the blurb goes on and on
Just so you know, I'm postponing my shower right now. So just imagine you're sitting in front of a sticky, sweaty and probably smelly girl. It's what you've always wished for. Seriously now.
I just recieved an e-mail from the instructor for the highest level poetry-writing course and have been admitted to the class--thankfully. Some people with skills of reason and practicality would tell me that I really shouldn't take another creative writing class (as I've filled up a good deal of my transcript with them and other creative expression courses). Another teacher commented on how learning to write creatively has shifted significantly since its early history, in which people who wanted to write just did it and read other material in order to really learn how to write. I think this guy was seriously questioning the value of creative writing classes: does the current-day version of learning to write reflect a denigration of the human mind? Or, if one chooses to look at it from such a negative perspective, perhaps a more likely culprit for our loss of intellectual integrity--as it might be called--is overstimulation. In other words, because our world/society contains a nearly infinite wealth of information and too much to choose from without adequate attention to give over to everything, if someone wants to write in today's society, I think it's reasonable to assume that there are far more examples of poor writing available as opposed to great/skilled writing that one cannot simply start producing wonderful writing by mimicking what they read. Of course, if someone were to point out that such and such is a great work of literature and such and such really lacks the necessary qualities, then this would be what I call class. It would also be a rather prescriptive form of instruction, which I don't exactly agree on. A balance between prescriptive instruction and instruction which enables the student to formulate his/her own understandings of quality must exist. As long as I don't feel like I'm the only one opposed to the canonical works of literature and the so-called qualities that put those works in their place, it will be alright.
I don't think I really intended to say all of this when I started writing this morning. Woops.
I just recieved an e-mail from the instructor for the highest level poetry-writing course and have been admitted to the class--thankfully. Some people with skills of reason and practicality would tell me that I really shouldn't take another creative writing class (as I've filled up a good deal of my transcript with them and other creative expression courses). Another teacher commented on how learning to write creatively has shifted significantly since its early history, in which people who wanted to write just did it and read other material in order to really learn how to write. I think this guy was seriously questioning the value of creative writing classes: does the current-day version of learning to write reflect a denigration of the human mind? Or, if one chooses to look at it from such a negative perspective, perhaps a more likely culprit for our loss of intellectual integrity--as it might be called--is overstimulation. In other words, because our world/society contains a nearly infinite wealth of information and too much to choose from without adequate attention to give over to everything, if someone wants to write in today's society, I think it's reasonable to assume that there are far more examples of poor writing available as opposed to great/skilled writing that one cannot simply start producing wonderful writing by mimicking what they read. Of course, if someone were to point out that such and such is a great work of literature and such and such really lacks the necessary qualities, then this would be what I call class. It would also be a rather prescriptive form of instruction, which I don't exactly agree on. A balance between prescriptive instruction and instruction which enables the student to formulate his/her own understandings of quality must exist. As long as I don't feel like I'm the only one opposed to the canonical works of literature and the so-called qualities that put those works in their place, it will be alright.
I don't think I really intended to say all of this when I started writing this morning. Woops.
posted by B-Go at
9:14 AM
2 Comments:
go get 'em, Bose!
By
Nora, At
3:19 AM
I think I understand. As a Philosophy minor, about once a week in class I think what a poor thing it is to get all of your philosophy from a book. But then we'll discuss something that sparks a small ember, and off go my thoughts! I stand in awe of poets (having no talent in that area myself), so I hope something in your class can be useful to you.
Congratulations on getting in--an honor your writing shows you deserve.
Taiko-ma
By
Anonymous, At
9:35 PM
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