Video Essay

Overall I felt that the video essays from class were very interesting. My favorite video was the one about the chair, which had scraped and scared the narrators wooden floor. The video explained how the narrators emotions and how she felt about the chair that had scratched the wooden floor in her kitchen. I found the descriptions of her emotions to be very thorough and interesting. She began by explaining how angry she was about the scars on her hardwood floors. She went into great detail to express and describe her anger but then started to explain that she was not madd about the damage anymore. She explained that the more she looked at the marks the more intrigued she was by them. She eventually stopped looking at the marks as damage and began to see it as a form of art. She explained, once again in great detail, that the marks told a story. She explained that every mark signified an action. Each mark represented an emotion for everytime her friend sat or got up from the chair. Each mark was different because of the various moods and emotions that her friend experienced while sitting in the chair.  I found her perspective of the marks to be very interesting. The narrator has a very creative mind to be able to think outside the box and start looking at the damage to her floor as a story of past emotional experiences. This essay helped me realize that I must search for deeper meaning in things in order to expand my creativity in writing.

I feel that video essays are very  unique because they provide the intended audience with a visual image of the message that the narrator is trying to convey. In other words, the writer can control what their audience sees rather than relying on their free roaming imagination. Using visual essays allows the narrator/writer to instill more expression and emotion into their work. This could include the tone of their voice and or other sounds they may want to include, such as thunder or a keyboard. I feel that using a video  essay is far more effective than other conventional forms of writing.

Essay Packet # 1

The first essay that I would like to comment on from fiction pachet # 1 is Total Eclipse. This essay really seems to capture multiple senses of the reader. It begins by describing an unknown action as death, which is like sliding down a mountain side into the region of dread. When I first read these first few lines it filled me with a variety of different emotions including fear and nervousness. Esspecially when he described the place as unfamiliar and strange. It reminded me of a time when I got lost in the woods on a hunting trip. Also, later on in the essay he capture the visual sense of the reader by describing a clown using fruit. The author was so descriptive when describing the clown that I could literally picture everything about the  clown, as if I was looking at a picture of clown made out of fruit. What was really suprised me was in the bottem of the second paragraph on page 95 when he was describing an eclipes and said that he prays that "you" will never hav eto see anything more awful in the sky. I almost feel that he is using an eclipse to emphasize life and death...Overall I feel that this essay wasextremely descriptive, every word had extensive meaning to it.

The second essay that I would like to comment on is Door No. Five. This essay takes on another format from most of the other essay that we have read in class. This essay seems to have a language and formated like a poem. The author uses a lot of analogies convey the message and meaning of the essay. I feel that the reader is describing his fantasy place which is behind a door, door number five. The author also makes reference to "Oz". This is what gave me the indication that he was describing a place inside of a fairy tale such as in the Wizard of Oz. When I first read through this essay it didnt really make much sense, it just seemed like a bunch of statements put together. It wasn't until I read it a couple of times when i started to make sense of it. The author also referenced a pond and a peak which also gave me an indication this essay could be a description of a place. A lot of the statements in the essay are so off the wall that I kind of got the impression that he could possibly be describing a dream?...This essay is not very long but yet it still contains a lot of information for the reader to disect.

Maps To Anywhere

This week in creative writing we discussed the characteristics of essays. Short essays contain very detailed vocabulary. It seems that every word within an essay has extensive meaning and purpose. Creating an essay requires a great deal of intellegence and verbal dexterity. After reading the first couple sections of Maps To Anywhere I was intrigued by the detailed vocabulary.

The first reading I analyized from "Maps To Anywhere" was "Foreward". A lot of the language that is used reminds me of poetry. There are a lot of metaphors and analogies used while Cooper tries to convey the meaning of his writing to his readers in this introduction. A lot of this introduction seems very detailed as if Cooper used personal experiences to describe his writing. I feel that essays are a way for a writer to reveal their true identity. My favorite line from "Foreward" is when Cooper states... "We are everywhere on the surface of the self-sphere, and not permitted to sink to the metaphoric center, to rise into the heaven of release from identity." I feel that this line illustrates how essay writing can allow a writer to release inner emotions.

