Listening to Poetry

There are so many different ways to experience poetry. I spent some time last week listening to poems on a list my college professor gave us. It was quite an experience.

There was one poem that just played music in the background while the video passed over the words in a jail cell. The words were written in what looked like blood. The effect was dark. It had the feel of some awful crime had presence there.

The poems that stood out to me the most, were the ones that were spoken with music in the background. The first one I listened to was spoken and shared with passion. It was powerful and carried a strong message. I was drawn in to the poem and was emotionally attached to it. I could connect and feel the power of it’s message.

I saw and heard multiple versions of “The Raven.” They were all a little creepy, with eerie music and an ominous speaker. One version was part of an episode of “The Simpsons.”

Music held a strong role in influencing how each poem affected me. When there was not music, I was less emotionally attached.

All in all, I feel like the poems held more power when I listened to them than they would have if I had just read them. That effect is dependent on the individual and how they think. I am one who would rather listen to the author read it. Words on a page can be misread, but listening to the author read allows for a more complete picture of the intended message.

Pause and Pay Attention

"The Silent Child" is a short film that focuses on the lack of priority put into helping deaf children in school. In the film, Libby, a young deaf girl, is stuck in a family who does not know how to communicate with her. It isn't until Joann, the tutor, comes into Libby's life, that she begins to know the wonders of communication. As the film progresses, the audience is led to believe that the mother looks at Libby's deaf condition as an inconvenience that should be remedied to fit her, the mother's, way of life. Joanne disagrees and seeks to help Libby learn sign language along with lip reading, instead of trying to cut corners and shove lip reading down Libby's throat. This eventually gets Joanne fired, leaving Libby to be sent off to school where she is unprepared for for the success that she could have if her parents and the school were sensitive to the communication barrier.

One of the things I noticed immediately was how the camera was used to change focus. Joanne had just come for the first time and was taken to the room where Libby was watching TV. The mother explained a little bit about the struggles she was having with Libby and hurried off. Once the mother leaves, we get a shot of Joanne in the background looking at Libby. The shot drastically changes focus from Joanne, the tutor here to make a difference, to sad lonely Libby, who just wants to be able to communicate with people and be understood. I feel like the change in focus was effective to show the two sides of the equation that would later come together to create success. The thing was that it could not happen while Libby's mother (the symbol of society's lack of concern for or real care of those who are deaf) was in the room. Once the mother left, Libby and Joanne were able to come together and find joy in learning and growing as they began to communicate better with each other.

We are shown that a willingness to help along with a concerted effort will show improvement, but when society looks inward to the self instead of outward to others, decisions are made that only multiply the problem. Joanne is shown speaking with Libby via ASL throughout the film. These parts are silent, focusing on the fact that Joanne is putting forth the effort to help Libby learn. The parts of the film when we hear talking, usually involves a lot of negativity toward Libby and a lack of desire for the mother to take part in anything that would interrupt her way of life, even if it would help her communication with Libby. At the end, when Libby is sent to school, we see her as someone who is lost. Someone who has been failed by her family and the ignorant society in which she lives.

A Slice of Calvinism and Friendship

Last week I attended two presentations that were part of BYU's English Symposium. I attended the "Calvinism in 17th Century British Literature," followed by the "English Reading Series: Allie Condie."

The first presentation had three students reading their research papers on various topics. Hannah DeTavis opened with her research on Margaret Fell Fox and and Fox's fight for the right for women to speak during church. Jeremy Loutensock followed Hannah with his research on Lucy Hutchinson's On the Principles of the Christian Religion. One of the main points that stuck out to me was Hutchinson's belief in predestination, and that she believed that recognizing one's sins and mistakes could indicate that they are one of God's elect instead of it being an indication that they were created to fail. Olivia L. Moskot went last and read her research on George Herbert. Like Jeremy's research, Olivia chose to focus on predestination. She mentioned some of George Herbert's poems and used a few metaphors to describe our relationship with God.

