottom. The spider is nestled on a peak of rocks, or as Whitman put it, “promontory” (2). Throughout the first five lines of the poem, it would even seem as if the point of the poem may be no different from that of a haiku’s; to convey a simple image. Yet understanding the poem’s context in relation to the literary movement of the time should nudge us towards the belief that this imagery isn’t merely for picture painting, but for metaphorical representation. In line three, the spider’s environment is noted as being “vacant” (3).  Such a strong word has some kind of importance-even if that importance isn’t clearly visible yet. With well thought-out poetry, no single word can be taken for granted. Vacancy relates to emptiness. Emptiness in the human experience tends to relate to sadness and confusion. One simple word can have that much meaning. The fourth and fifth lines describe the spider’s action of “[launching] forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself/Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them” (4-5). The action of “launching” suggests an urgency or importance in the action. There is a certain level of anxiety coming from the image that has been painted for the reader. The sixth line is the first time the author refers to a human quality by referring to their “soul” (6).  The spider imagery is used in a metaphorical sense to portray the author’s soul.  This sort of abstract relationship is further emphasized through the use of the poem’s form.

Free verse form tends to seem like the lazy way out. This is not the case. If anything, it is the exact opposite for anyone who has attempted to write free verse. No longer are there guidelines there to hold your hand, but you are left to the expanse openness of a blank page and your imagination. Whitman’s poem utilizes free verse form in order to create a freeing tone. The poem deals with endless expanses of space and mind, as seen in lines 7-8: “Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space/Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them.” Therefore, the poem’s lack of an immediate sense of structure contributes to the overall feeling that there is no guidance in his search. If this poem were put into a sonnet instead, the tone would feel more constrained and limited. Whitman’s poem is a perfect example of how form can reflect the meaning. 

Now lets step away from being a stuffy formalist for a moment and get back into the liberating study of thematics through imagery. Line eight creates an image of a soul, or spider, wandering around trying to make connections amongst the “spheres” (8). The sphere seems to be a metaphor that uses the image of  a planet floating in an endless space to convey the isolation of each individual human being. The soul tries endlessly to make connections between various other souls hoping to find comfort for the existential crisis. In the next line the author uses imagery once again by showing a “bridge” (9) and “anchor” (9) as some sort of concrete solution to this endless wandering. They are the connections that give life meaning. Although it is not blatantly stated, the spider’s endless search for a place to anchor its web is similar to a human being’s search for belonging in life. The final line connects the two images of the spider and the soul by stating “Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul” (10). The author neatly ties the two together to show the correlation between searching for purpose and place in the universe.

It is important to note the use of objective correlation, whether it is intentional or not. Although the spider seems to be the inspiration for the poem, its importance lies not in its specific definition, but in the theme and emotion the spider-imagery is able to get across. This is what really makes poetry special. When a person sees something in nature and finds a way to personify through their writing, there is a sense of interconnectivity amongst things. This is certainly something that someone like Whitman would want to emphasize. By allowing the reader to discover the meaning behind the metaphors, rather than blatantly handing it to them, he engages them and allows the excitement of discovery to heighten the emotional reaction to the poem’s meaning. 

Whitman’s poems are much more than they seem. They require self discovery and participation in order to be fully realized. To approach these strictly with literary devices defeats the purpose of his poetry. According to Whitman himself, “no one will get at my verses who insists upon literary performance, or attempt at such performance, or as aiming mainly towards act or aestheticism” (592 Kennedy). What was touched upon in this essay is only skimming the surface of the poem, and I would be foolish to state that my exploring of poetic devices to describe this poem are substantial enough to convey its meaning. Although imagery, free verse form, and objective correlation are helpful in explicating this poem, they can not do it alone. Whitman’s poem is similar to a zen koan in that the meaning isn’t necessarily logical in a way that intellectuals would expect. It must be experienced. Although I did what was possible to fully explicate it to its core, like all good poetry, everyone needs to experience it for themselves.

