Poetry in Youth

This past month, I have attempted to get ahead on assignments & projects in classes, and extra curricula’s. This includes visits to elementary schools in the Rochester area as it is required as an early childhood education major to complete a certain number of hours before the end of the semester. To get them out of the way, I have been a frequent visitor in a kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classroom over the past few weeks. As this has taken up a huge chunk of my time regarding being a college student, I have noticed that english and education visits may overlap in content.

As a visitor, my job is to observe the in’s and out’s of what go on in a classroom, help the teacher with whatever is needed as well as take in the atmosphere and acquire new knowledge on children. During most of these visits I am able to experience the things kids say. Some things that come out of their mouths just don’t make sense, some comments are funny and cute and others are shocking. To a teacher, these are the moments you remember and stick with you throughout your career. It can be said that children, even as young as five years old are little poets. Floods of ideas race through their tiny developing minds every second. Some children are very thoughtful in what they say but most just say what comes to mind. I have thought of this as another source I can use in my poetry. I think it is especially unique as well as I have never seen any poems on this topic. Looking forward to workshopping some of the pieces I create using this idea, I am always open to any suggestions and/or comments!

How Poetry Evokes Emotion

Already this semester we have gotten into some deep poems in workshop. Ones that we necessarily don’t feel the most comfortable with, or ones that deals with tough or hard to talk about topics, or some that genuinely only apply to a niche audience. I have taken what I observed, read, and hear over the past few weeks and did some research. Why does poetry communicate such strong feelings and emotions?

Throughout workshopping, different poets respond to different poems differently. Does that make sense? I mean, depending on the subject of the piece, a writer will react and respond differently. Any good poet makes his/her literary works of extraordinary deep feeling and expresses these feelings through a medium of poems. These emotions and topics affect us differently, yet, they all effect us in some way. We are all liked by a sentimental relationship that connects us with the ties of humanity. It takes the work of a good poet to relay these feelings and messages to the reader and captivate them into their own experience. Immense talent and deep intellect goes into writing a poem that will move the readers. Also, diction is an essential part of any poetic work. The kinds of words you choose play a significant role in the effect they cause on the readers. I will observe during workshop, learn more about the topics we discuss, and continue to learn about each individual writer.

My inspiration to poetry

I have always been drawn to words in regards to spelling, writing essays, and learning new meanings in the English language. This started as early as 2nd grade when I remember writing a lengthy “How to make chocolate chip cookies” recipe essay while other kids around me struggled with reading and writing. Ever since then, I have been tremendously drawn to writing and the topic of English.

By the time I was in high school, I pushed myself when it came to English class and learned as much as I could; from reading “Catcher in the Rye” freshman year, to writing my own personal college essay senior year. On my own time, I took to pencil and paper and experimented with rhyming, writing and poetry. With no specific source or inspiration, I wrote small poems and prose as I dabbled into this new exciting hobby. Coming to college, I knew I had to dedicate a good chunk of my time to English.

After taking ENGL 102 and ENGL 201, I knew that poetry was for me. I had learned the in’s and out’s of how a workshop was run and fell in love with Geneseo even more when I heard that they offered a poetry workshop. I applied and was accepted. Not ever was there a doubt in my mind that this was something I didn’t want to do, but on the other hand, I was a bit nervous about the advanced level I was getting myself into. So far, we are about 5 classes in and my nerves have gone away. I am learning more than I would have realized from our thoughtful classroom discussions, outside class readings, and peer editing students work.

What I draw inspiration from

In simplest terms I would respond with everything! My day to day walks around campus, the conversations with close friends, the intense UNO game nights in the suite, the car rides around town and everything in between. I tend to pay particular attention to things that interest me such as the blooming blossoms on the spring Geneseo trees, digesting a new culture, language, and experiences of a friend studying abroad, as well as the latest news regarding friends and advice. Whether I am paying close attention or not, I am always taking in information, processing it, and storing it for later. I am going to be completely honest, I have barely read poetry. The only source of inspiration from my past poems come from in-class examples and personal experiences. Though I have read a few pages of the well known book “Milk and Honey” I feel as though that does not make me anywhere near qualified as a true poet. Through this poetry workshop, I hope to find myself as a writer, and specifically, a poet. I hope to further my skills and compose a plethora of pieces in which I am proud of and can compare to earlier works. I am beyond excited to give my all and expand my horizons in this workshop class.