Write to me and I'll write back.
The best way to learn English is to speak and write in English. Since I can speak with you only three hours a week, I figure you could learn faster if you also saw me on the Web more often, so that you could write whatever you want--about yourself, your homework, your family, your friends, or your bf/gf. I want to see if you'd dare.
This takes the place of those dreary, desultory consultation hours, where I'm forced to wait for no one, or you drop by at the exact moment I'm not around or went out to pee, for nothing, it turns out; all you wanted was to ask if I was around! Good grief.
So type away, tell me whatever you want to say, but do be prepared to be checked, okay?
7 comments:
That's okay, Suzette, they prefered showing the public their work. In fact, I'll be asking Claudia to post her critique of Heart of Darkness, since it's very good. Not to say that I fully agree with it. :)
As for you--you should have made your commentary longer. I just got your email on "Heart of Darkness".
You're all free to comment on my poems too, by the way.
Happy New Year to one and all!
hi ma'am. richmon here. I just wrote a poem and i thought maybe you could criticize it for me. thanks!
To Where Sorrow Dare Not Follow
A new dawn breaks upon the horizon,
The sun's rays glimmer as fine as nylon,
A flock of birs soon festoons the skies,
Tis' as if they can hear my silent cries.
Cries of woe that I haevily encumber,
Disturbing grief that I try not remember,
Yet still animosity and pain do not subside,
Memories of thou in my mind bide.
I reminisce the times when we used to share,
One mind that thought as if to no compare,
One soul that envigorated every limpful despair,
And one heart that beat like gusts of air.
The sun now sets upon yonder meadows,
A beautiful spectacle from this cold, dusty window,
Be patient my love for I soon sure follow,
Thou in that place where sorrow dare not follow.
I will be open to any remark. Again, thanks ma'am!
Richmon! So you write poems too!
You know, it's good to exercise your English by writing poems that rhyme. But why don't you try poems that don't? The reason is simple. Nowadays, the only ones who use rhyme in poems are preachers and evangelists. Not that I have anything against preachers and evangelists, since I learn a lot about the Lord from them. But rhyme is rather outmoded in our modern times.
The problem with rhyme is that you often have to convolute the English language in order to achieve it, thereby straining the modern reader's understanding of your poem.
Try rhythm rather than rhyme. Rhythm is much more encompassing. You can go to Em Loreto's blog to see what I mean by rhythm.
Also, when you write a poem, try to model your thought around a central image, rather than a central idea. You have, of course, already an idea of what you want to write. The point of writing the poem is that you want to convey this idea in terms of images. But for the idea to make an imprint on the reader's mind, you must translate it into images--and the more focused the images, the greater their imprint on the reader's mind.
And then remember the last but certainly not the least important element of poetry, which is tension. Poetry is not merely descriptive; you write because of an internal contradiction, a contradiction which may or may not be resolved within the confines of the poem. You don't write a poem to describe the loss of a love; you write a poem because the loss of that love has brought out a new contradiction within you, whatever that contradiction may be.
But we'll take up more of these when we go to poetry, so I should shut my mouth--or rather, shut down my computer.
See you Tuesday, Richmon!
thanks for the reaction ma'am!
That's funny; classes are over, Gabrielle. Where do you go to school? I must be pretty special; you signed up for a blogger account just for me! I do hope you pursue blogging now. You can email me at miladaguilar@yahoo.com for whatever purpose your interview is--and be sure you turn the tape on! :)
Gabrielle, I already gave you my private email address, so I expect you to use it. You didn't think I'd answer you here, did you?
What school did you say you were from?
Gabrielle, I didn't receive anything! Otherwise I would have answered long ago. Give me your private email address here, so I can answer your questions, and also ask you some.
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