Category Archives: ResponsePaper

These past few days the word “creativity” has been on my mind a lot. I want to creative.No doubt the digital essay will give me the chance to be creative and so i am eagerly anticipating it and looking forward to it.However, one problem I encountered was that i find it extremely hard to grasp and connect to poems. I read many selectios from Audre Lorde and Gertrude Stein but still did not like any of them.Ithought of reading a poem about something I like. Prof Kaufman provided a link to poets.org and so i decided to checked it out. I was amazed at how it immensely helped me in my quest of creativity.I searched for a poem on a subject i like “the gym”.Fortunately I found a poem entitled “At the Gym” by modern American poet, Mark Doty. At a first glance at the poem, it looks like the Doty is talking about his general bobservations at the gym. However, a careful look at it shows that he is talking about people’s quest for perfect beauty. He writes:

Power over beauty,
power over power!
Though there’s something more

tender, beneath our vanity,
our will to become objects
of desire: we sweat the mark
of our presence onto the cloth.

Thiss is my favorite work out at the gym

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/AUZYeTbyzzQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Hello everyone! 🙂 Over break, I’ve been thinking about this project a lot..and to be honest, I’m not sure how to even tackle it. Concerning the poem I will use, I haven’t really thought of one yet. Although, I have a huge appreciation for Pablo Neruda’s poems. Neruda is such a great poet, and I would love to write and make a video on one of his poems. I have studied “Sweetness, Always” which is a great, but long poem in my opinion. I’ve also read “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” which is such a lovely and straightforward poem. Most of the poems that are in the book “One Hundred Love Sonnets” are very well-written and straightforward. I think I connect with Neruda’s poems more than any other poet’s work because his poems are translated from Spanish to English, and I feel comfortable reading them in Spanish. I think there’s just something so special about reading a poem in its original content and intended language.

I wouldn’t mind working with anyone, and I have a digital camera. My thesis would most likely revolve around the idea of love if I do choose to write on one of Neruda’s poems. The idea of love can very easily relate back to happiness, as a lot of people seem to believe the two go hand in hand. If anyone is familiar with Pablo Neruda or likes the idea of “love” for their project, don’t hesitate to talk to me. Neruda has many poems, and I wouldn’t mind showing anyone a few. His writing style is beautiful and straightforward, no fancy gimmicks. O:)

Look at him, he was so cute~~

–Update:: April 26th–

Once again, I’ve been thinking about this project quiet an awful lot. While thinking about what poems I should choose, something struck me. I have always been in love with “Drummer Hodge” by Thomas Hardy and have never had to opportunity to study it. I think if I studied it for this project, I would be very happy. The poem talks about an unforgotten soldier during a war. “Drummer Hodge” is also known as Hardy’s most celebrated poem, and I think it reads beautifully. I like to read it out loud sometimes because I’m just so captivated by how it sounds.

This is the poem:

They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined – just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around;
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.

Young Hodge the Drummer never knew –
Fresh from his Wessex home –
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.

Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge forever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow to some Southern tree,
And strange-eyed constellation reign
His stars eternally.

Thoughts are always welcomed. 🙂

First off, I’m extremely excited to be making a digital essay for class because I’ve always wanted to create my own video and never really had any motivation to go through with it. But now since its mandatory, I finally have a legit excuse! When I first heard about the digital essay I was overwhelmed with how many ideas I had in mind, and I still am. There are several themes that I’ve been focusing on such as, happiness deriving from acceptance and self-realization, and society’s impact on the happiness of individuals. I don’t necessarily know how to narrow down what exactly I want to depict in my digital essay, partly because I’m still not sure as to what I will want to use as my literary evidence and poem.

When looking at the selected poems by Audre Lorde we discussed in class, as well as a few others that she has written, I didn’t exactly draw any personal connection which makes it very difficult to choose any of them as my focus. I am more on the verge of perhaps choosing a poem that I have come across in the past or maybe some song lyrics. I’m clearly nowhere near making a decision. I just have a whole bunch of things jumbled together as of now.

The poem that I chose to work on is “The Electric Slide Boogie” by Audre Lorde. Probably, the main reason that I chose this poem is due to some sort of resonance I felt with its tone. From the lonely/nihilistic vibe in the beginning of the poem to the “when you fall get back up” feel at the end of the poem all appealed to me, albeit probably in a different sense from the way that Lorde had thought of it. I’m saying this, of course, because her and I live/d in completely different worlds, both had completely different struggles. During my research, I read a basic overview of her life, and found out she had breast cancer, which she struggled with for 14 years until her death in 1992. “The Electric Slide Boogie” is actually her last poem. In it, she essentially asks “What’s the point of living”. Her answer is “existing bonds” and preoccupation. My answer to that question is similar yet focuses more on purpose and “living for the sake of living so as not to regret”. As such, I would like to compare and contrast our respective view points on this matter using the poem as a medium.

