Sophie Nguyen Week #10: In Theory
As many people know, and are probably writing about for this quarter of blogging, words hold power. A simple sentence or phrase could make or break a person’s day. The effects of a few words could be the same as the usage of many. I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out what I wanted to write about for this week’s blog. The topic being as broad as ever.
Our prompt for blogging this quarter leaves me at a loss. But after a bit of thinking through this flex-work period I’ve been given, and scrapping my blog multiple times, I’ve come to a conclusion. I believe that we could write on just about anything for this prompt and leave the analysis and connecting to the prompt for the students writing comments. The topics for each blog so far have made it easy to write about whatever we wanted, as long as it's possible to connect it to the main idea. For this prompt, “language and power,” one could just jump to the conclusion that all words hold power, no matter how simple or seemingly meaningless.
The question is, if I wrote something that I don’t think relates to the prompt whatsoever, what would the comments be about? What would an outside point of view see? I was inspired to write about this because of one conversation I had with my brother over dinner one day. I asked, “You know how we over analyze everything in English class? What if some authors wrote a poem that meant absolutely nothing, but the world went crazy about it due to some cryptic meaning behind it that they made up?”
I forgot what his answer was, but I thought about it a bit more. It’s completely possible for people to come up with some crazy idea, attempting to make sense of a senseless piece of writing. In the context of this class and the prompt we were given, the answer is pretty clear. A group of APENG students read a blog that, on the surface, seems completely off topic. But each of us are forced to comment some of our thoughts on the blog (for the sake of our grades). This encourages us to figure out how to relate the blog to our given prompt. In theory, I could write about anything and the readers can make the connection for me.
(also based off Sean’s last blog)
Art for the sake of art, especially in terms of writing, is really difficult to pull off and that's why I find a lot of poetry boring. There has to be a purpose behind why I'm reading this piece of literature. Even in Harry Potter, a premise that is ever so detached from reality, we are compelled by the canon reality within the book to continue to inquire about the development of the plot. There is a reason behind every chosen detail, and if there is not, there is no reason why anyone should read the piece. I often find myself asking "what does this have to do with anything" whenever I read something that is not compelling. Yes, there is such a thing as writing for the sake of writing, but it's just not good.
ReplyDeleteHi Sophie,
ReplyDeleteWow, every week I am impressed by how meta the blog posts in our group has become. I truly think Sean has started a movement that will revolutionize this blogging assignment as we know it.
But all jokes aside, I find your blog quite intriguing. I am looking forward to reading the comments of my classmates as they try to put their own thoughts on your blog.
Sincerely,
Krish
Hi Sophie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the credit, much appreciation!
But yes, at its core, APENG is a creative class. While my blog was quite obviously not a spur of the moment decision done out of blatant desperation, I do like your reference to the hidden meaning behind the poem. I'm not sure if you've seen this meme, but there's a picture of a man kneeling on a beach (represents English teachers), seemingly distraught with finding the nonexistent meaning to a simple Shakespearean sentence. Then again, writing is rarely senseless. Even the laziest of comments have motives behind them, and it's important to really consider every aspect of the written language to try to figure out the person behind it. It's really a forensic art in itself, innit?
Sincerely,
Sean Wang
(P.S. Hi Krish :D)
Hi Sophie,
ReplyDeleteI really have no words to say about this blog. I thought after Sean's blog there would be no others like this, but I was indeed wrong. About your thought of the readers making the connection, That would be so much less work because you do the blog and the readers do the connection. This is truly the power of not only language, but APENG itself.
Sincerely,
Vivan Waghela
Hi Sophie, this new topic seems to have many of us at a loss for words (myself included). I went in a similar direction for my blog, in relation to over analyzing despite the creator's intentions. People will think whatever they want to think about other people's work, and they'll make us AP kids write about it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sophie,
ReplyDeleteI remember there was a meme that said that English teachers would take any single word in a piece of literature and analyze it to shreds. I actually saw more of this in my freshman year than now, but maybe that was because I wasn't looking closely enough at the literature as I do now (hopefully) as an APENG student. Regardless, every time a teacher makes a "crazy" analysis, it makes total sense to me and I wonder how I did not notice it earlier.
Hi Sophie,
ReplyDeleteI agree that sometimes we look for meanings that aren't there. One of the best examples of this would be Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." While people often think the poem is about the paths of life, it was actually originally written by Robert Frost to mock his friend for his time-consuming deliberation on which path to take when taking a walk. This does not make the meanings untrue but represents meaning derived from something made without the intention of showcasing that interpretation. I leave off with a phrase for you to analyze: seklap fewkoj fwjeoij!
Sincerely,
Raymond Yu
Hello Sophie,
ReplyDeletePersonally I am very against being duped and goaded into writing a connection for you. So instead I will use this comment as a show of my own power and talk about something completely unrelated to power as well. When you talked about how when some crazed people, in your case APENG students, are forced to, they can overanalyze virtually nothing, I was strongly reminded of fan theories. So many times I've come across a fan theory so pristine and so cool that it seems as if the author had planned it all out. And if I was in the position of the author, I would totally just tell people, "yep, I thought that one out." That was just a funny little connection I made and I hope you enjoyed the lack of connection to power.
Hey Sophie!
ReplyDeleteI find it so strange that a lot of people are struggling to write about power when I found it really effortless. I think it shows how subjective these prompts can be. I do like how you thought about the creative freedom APENG gives us and how that translates into some of our more pointless blogs. It shows that as creative writers we can make something of nothing. This class has given us these really cool skill which will continue to be applicable throughout our lives.