Creative Writing Response to Passion and Romance

Creative Writing Response

To Passion and Romance

           

            “Love calls for guts and initiative.” (The Art of Love, p. 295) To obtain a long lasting love, there is a hard work involved others could not imagine if they hadn’t gone through it before. It takes a leading action, readiness and ability. But once your whole self is out there, you are the happiest you’ve ever been before. No regrets.

           

I know that there are doubts and fears put into the things we care about the most and in our greatest strengths to stop us from progressing and achieving. These can be overcome and the progress desired will be obtained. Something people need is the guts to communicate. I struggled with this. I never trusted myself to say the right thing. But I’ve learned that that doesn’t matter. It’s the extra work you put into that has got to come through face-to-face, positive communication and more personal talks. It takes the sharing of everything, your whole heart and soul, in trust and unconditional love. It never slows down. The love and support can’t be held back. Your hopes, dreams, desires and needs all should be verbalized and confided. The only change you want in your love is just to love more and more. It truly is a joyful work. I’ve learned that it is better for my desires to be known, than regret ever expressing them at all. He would never know. And I wouldn't be as happy as I am now. Everyone has the opportunity or big growth. Make the most of it!

           

“Love has no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.” I don’t need to define love to know that I feel it. I’ve never had to work for something as hard as I have for the Love I belong to today.  I can’t believe the guts I had to tell him how I felt and wait to see if he would accept what I had to say. The passion is in the risk. I think about where it’s got me. That was 7 months ago, and now he is my everything. I am grateful for the initiative I had in that critical moment. If you knew me before, you’d understand that I would have never thrown myself out there like I did. I love the way we talk to each other. We can work through anything. But the greatest part is that we haven’t had to work any contention out of our relationship because we work on avoiding it together by the way we treat and speak with each other. There has never been a time that I have been angry with him. I know that it will take continuous hard work. But it is worth it to get to that attachment stage, where you are with that person in old age and still wonderfully in love. I don’t think people realize the work that goes into it. There is no destination in love. It is a constant journey. You always work toward something.

            This is the greatest work anyone could ever do. I’ve been seeing the world in new light and can see the joy from the effort.  I love how determined people in love are. Only people who are in deep sincere love would go through some of the things they do. There are guts involved, thats the first step. Love is not a destination. It’s a journey worth every risk that comes with it. It takes guts and initiative.

The Symposium

            The word Symposium is defined as a group of people coming together to discuss ideas. This philosophical dialogue by Plato, deals with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty. The dialogue expresses the discussion between Diotima and Socrates. Socrates believes that love is absolute and the ideals are perfect, whereas Diotima explains that love shouldn’t be black and white, or perfect.

           

my little sister :)

            Our discussions in class about the different views of love between men and woman were very interesting. Something someone said they had heard before was very true. She said, “Women wear makeup because men fall in love with what they see. Men lie because woman fall in love with what they hear.” Every person has a unique way that they attract people they are dating, or crushing on (some more noticeable and obvious than others). What are we most attracted to about love? What makes us want to go the extra mile for that love? For some, it is just the possession of it, and others just the other’s want of possession of them even if they don’t want to possess. There are people who love and pursue towards people, but then won’t take possession of them in return. They just like to be wanted. “Then love, may be described generally as the love of the everlasting possession of the good?” (p. 286). In many cases, this is very true. She goes on to say that this ties in to procreation, where love becomes of immortality. It becomes lasting and creates generations.

           

During the discussion Diotima points out Socrates’ mistakes and errors in his theory about what love is. I thought this was the most interesting. She explains that he has confused Love with the Beloved. “For the beloved is the truly beautiful, and delicate, and perfect, and blessed; but the principle of love is of another nature” (p. 287). She describes how love isn’t described as one thing or another. It’s between “ignorance and knowledge…wise and foolish…mortal and immortal.” Perhaps this is why love is so impossible to describe as just one sided.   

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress

         

            To His Coy Mistress took a lot of thought to get through. I had to read it a few times or more. But the more thought I put into it, the more understanding I got out of it, even though I still don’t understand it fully. I like how poetry does this to you. It stretches ideas so that they are not as clear as the rest of literature is. It has a message that has to be discovered.