Works Cited

Kennedy, Walker. “Walt Whitman”.The North American Review , Vol. 138, No. 331 (Jun., 1884), pp. 591-601.Published by: University of Northern Iowa. Article Stable URL: http:// www.jstor.org/stable/25118392

Smith, Ernest. "'Restless explorations': Whitman's evolving spiritual vision in Leaves of Grass." Papers on Language & Literature 43.3 (2007): 227+. General OneFile. Web. 19 Sep. 2012.

Whitman, Walt. "A Noiseless Patient Spider." 100 Best-loved Poems. By Philip Smith. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. N. pag. Print.

Poetry Essay Rough Draft

Nicholas Jerrems
Professor Wexler
English 495esm
September 13, 2012

The transcendentalists of the late 19th century were known for their philosophical
exploration in regards to experience outside of the physical realm. This type of search is evident
in Walt Whitman’s A Noiseless Patient Spider. Whitman was never necessarily an existentialist,
but this poem definitely explores themes relating to the meaning of life, or the search for it.
Explicating this poem would prove to be quite fruitless from a strictly formalist school of
thought, so it seems necessary to adopt a slight transcendentalist lens in order to fully appreciate
the texts meaning. Despite popular criticism of the transcendentalist movement in which they
were viewed as “mystics” rather than scholars, Whitman’s poem utilizes a few important poetic
devices that aid in delivering the meaning of his poem. It is important to focus on the imagery of
the poem, its free verse form, and its objective correlatives in order to properly explicate it.
   
Imagery is the main conveyor of theme in Whitman’s poem. From the very first line “A
noiseless patient spider” (L1), whitman is using utilizing a physical image to eventually convey a
spiritual experience. The spider is nestled on a peak of rocks, or as Whitman put it
“promontory” (2). Throughout the first five lines of the poem, it would even seem as if the point
of the poem may be no different from that of a haiku that’s purpose is to convey a simple image.
Yet understanding the poem’s context in relation to the literary movement of the time should
nudge us towards the belief that this imagery isn’t merely for picture painting, but for metaphorical representation. In line three the spider’s environment is noted as being
“vacant” (L3). Such a strong word should anchor in the reader’s mind as holding some type of
importance, even if that importance isn’t clearly visible yet. Vacancy relates to emptiness,
emptiness in the human experience tends to relate to sadness and confusion. One word
describing the spider’s surroundings can have that much meaning. The fourth and fifth lines
show the reader the spider’s action of “[launching] forth filament, filament, filament, out of
itself/Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them” (L4-L5). The action of “launching”
suggests an urgency or importance in the action. There’s a certain level of anxiety coming from
the image painted for the reader. The sixth line is the first time the author refers to a human
quality by referring to their “soul” (L6). The spider is imagery used in a metaphorical sense to
portray the author’s soul.

Something really neat about this poem is how its form relates to its content. Through the
use of free verse, Whitman is able to structure the poem in a way that shows the “vacancy” and
emptiness felt by the author. Lines one through five of the poem represent the first stanza that
paints the image of the spider for the reader. As the author gets further into the relation of the
spider to his soul, the stanzas become singular lines, spaced by an emptiness of page. For
example, in the 7th line the author states that they are “Surrounded, detached, in measureless
oceans of space” (L7). When the poem is viewed in print, this line is in fact surrounded by the
other lines, but detached from them since they are now separate stanzas. Whitman creates the
“oceans of space” on the page through the use of form to visually portray the meaning. By this
time the reader is only a little over half way through the poem, but they can already make
assumptions about the theme of the poem. The soul is similar to the spider in that it is in anendless search for something, “[launching] forth filament” (L4) and trying to make connections
with a web of meaning.