The second presentation was a book reading by Allie Condie. She opened by reading two reviews she received on her books. One was her very first book review, and it was brutal. The second had a more positive tone to it. Condie wanted the audience to know not to give up after their first try, even if it's terrible. After a while, Condie started reading her novel, Summerlost. It is a book about a young girl who lost her father and one of her brother's in a car accident. Her family moved to a small town with a festival. Condie let us know that the town was based off of Cedar City and the festival was not unlike the Shakespeare Festival. Ultimately, Condie said Summerlost was a story about "friendship," which is a different kind of love than what she usually writes about.

How Long Could You Go Without Eating?

Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” was an – interesting read. Early on, it mentions a clock being the only significant thing in the artist’s cage, causing me to wonder why the clock was so important. It isn’t until later that you realize that the artist can fast for weeks. The longer he can fast, the more impressive he is.

The hunger artist is an odd character; he does not want to eat. In fact, he even mentions that fasting is not the challenge that most people assume; it is easy to him. My first assumption was because he had not eaten for a long time and that the desire had started to fade along with his life. As I continued reading, I found that other spectators of the hunger artist had similar thoughts to my own. The artist denied that as the truth.

The artist, for some reason, felt like nobody appreciated what he did. I personally did not understand why anyone would find it a spectacle worth paying to see. The artist was able to go for forty days without eating and felt like he could go further, but nobody would let him. That is, until his profession was no longer engaging to the audience and he lay forgotten in a cage.

It was not until his dying breath, that we learned the reason the artist had no difficulty fasting and why he never wanted to break his fast. It turns out that the artist is one of the pickiest eaters in the world; he tells the man who came to his aid that he would have eaten if he had found something he enjoyed eating.

It appears that the antagonist is the artists partner. He is the man who refuses to let the artist go without food beyond forty days. He always makes him eat something after that time, preventing the artist from his desire to break his record and prove that he can go longer without.

All in all, I found this story to be different and a little disturbing.

The Two-Man Macbeth

Last week I attended a two-man performance of Macbeth. This was my first time seeing Macbeth, however, I had always been under the impression that it was supposed to have more of a serious tone to it. That was not the case in this performance. The story did not change, but the actors were able to introduce a lighter tone to the performance. The staging and the set were also instrumental in making this such an interesting interpretation of the play.

As far as Macbeth goes, there is a lot of death and deception. It is not a happy play. In the two-man performance I attended, the actors did a lot to cause the audience to laugh. Occasionally one of the performers would go up to a member of the audience and speak as though they were a servant of other character in the play. The actor would then hold up a piece of paper to the audience member, so they could say their line. I was impressed how entertaining that was.

There was also a point when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter a banquet. Instead of entering in a formal manner, they each entered alone and struck an over-the-top pose. This was clearly done to accentuate how great Macbeth thought he was, but it also served to lighten the mood.

The set consisted of a wooden table, two wooden stools, some lights on either side of the stage, and three canvas panels at the back with lights behind them. The performers were able to adjust the set mid-scene if needed. They were also able to eliminate the time it takes to switch between scenes. All they needed to do was tip the table or either of the stools on its side, or they could stack them and move them around the stage. It was very simple and efficient.

My favorite, was the use of the canvas panels that were at the back of the set. The staging for those was great. Each time Macbeth spoke to his hired assassins, he moved to the back of the stage and stood in front of the light that was shining through the canvas. The light made it look like we were just seeing the silhouettes of the assassins and Macbeth. It gave a feel that they were dealing behind closed doors and that they were having secret meetings that nobody was supposed to know about. I found it fairly effective.

I enjoyed my first viewing of Macbeth. I worry that I will be disappointed if I see any other interpretations of it.

Hamlet, Lost in Thought

Hamlet

Upon viewing Hamlet's soliloquy, found at 58:08 in this recording, I found the staging to be interesting. Just before he began his soliloquy, Hamlet climbed up a small spiral staircase and sat at the top of a raised platform in a thoughtful manner. Hamlet seems to be more contemplative in his soliloquy and less tortured. He does stand and almost debate about throwing himself over the railing, but that only lasts for a moment, and he climbs back down to the safety of the stage floor to continue his contemplation until the memory of Ophelia brings him back to the world.

Well, this is my sister's shelf, but I do read a lot of similar things. My favorite genres are fantasy and sci-fi.