            Coy means to be shy and reserved, so I believe that the narrator of the poem is speaking to his Lady to get her out of her shell, because their time to love is short. I may be wrong on my interpretation, but that was my thought process.

The author, Andrew Marvell, states “The grave’s a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace” (p. 310) and then proceeds to say that before we end up in the grave and while we are in our youth we should “sport…while we may.” Ages go by and “beauty” slips away, so there should be a time in our lives where we should be making the most of it because we won’t be cuddling in our grave with our Love for eternity. Time is running short for all of us and while we are living we should Love before it dies.

           

                                           

2nd Annual Favorite Poem Project

Poetry Reading Review

1.       Rachel Voorhees

Class period 3

2.       Name of the poets:

There were many poets that read at this event. Some of their names were Marene Holter, Florin Nielson, Kirsten Scott, Peter Saunders and many others.

3.       Location and date of the reading:

The reading took place on April 25^th at the City Library.

4.       Organization sponsoring the reading

This event was sponsored by the Utah Humanities Counsel to provide for the continuation of the Annual Favorite Poem Projects. This was the 2^nd.

5.       Find out as much as possible about the poet of poets presenting the reading before you go. If possible, read some of the poetry by the poet(s). Tell me what you found out and what you thought of the poetry.

All of those that read were either very experienced and famous for their poetry and other writings or they were making their first poetry reading appearance. I did not know who was going to be reading before hand so I wasn’t able to research their works before going. But finding about what they each have accomplished before they read gave me a larger appreciation for them and I found myself more into listening to them because I realized that they were professional and passionate about poetry. It must have taken a lot of dedication and hard work to get where they are today.

6.       Discuss the kind of poetry the poet writes. What themes are important to his/her work? Are there images that recur in more than one poem? What is the tone of the poetry? What sort of formal devices (rhyme, rhythm, figures of speech) does the poet use?

There are scenarios and similarities in why they read the poem that they did. Some would reoccur through out the poetry that was read. I think it is interesting that many of the poems were about animals. I think that people connect with animals. These types of figures of speech describe feelings from another prospective. Sometimes stories are implied but not bluntly stated. Each poet spoke rhythmically and gave each poem a new mood. For example there was one read by a girl named Claudia Bilingnal. Her poem was about how language doesn’t need to be a dividing power. It was about a father that wanted Spanish to be spoken in the home, and English to be left outside of the home and the frustrations it caused for the daughter. The way she read portrayed the emotions of anger and frustration. Different culture’s poetry was also read, which I thought was very interesting to listen to and try to understand.

7.       Comment on how the poet’s reading contributes to your appreciation of the poetry. Does the poet emphasize the rhythmical or musical qualities of his/her poetry in the oral interpretation?

I loved the creativity in the way a poet speaks. It flows beautifully and its almost like singing. The rhythms go faster or slower and is always moving. Poets know exactly when to read quicker or slower. Their pauses enhanced the poem. The way they read is very much like music. The musical terms “phrases”, swells and crescendos, rests and rallentandos all apply. While these things turn notes into music, they also turn words into poetry.

8.       If the poet comments on the poems, discuss how those comments illuminate the poems.

Because this event was all about people’s connection to certain poems, the comments that they made were the reason for the whole event and were very important. These poets connected with the poems for many different reasons. Everyone’s life is different, so a poem could mean the world to one person and won’t mean anything to another. Poetry connects to you because of memories, profession, your children, grandchildren, culture, and anything else you experience. One poet read about a pig, and connected it to her son whose favorite animal is a pig. Another read about the anatomy of a frog and said it grabbed his attention because of what his profession was. All of their comments just proved the fact that poetry can run deep in individuals because of they way their life has gone.

9.       If the poet is available after the reading, try to ask him/her an interesting question or two.

I wasn’t able to stay after the reading, because I had to rush somewhere right after, but I would have liked to talk to the girl who was in 6^th grade that read. I wanted to ask her how she got so far in poetry and what sparked her interest. I think it is great to see kids get into poetry because it seems to be something not very many people are interested in anymore. I hope that schools like hers are teaching about poetry.

10.   Go back and read the poet’s work again. How did the poetry reading affect your understanding and appreciation of the poetry?

