Blog Post 3.3
I witnessed a smile recently, a kind of smile that is still breathing in me. I also witnessed a cry few years ago, a kind of cry that is still bleeding in me. However, these two events have nothing to do with each other. One originated in Bangladesh and is the story of one of my best friends,and the other one originated here is in New York and is the story of time. So these two somehow flow in my mind like two rivers flowing parallel side by side but have no common points whatsoever. For my lyric essay I am going to try to connect the two streams and see what color water is going to be after the merge. It could be yellow or orange or indigo or purple or green or gray or blue.
I don’t know what trajectory my essay will take on its way to the end. It’s a journey. Like every other journey my essay will certainly have an end, a destination, but I can’t tell how long it’ll travel through the wings of butterflies. I set my imagination on the wings.
I will call it ” Seven Colors of Butterflies.”
2 responses so far
Hi Amzad, It’s hard for me to respond to this proposal since I’m not sure what stoires are connected to the smile and cry you witnessed. Therefore, it’s hard to image how these two rivers converge, or how they are even parallel, since in my mind, the convergences and divergences would be found through and in the details of the stories–the contexts and causes and outcomes of the smile and cry.
That said, I like the idea of taking two stories connected with these two extremes of human emotion (joy and sadness–of course, I’m assuming the cry was caused by sadness), and then connecting these two moments which, on the surface, are opposite poles of emotion and took place miles apart. I like the idea a lot. Just think about what specific details you will draw out of each story, and how you will create/suggest the convergences/divergences in the stories that will make them interestingly and evocatively cohere into an essay.
Amzad bhai,
I am already sensing that your essay will be a direct extension of what you have written here; I like how you have already begun to play with metaphors and symbolism immanent for your essay. I like the vagueness in this proposal and I think I am in for a great surprise when the final work is unveiled.
However, despite the things I have already said, I would love to know what that “smile” and “cry” mean. Perhaps we would be able to give suggestions as to how these two seemingly parallel events have a potential for an intersection or an overlap for that matter. I think the entire struggle lies in the matter why are these two events important for this essay. I guess connecting these two events is not the only challenge you have to deal with, but also the task of annexing the diverse metaphors and symbolism you have already started creating in this proposal to the theme seamlessly.
I am a little apprehensive about what your approach would be. Would you be spending much of your effort in the exposition of these two events or the actual struggle of trying to connect them?; I believe the latter would make a better essay. Just a thought.
Good luck and very much looking forward to reading your piece.