With regards to the digital essay, I don’t really have anything in mind just yet. I don’t have any idea on how to make one either. Though I’ll depend on Luke to help me with that one. As for being in a group, I don’t think anyone else in the class will have such a morbid topic. Though I could luck out if someone else chooses the same poem as I did. So feel free to post any comments and criticisms that you may have.

Anything can be regarded as creativity, but there are obviously different types of it. They form the different branches of creativity. For example, you have the topic of dance and there are different types of dancing; tango, salsa, breaking. Much like the topic of dance, there are different types of creativity. There’s an artistic kind, there is an inventive kind, there is a limitless amount of types. We cannot pinpoint what creativity exactly is just like happiness. Creativity exists when one does something out of the ordinary that others have never seen. I feel it is like that because there seems to be only so many movies Hollywood can make with the same plot. Here’s how a superhero movie breaks down; there is a hero, there is a villain, there is a devious plot from the villain to do harm,there is then the hero and villain fight, hero loses, hero comes back stronger and wins. The end, yet Hollywood producers always have new movies coming out with. If the director of the movie creates something new that has never been seen by the public before, he will be deemed creative, much like the movie Avatar. Many claimed it has the same plot as Pocahontas but technology used in the movie’s production boggles viewer’s minds. Creativity is essentially everywhere and you can call something uncreative if it is repetitive to the point it is the norm. Anything that stands out draws attention and makes people wonder, “What the hell?” it would most likely be counted as creative. Take for example Picasso’s paintings. No one really knows what he’s drawing but the abstract and ambiguity of his paintings causes a stimulation of thought in the viewer that they find creative.

Creativity… “Create”, and “vity” mixed together. Well for starters, the first word that I see in “creativity” is “create”. Create is defined as to “Bring something into existence”. When I think about creativity I think of doing everything except what someone else is doing. For me, there are levels of creativity. Either something is mildly creative, or some is extremely creative. A paper mache can be considered something that is mildly creative in my sense. Something that I would consider really creative is the creation of a theory, or an engineering marvel. However, there has been something else that has been in the back of my mind ever since our last class; lesbians. I have to admit, these guys (excuse me, females) are so creative! The very idea of loving another female is very interesting. For men, I think it’s another story. If you see a gay couple (men) it just feels like “hey, there just two homosexual men”, however, when it comes to a female couple it’s something different. The human body is design to attract, or be attracted to the opposite sex (and that is a fact). Going against one’s nature requires some skill and well…”creativity”. When I had this discussion with some friends of mine over the weekend (both male and female) they mentioned a phrase that was quite funny, but upon further thought it stood out to me. The phrase was “the power of the penis”. Not to be extremely sexual or anything, but I think it’s safe to say that most women well… likes penises. And according to my definition of “doing everything except what someone else is doing”, lesbians fit that paradigm perfectly. In fact, on my levels of creativity I would place them in the extremely creative section where all the people who created engineering marvels are. I really commend them for the creativity; it must have taken a lot to resist “the power of the penis.”. Wait, I think I used the word creativity so many times. Perhaps I need to work on my creativity.

PS: Professor, it would be really cool if you could invite a lesbian/writer speaker to class one day.

When I think of the word ambiguity, I often find it to have a negative connotation, simply because to me, it connects itself to the idea of confusion. But another part of the definition can be “unclear”, which is an entirely differently. As applied to the story “Forgiveness”, ambiguity isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Ambiguity gives leeway to different interpretations, opinions, and ideas. Based on each different person’s prior knowledge and experiences, we each come to our conclusions when reading the story. Some of us can come to the same conclusions, and some of us won’t. I didn’t realize the story would possibly be about two women rather than a man and a woman. And I’m glad we talked about how the gift of the arm didn’t have to be literal, and that it could have been a representation for something else, because that honestly freaked me out quite a bit. The meaning behind the gift of the arm was very profound though, and it really did make me think. Would I give up my arm for someone? I don’t want to say, and I’d probably have to wait until it actually happens to know the answer to that question. But another question that was asked: How much would you be willing to change for someone else? My answer: As much as they needed me to while still being happy with myself. Everyone’s answer to this question was different, which just makes the idea of ambiguity that much more appealing, that everyone could have such different ideas, just because there is no set point to understand.