Instead of looking up a particular poets work, I looked up Florin Nielson, because I was interested in what he does for a living. He teaches the writing of poetry class at the Mount Olympus Senior Center. I thought it was great that he helps people find guides for their lives through poetry. It shows how influential it can be. He said that his youngest student is 65 and his oldest is 95.

11.   If you use quotes or paraphrases form outside source in your review, document them according to the MLA Style.

Information about Florin Nielson- http://www.deseretnews.com/article/660220179/Senior-writers-have-winning-way-with-words.html

The Art of Love

Love is compared to War. The author of The Art of Love, Ovid, talks about similar love and war is. A few things he says I believe are completely true!

            He states, “Who but a soldier or lover would put up with freezing nights—rain, snow, sleet?” (p. 295) People truly in love are so determined. It is hard work. Many people think that love is a destination. They believe that once you get somebody to love you, you don’t have to work on it anymore. But the only way that a love can last is if both are always giving, and lifting each other as they work together to talk through anything. They should treat each other as their greatest priority, and stewardship. I love movies where the guy goes through so much for the girl. Lovers do things that otherwise they would not. I think about Darcy in Pride and Prejudice as he does those things for Elizabeth even though she before had rejected him. “Love calls for guts and initiative.” (p. 295)

            Its amazing how well love and war relate. I was so surprised as I read his comparisons. One last quote that I really thought about said, “The defeated can recover, while some you might think invincible collapse; so if you’ve got love written off as an easy option you’d better think twice” (p. 295).  The men we view as “invincible” do have a weakness. Love, like war, can make grown men cry. So is anybody strong enough for it? It all depends on how hard you are willing to work. It can make anyone the happiest they have ever been.

Song of Songs

Photo I took of Kallie Sommercorn's and her husband’s rings.

As a class we read a piece of the Hebrew Bible, called Song of Songs or Song of Solomon. These “lyrics” are written very beautifully and portray the love between man and woman. As I read a long I found a few sections that I loved and underlined.

The man and woman talk about each other in the most loving and special way.  This kind of talk from a lover is ideal and very romantic. I love the names they give each other. It reminds me of how I feel when I get called a sweet name by my man. J The one I can relate to the most is the name My Love. I know that these simple but sweet namesmean a lot to me so I connected with that probably more that some people in our class. I think the greatest joy is to be able to say these names to each other in person.

Today, relationships are becoming all in writing. Guys text what girls want to read but then cannot say the same things while they are actually around that person. I imagine that these songs were sung or recited to the one they love. It would be amazing to have someone that loves you to recite a poem he/she wrote in person. Our culture is completely different now though. We don’t see that very often. I think about all the things that Romeo says to Juliet when he is with her. We don’t speak to our loved ones like that anymore.

Chapter 2 also has one of my favorite quotes. “—As a lily among the thistles, so is my love among the maidens. –As an apple tree among the trees of the orchard, so is my Beloved among the young men.” This quote has things said from both the woman and the man. It’s very sweet the way they talk to each other. 

What is Love?

  

The general point made by Helen Fisher in her work What is Love? is that there are biological explanations for the reasons that we feel the emotion of Love. More specifically, Fisher suggests that our brains have different networks and chemicals that are released in certain sections of our brain. He writes about the science behind romantic love and stated, “Dopamine is associated with excessive energy, elation, focused attention and the motivation to win rewards—basic traits of romantic love.” (page 335) In this passage, Fisher is suggesting that romantic love is a craving just like our need for food because dopamine is also released then. In conclusion, it is Fisher’s belief that our brain and the chemicals in our body create these reactions of love. It is in our culture and how our brains are taught to react and what they have been taught to be satisfied with.

In my view, Fisher is right because the chemicals released are real. It is scientifically proven through tests of the brain. For example, they can do test on the brain to show what parts of the brain are active during certain situations. The author talks about a test where they would show those under testing a picture of their beloved and their reactions in their brain were specific to a certain part of the brain. Although Fisher might object that there are also reactions within the heart associated with love. I maintain that the heart allows us to feel the actual reaction to seeing a loved one. We do not have the nerves in our brain to actually feel love. But the heart skips beats, beats faster, aches, and all of these reactions are felt physically. Therefore, I conclude that love isn’t only connected to the brain’s reactions but also to the heart’s.