Goldberg

"Use Loneliness"
I never looked at the feeling of being lonely as a motivator for creative thinking. For me, being lonely creates a lot of anxiety but I am a firm believer that what does not kill you only makes you stronger. My favorite part of the story is from the last paragraph where the writer states..."Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world." This is a very powerful statement. I belive that creative minds are developed from past experinces of emotional rollarcoasters. Life is not only about experiencing happy emotions but bad ones as well. I feel that in order for a writer/artist to reach a maturity they must experience an abunance of emotions, both good and bad.

"Writing Marathons"
This whole idea of a writing marathon sounds very interesting. I like the part where all of the writings are read by individuals from around the room without anyone making a comment. I feel that this is a great exercise to help individuals expand their creative thinkings skills and build confidence in their writing abilities. I feel that this type of an exercise helps a person figure out who they really are as a person, which I feel is essential for creative writing. I believe that the emotions that this exercise instills in its participants helps build their character. I like how the writer describes this feeling of confidence as a feeling of being "naked." I feel that the word "naked" is used as a metaphor for letting inner feelings and emotions hang out. Being open with your thoughts and ideas carries the same emotions as being naked infront of a group of people.... Very interesting reading.

"I Dont Want to Die"
This writing helped me realize that no matter the challenges that life may throw at me always say how I feel. it is very important to be yourself and be accepting of who we are. Do not hide behind stereotypes of how you think you are supposed to act or how you think things should be percieved. To me this writing is all about being true to yourself and all internal emotions. we as writers need to understand the simplicity of saying what we feel.

Lamott Polaroid-Character-Plot

Something that I found to be interesting from reading the Lamott Polaroid-Character-Plot readings was his description of a polaroid picture and how its development relates to the process a writer goes through when composing a short story. I found it interesting that he mentioned that you realy do not know what the picture is going to look like until it is fully developed. It is only then that the true fine details can be recognized. I feel that this holds true for composing a short story. A writer may go through periods where they incorporate anything that may come to mind into their writings. I feel he is trying to explain that writers do not always have a specific outline of what they want to write about. I feel that he is trying to convey to the reader that creative writing can be very spiratic and often has no residual strucrure.

Another thing that I found to be interesting from the readings was when the author mentioned, in the plot reading, that in order to more details about the plot it is important to focus on what each character cares most about in the world. Figuring out what matters to each character will help determine what types of situations and scenarios the characters may get into throughout the story. Being able t identify these character qualities will also help determine specifics about the dialog. Specifying what each character cares about can help determine how the character will communicate throughout the story (dialogue).

Fiction Packet 3

The fisrt story that I would like to comment on is The Singing Fish. The language in the story almost seems like the narrator is speaking with a southern accent. He makes refernce to the character by saying "us brothers" rather than saying me and my brothers. He uses this language throught the story. I feel he uses this language to help the reader form animage of the plot. Also, the story describes the brothers playing in mud and talking about fish which seems like activities of children that were raised in the south or in the country. The author also makes reference to the word "Girl" many times throughout the story. I noticed that the word often appeared with a capital letter as if the author was refering to a specific individual when using that word. Although I never did figure out the significance of the word "girl". The last four or five sentences were very confusing. I noticed a lot of metaphors but could never make sense of the message that the author was trying to convey.

The second story that I would like to comment on is "The Fith Story". I feel that the whole purpose of this story is to show the reader how many different ways a story can be told. I feel that the author was trying to show the reader how many different stories could be told using a single set of information. I feel that maybe the author is trying to illustrate the thought process that goes into writing a story. I feel he is trying to show the reader how the mind is functioning when a writer is trying to writing a story. I feel that the author is trying to show how hard it is for a writer to make up their mind about how to write a story. This includes language, detail and imagery.

My two poems for this week

Poem 1:

The bling trilobites rest tain from beneath,
onhow such poised position with pleasent belief,
livid palisides blurb as they sleep,
foundered villanelles lay restless and steep,
cambrian, silvvian, carboniferous, unpacific,
nape wisdom as they meet.

Poem 2:

I foundered through the unpacific, livid strata,
poised by the serif palisades,
onhow of the tain bling in their appearance,
with the blurb verbena of the villanelles,
I wonder anywhen and belater by the question of their existence,
 cambrian, silvrian, and carboniferous seas nape me wonder.