Poem responses -David chen

I enjoyed emmet's poem response due to the similarities it showed in comparison to mine. We agreed on a lot of points like how frank oHara used the character actions to portray feeling. Thus, it was an ideal choice for the quote from Amy lowell, “Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.” One would be hard pressed to find another poem that which utilizes reactions to convey emotions better than oHara's.

Another post I liked was Caroline's which is right above emmet's and uses the same quote from Lowell. However, the game is changed when totty introduces a new poem into the fray, "The Harlem Dancer" by Claude McKay. In this work of art, McKay depicts a dancer and the moves he used to encapsulate the audience. Once again, portraying art through action and allowing the reader to witness the beauty of free interpretation.

Poem Responses, Walt Finch

For my first response, I read Charlie Grimes' post about Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird.  I liked how he compared it to the quote, instead of just talking about the imagery of the poem and what the poet does or does not do.  I also liked his point about how we don't see the simple beauties in life.  I thought it was very true, and very plausible that that was what the poet was going for.  I also like how he ended by comparing it to his own thoughts about art, which made the blog post more personal and kept me engaged and ended it well.

For my second response, I read Emily Cashman's post about the London poem.  I agree with her in saying that art can share every emotion possible.  I don't necessarily agree that it can be in a short time frame though.  Sometimes I think it requires that you really look at it or take some time to think to get everything the artist is trying to say.  Or the artist might have just been painting a cool picture, maybe they didn't mean anything by it.  I do think that poetry can be a better tool for evoking emotion, like she shows how "London" did with comparing Milton to a star.  I think that although poems sometimes take a little longer to read, I also think that the writer can make sure that all of the emotions are conveyed, unlike in art where the viewer might not look close enough to get everything out of it.  Or might not take the time to look.

Poem Responses - Charlie Grimes

I was very intrigued by Walt's interpretation of Degas' Laundresses by Evan Boland. I found his explanation of syntax and repetition of certain sounds leading to a theme of monotony and repetition in a certain character's life very interesting and unique. I also enjoyed his hypotheses about different symbolisms in the poem, such as the "winding sheet" connection to women's oppression at a certain time in history. Walt then nicely tied up the overarching theme of the poem at the end of his analysis, despite expressing his disinterest in art. I would agree with his assertion that the point of the poem was to capture a certain sentiment of the time.

I also found Emmet's interpretation of Amy Lowell's quote and analysis of O Hara's "The Day Lady Died" to be quite interesting. I too have found that sometimes the greatest emotions cannot be expressed in plain language. I believe that feelings that are evoked in works like "The Day Lady Died" are better expressed in a way that captures the actual moment and actions of the situation. Why? It allows the reader to have some emotions of their own evoked, and it also allows for a more descriptive and vivid scene. Like Emmet explained, if the author were to have simply written a disconnected paragraph about death and its impact, the reader would experience very little in comparison to real observations and snapshots of the impact that a certain death had. Nice job, Emmet.

Art and the Artist Responses- Mikaela Gatewood

Charlie Grimes- I thought that Charlie's interpretation of the poem was really interesting, concluding that in striving to see the perfect, we miss the beauty around us. He then connects the poem to not only Jackson Pollock's quote, but to his art as well. I thought that it was interesting and well thought out that he linked Pollock's messy techniques to the poet's loose formatting of the stanzas, creating a large range of images of emotions that the blackbird invokes. The idea that both presented emotions, such as fear or fascination, was a connection I hadn't thought to make. Overall, I thought it was a really well done analysis.

Emmet Allen- Emmet was the only other person to choose the same poem as me, so I thought I would talk about his. Emmet approached the poem differently than I did, however I think we generally arrived at the same conclusion. Despite not knowing that the poem was about the death of Billie Holliday, Emmet still beautifully illustrated that the author was shocked and dismayed over the death of a figure important to the author's life. The quote he chose has a clear connection to one of the main purposes of the poem, the author expressing his feelings and actions throughout the day. This gave a clear example that the purpose of art was to record your reactions to the world around you. I think it was a great connection to make and very well done.

Response to Poem Responses- Caroline Totty

I believe how Emily Cashman interpreted her quote and poem was insightful. I agree with her mostly and her take related to mine in saying art has several different meanings depending on who is viewing it. I like how Emily included that art can evoke feelings the viewer does not always expect. I also liked how she said current events happening around the artist have the ability to influence them. I sort of approached it more as emotional events in the artist's life specifically are what encouraged him or her, but I like how Emily said it could also be the influence of current events that are affecting everyone.

I thought Will Mathews' take on the poem he responded to was interesting. I thought it was interesting he said artwork has limitations and that he took the quote and interpreted it as stating artwork has limitations. This is sort of the opposite of how I took this quote and what I believe. I believe artwork has no limitations and you can describe yourself and your feelings endlessly, but Will states otherwise. It was interesting to me to see his take on artwork.

Response to Responses Emmet

The first response I would like to comment on is Jacob Ferguson. I think that, apart from his interpretation of the quote and the emotions of the work of art, he did a great job explaining not only how the quote was applicable, but also showing the depth and complexity of the painting by demonstrating the two different levels on which Conrad's comments can be applied.

The second post I will respond to is Mikaela's, which was about "The Day Lady Died," the same poem I wrote on. She did a good job explaining the significance of the poem itself, but her discussion became particularly interesting toward the end of the post when she connected connections with redemption. I think this is a great point to bring up with this poem in particular because it's such a personal account, it can't have much significance in any other sense.

responses to poem responses - Emily Cashman

I'd first like to respond to Caroline Totty's response. She spoke about how different people view art in different ways and I feel as though that relates to how I think art is capable of eliciting so many different emotions from people depending on their backgrounds, feelings, or situations because art is heavily up to interpretation. I like how she related the quote to the "Harlem Dancer"; it was a very creative interpretation, which is just another example of how differently people can view works of art.

Since nobody else in the class chose "London 1802" as their poem, my other response will be on a person who chose the same quote as me. Lucy Macfarlan also picked the Joseph Conrad quote for her response. I liked how she focused more on how the emotions serve to connect us and pulls us together, which is why art is so successful at making the audience feel something. I really enjoyed how she incorporated Damien Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" piece because I remember learning about it in art history last year and think it's a really cool and unique piece of art.