Over the past two weeks, my ability to read, understand and interpret poetry has improved. I feel more confident in understanding the deeper meanings poets convey through metaphor, symbolism, and imagery. This experience has taught me to read carefully and multiple times, while looking for subtle cues that reveal more complex emotions or ideas. When reading Oedipus the King, these skills are valuable. In Emily Dickinson’s, “The Wife”, the metaphor of the sea developing “pearl and weed” shows how emotions can be hidden. This insight could help me understand similar symbolism in Oedipus the King, blindness as that can be representing ignorance or the search for truth. It also makes me more sensitive and aware to the emotional depth of characters, and encouraging me to read beyond the words in order to find the underlying tensions. Understanding the structure and form of poetry has prepared me for analyzing the structure of the story which can help me understand better the connection between subtle and complex ideas to the flow and more visible ideas.
Daily Archives: October 17, 2024
I don’t have much experience with poetry. I mean I have read some poems from time to time but never took the time to break them down to fully understand them. Poetry is something that must be read piece by piece and break it down the same way, just as we have been doing in class. However, I’m not sure this makes it easier for me to process and understand. Even though I don’t read much poetry, I do have a favorite poem. It is actually a spoken word type of poem. Ain’t That Bad by Maya Angelou resonated with me and was easy to understand and interpret. To me it is a celebration of blackness, black culture, black identity, black language, black experience. Dancin’ the funky chicken Eatin’ ribs and tips Diggin’ all the latest sounds And drinkin’ gin in sips. Puttin’ down that do-rag Tighten’ up my ‘fro Wrappin’ up in Blackness Don’t I shine and glow? Now ain’t they bad? An ain’t they Black? An ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they Bad? An ain’t they bad? An’ ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they fine? Oedipus the King will take some time for me to process, but I don’t think it will be as challenging as it seems. I just have to read it multiple times.