Line eight creates an image of a soul, or spider, wandering around, trying to make
connection amongst the “spheres” (L8). Spheres seems to be a metaphor that uses the image of
space, or planets, to convey the isolation of each individual human being and how the soul tries
endlessly to make connections between the various ones. In the next line, the author uses
imagery once again by showing a “bridge” (L9) and “anchor” (L9) as some sort of of concrete
solution to this endless wandering. They are the connections that give life meaning. Although it
is not blatantly stated, the spiders endless search for a place to anchor its web is similar to a
human being’s search for belonging in life. The final line connects the two images of the spider
and the soul by stating “Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul” (L10).
The author neatly ties the two together to show the correlation of searching for purpose and place
in the universe.

It is important to note the use of objective correlation, whether it was intentional or not.
Although the spider seems to be the inspiration for the poem, it’s importance lies not in its
specific definition, but in the theme and emotion the spider imagery is able to get across. This is
what really makes poetry special because when a person sees something in nature and finds a
way to personify it with their emotion, their is the sense of interconnectivity amongst things. And
this is certainly something that someone like Whitman would want to emphasize.

Can Song Lyrics Be Poetry?

    After years and years of being told what poetry is by the education system drilling children's minds with Shakespeare Sonnets and the Romantics, it is sometimes hard to decide whether or not modern day music lyrics are acceptable as poetry. This topic is rather subjective, and I'd like to think the proper way to think of song lyrics is as being "poetic" rather than "poems". Remember, I said the definition of poetry is subjective, therefore my definition may not ring true with yours. Regardless, this being my blog, I guess I'll post my opinion. To me, poetry does not have music and melody accompanying it. Melody is key to music and requires specific pitches in a specific succession each and every time. This does not mean that song lyrics do not share poetic characteristics. In most scenarios, modern day songs spark more emotion in youth than Blake or Byron. Regardless, I'd like to share a song that has lyrics that are quite poetic in my own opinion. I guess it is up to you to determine if the lyrics are poetry or not. I'm not here to tell you some universal definition of poetry since if I did, it would only be a lie. Art needs subjectivity. Without it, it's not art. It's math, science, or business. None the less, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QFD-PhJRsk

    Now if you have watched the video, you can see that it utilizes quite a bit of metaphor. If you try to take a direct approach to the song, you will find the lyrics to be kind of ridiculous. I'd suggest taking a semiotics approach to it and find the symbolism in the song and relate it to yourself. I doubt there is universal meaning to the lyrics. There may be a specific meaning to the singer himself, but I think it is up for interpretation to the listener. Whether or not you think it is poetry is another question. I'll stick to my opinion of keeping song lyrics in their own category, but I do think it shares some characteristics with a poem. This idea is not to take any of the validity and power away from lyrics. I think songs are just as important as poetry, and probably even more important to most of us. I just think it's deserving of its own category since it requires the usage of melody over meter to emphasize its meaning. Honestly, it doesn't really matter all that much. Just enjoy songs and poems and don't let the ramblings of an over analytical skeptic English major ruin it for you.

Literacy on a Global Scale

    Thank you for visiting my blog that is focused on exploring the concepts and ideas that make up the area of study called multigenre literacy. My name is Nicholas and I am a graduating senior at CSUN in Southern California. When looking at literacy from a global perspective, one has to address the issue of the always evolving media technology and how it relates to the field of literacy. While I understand why electronic devices have gained a bad rap due to their ability of distraction and anti-socializing the average person on a social networking site, we cannot deny that they are becoming more prominent in our culture to the extent that many joke about our smart phones as being "Life Support". I truly believe that technology needs to be grasped and utilized in teaching literacy since it is in fact a legitimate form of communication. At one point, the ability to print was the newest technology and provided a way for people to communicate ideas on a mass scale. Now, although the internet is quite convoluted and considered the "new wild west", it has the ability to reach people on a global scale.

    The globality of the internet allows us to reach people on far opposite ends of the earth with a mere click of a mouse button. If this kind of technology is utilized properly, we can promote literacy to the global masses and allow everyone to have access to a literate future. Obviously there are a lot of kinks and issues in trying to introduce literacy on a global scale via modern day media with differing political and social views, but none the less, the idea is the seed necessary to grow the idea. I believe that as a society we need to find ways to unite education and technology into one package that is more relevant to the new generations.