City Eclogue Weekly Post

City Eclogue is one of the most difficult pieces of writing I have ever been assigned to read. More difficult than Thoreau, than Shakespeare, than any piece of abstract spirituality search because it literally made absolutely no sense to me. I read for purpose and found none. I read for rhetorical prowess and discovered interesting use of diction but relatively unremarkable writing.

I will admit that his syntax is...interesting. I understand why we study it in creative writing, because it most definitely is creative. However, where does the line get crossed from creative into meaningless. I understand the goal. He wished to portray his home city, Pittsburgh in a light that he felt was correct.

His style of writing provides quick glances at ravaged streets, busied lives of people and animals bustling around a city that was far from beautiful. I feel that his purpose could have been met so much more directly and with more power if he would have just written less abstractly and used his rhetorical skills in a more traditional sense to drive home a true meaning. It is a problem when I, as the reader, have a hard time even understanding the most raw components of his writing. Half of the time I felt as though he was just jumbling words together with random indents.

I'm sure there is much to this piece that I did not understand. Perhaps scholars have studied it deeper and have pried more meaning out of it. It was just frustrating to me because I was looking for a needle in a very large haystack.

I look forward to class discussions in hopes that it sheds more light on City Eclogue!

Week Three Blog Post

Week Three Blog Post

     Goldberg-

During the introduction, Goldberg primarily focuses on the act of writing not as a cognitive process but as a literal function. Breaking down step by step, she  delineates each individual step that must be followed. From the purchasing of a viable pen and journal, to the speed of which you write. Breaking it down into such a tangible process helps ease the often overwhelming nature of conjuring up a piece of "writing".

She then promotes the idea that writing is not something to be made so permanent. I completely agree with this notion. Each word put on paper is nothing more than an idea we let loose; it is not something so descriptive of our intelligence. Rather, it is something let out of us, if not only for the satisfaction of its release. This is an idea I can strongly relate to. I often find myself struggling to sound a certain way whether to impress a teacher or simply to impress myself.

Then, moving onto the topic of obsessions she brings about a very applicable epiphany. We are completely driven by compulsions. Creatures of habit, we find ourselves performing various miniscule busy-work tasks and often without reason; these invisible reasons are compulsions. Habits. I think writing is a habit that we can all use a bit more of. Not only does it exercise the mind and soul, but it helps to promote a general maturing of the brain. You will come to many realizations writing. You will learn.

Syntax and detail, this is the crux of any piece of writing. It will just as soon be the crucifixion. Someone who focuses too much on style and beautiful detailed writing will forgo the most simple ingredient: content. The most raw component of any delivery of an idea is the idea itself. Writing is an art, but just as an artist must have a preconceived picture in his mind so too must the writer have a general direction. I love how the author relates these processes to cooking throughout the text. It is such a realistic comparison because writing very often is much like baking.

First Impressions

Keegan Page Stitt, this is my name. Though I don't expect that to tell anyone much about it. The first thing you care to know about someone, their name, is the least descriptive. Humans are funny. I am a very balanced man in that I find pleasure in many aspects of life.

I enjoy working out a lot. I was a state runner up in power-lifting. I have learned that my body functions better and feels better when it is regularly physically exerted. Humans are working class creatures without a doubt. The weight room is a place where I know I can find peace and time to sort out the ramblings of my rambling mind.

Writing found me at a very early age. The beauty of the written word is such a powerful force in my life that I treat it as worship. The simple act of finding words and beautiful phrases that the spoken word doesn't have time for, nor appreciation of. I enjoy writing of all kinds, but poetry steals my heart. Such immense force packed into each word; such presence in each pause. Every syllable that rolls off the lips should leave the reader inching closer and closer anticipating the next climax, the next metaphor. Poetry speaks big idea's in little space.

I hope that this class can help me mature as a writer and evolve further my diction and rhetorical prowess. I take great pride in my writing but I understand I am FAR from the best I can be. I look forward to being a part of this class!