What is not creativity? Creativity is everything and nothing; it depends on how people look at the world. I am not going to get into examples on how people can see one thing and someone else can see another because that I would need an entire blog for that. In short, just by writing and using words is creative. Creativity transforms itself into many things. Other than just words, it can be pictures, thoughts and event emotions. What I find that is really creative is different angles someone can take a picture of a beautiful scenery. There are beautiful pictures that people just cannot stare away from. Human brains are very complex [as I learn from psychology]. Just by processing and thinking is creative. I am thinking about a puppy. That is creativity right there. You might be thinking to yourself, a puppy? Wow okay, so what is so creative about that? Well just by imaging a puppy uses imagination and creativity. Imaginary puppies are not going to pop out of nowhere. Now creativity, I believe really leaves a footprint when I am sitting somewhere comfortable, for example where I am now. Everyone is sleeping in the house so there is complete silence and I can hear the raindrops outside. I can smell the fresh water, blessed from the heavens. What perfection.

My feelings for ambiguity are ambiguous itself. It all depends on my mood. There are times when I feel depressed or angry and I would hate when someone leaves something ambiguous or open-ended. During those times, I would not want to think, I want to just sit there and cool myself down. I find that I can be irrational when I am in those moods. However, a lot of times, I can be happy and everything would be wonderful. I would love to use my imagination to think about the different possibilities and paths to take. There are times when not understanding something can be the best feeling in the world. You could be wherever you are and think things through however you like. This is most likely because I feel like I would be in control to do whatever I want.

Mother nature is creative.

Creative urges seems to come to me only when I least need or want them, like when I am doing some much-needed cramming the night before a midterm or pushing myself to finish my homework in a timely manner. That probably says a lot more about me than about creativity, but I just felt like putting that out there.

Ken Robinson’s short little speech brings up the idea that schools actively stifle the creativity of children. Through standardized testing and classroom interactions, students are heavily influenced to believe that being wrong is a bad thing. That kind of mindset leaves them afraid of trying new things and making mistakes for fear of judgment from their peers, which consequently discourages out of the box thinking. The key to being safe is to conform. We are indeed a society more dominated by workers than thinkers, because that is what our education system has specifically trained us to become.

This flaw in our education might be the reason as to why so many people–regretfully, often including myself–seem to dread being assigned ‘vague’ essay topics. More specific prompts means less of a need for us to think for ourselves. They are considered the safer route because the major decisions have already been made for us, and there is less pressure about being judged as ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ based on the content of the work we hand in. The more creative freedom we are given in assignments, the harder they seem to become. I’m sure that it’s a relatable struggle for many people, since we’ve probably all been taught that it’s best to color inside the lines.

We all know what creativity is; however, how would you define the term?  Just like many other terms that I find difficulty explaining, I searched the meaning of creativity.  According to Wikipedia, creativity is defined as ‘The use of the imagination or original ideas.” For some reason as soon as I read this definition, I had an issue with it.  It in a way contradicts the idea of creativity.  It is true that creativity is something that is original, but when analyzing the definition, it makes no sense to put a concrete definition to a word that brings a sense of openness and well, creativity.  I just feel like the definition itself is not creative;it does not portray the true meaning of creativity.

In addition, something that I have been thinking about is the measurement of creativity.  How can creativity be measured?  How is one individual more creative than another?  What abilities make certain people more creative, or appear more creative than others?  When ”measuring” creativity, I think most people refer to terms of artistic ability.  Creativity is usually expressed in art form, which is quite funny t mention, because when looking back at the definition of creativity, it was stated that the term is especially used in artistic form.  I understand that creativity is vital in art, the strive for something new and interesting for viewers.  However, why does it have to ”especially ” relate to art?  After all, doesn’t creativity just deal with originality?  Can’t someone be original in other fields, other than art?

This brings me to one lecture I had last semester in Psychology.  I was told that one side of the brain was focused more on creativity, while the other is used for mathematical operations and similar forms of thinking.  This is interesting, because when I was given this information, I was under the impression that mathematics was concrete, and absolute.  It led me to believe that math was something that one had to learn, but required no creativity.  I completely DISAGREE.  Math I believe more than any other field, requires enormous amounts of creativity.  When looking at math problems, there are many ways one can go about solving a problem.  In addition, if it weren’t the creativity of the historic mathematicians who founded the basics of math, where would math be today?  In addition, math is closely related to science.  Each day, there are many new proposals to cures for diseases that years ago, were impossible to treat.  The creativity of scientists has allowed the world to positively prosper in health, as it seems each day more diseases have been discovered, in need of more treatment.

The area of creativity is not only limited to artistic abilities.  The idea of creativity is broad and not limited to art, which is what most people relate the term to.  In addition, it is true that creativity is oppressed today because of the present educational system.  With all the teachers who are losing their jobs, and the lack of proper material for students to have a successful education, it seems as if creativity will be hard to have.