Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A- Writing with a purpose?
I don’t know if anyone else feels this way but I cannot seem to grasp my mind around the concept that authors write with a purpose. It is mind boggling to think that writers carefully choose the words they will use, the way they will construct their sentences, and the meaning and purpose behind it all. The theme and symbols of a piece of literature are not hard for me to grasp, that they were chosen for a reason; it is the diction, syntax, and other surface features that throw me for a loop. As we were reading Poe’s “The Raven” in class today, the rhymes captured me into the piece. I’m not normally a poetry person, but I surprisingly enjoyed this one. After, when we were discussing it, I felt lost as the rest of the class was able to easily pick out Poe’s purpose for choosing words or the placement of the pause. To me, I would have picked those words because they rhymed. Now I know I am not a professional writer and am still growing in my writing; nonetheless, I still feel overwhelmed to think that authors purposefully choose every aspect of their writing. It looks like they just got lucky with the way readers have interpreted their subtle details, and those interpretations have been taught to students and adults nationwide. I am aware I have asked this question once before to Mr. Bruno and did receive an answer; however, I would like to know if anyone else feels this way too.
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I understand exactly what you mean, Sarah! I often feel that authors wrote something simply because they felt like it. We analyze literature so much and I question the author's original intentions of his words. When I write, my syntax is often formulated because of what sounds right to me and is intended to switch up the initial words of my sentences to avoid sending the reader into desperate boredom. I don't necessarily intend for the way I formulate my sentence to give a certain tone to my writing. Clearly, some situations counter that statement, but in general it holds true. I also feel that writers do not always intend all the hidden meanings and irony in their works, either. These components are instead just derived from our interpretations. Poems seem like they are usually thought into more because a rhyme scheme must be developed, certain rules followed, and typically include a lot of figurative language. Like Sarah, though, I don't always plan as much as professional poets do because I focus more on creating rhymes, and I recognize that this is why I am an amateur and they are professionals. Overall, I feel that writing has certain purposes, but it is for each reader to infer things on their own. Not everything can be taught to students because writing is intended to be interpreted by each reader individually. Sometimes when we read in class I have no clue how Mr. Bruno sees what he does and when I do understand, I know that I could have never come to that conclusion myself. Whether the author intended what we infer or not, our assumptions are still needed so that we can squeeze as much as we can out of a work of literature and observe everything an author could have possibly wanted the readers to see.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything both of you two have said thus far; I would like to add my own thoughts. The meanings of different poems and other writings that we read in class tend to evade me unless I spend a more extended period of time really searching beneath the surface. Reading poems in class is difficult for me because I often need to read things more than once to get all the information out of it. Types of figurative language like symbolism and irony are usually easy for me to pick out. However, sometimes I feel that the author's intent is not always as deep as we make it. A large part of reading is determined by the reader, and the interpretations and meanings we derive from the writing- otherwise it is just words on a page.
ReplyDeleteWith most of the readings we do for school, the author is already dead, and there is no way we can ask if he/she meant to include all the irony, symbolism, etc. that we found. With writings that we as students do in class, we have to carefully select our word choices (diction) and construct our sentences carefully (syntax) in order to drive the reader to continue reading- hopefully without becoming dreadfully boring.
Back in seventh grade, I did a project for English on Harris Burdick stories. We each chose a picture with a caption and wrote a story surrounding it. I didn't plan much out beforehand; I simply sat at my computer and wrote. My story ended up being around sixteen pages long, because I got so wrapped up in my characters. When I reread it to proofread it, I discovered foreshadowing that was unintentional. If an English student were to read my story, I'm sure they would have picked up on it, but it was put in by accident. This leads me to question the "deeper meanings" that we discuss in English. I recognize that since I was only in seventh grade, I was not very advanced in my writing skills. As a more experienced writer, I might go into the story with more of a plan for foreshadowing, irony, etc. I'm sure many writers plan the extense of their figurative language out, yet still I wonder how much more we pull out of the writing than the author intended.
Also- I'm counting my post as one of my assertion journals for this quarter.
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