Part 1: There were a lot of ideas in Chapter Eight “Ci
Vediamo” that struck me as important, but my favorite was on page 76. “The 1944
Italy I remembered brown and gray and lifeless.” This kind of took me by
surprise because when I think of Italy I think of a bright, happy city filled
with lots of people. “The 1963 Italy was filled with sparkling fountains, shiny
little cars that honked and darted through well-kept streets, energetic young
men and beautiful, well-dressed young women, huge neon signs that said CIT and
COMPARI and CINZANO in bright blue or red or green.” When I hear Italy, this is
what I think of. I think this is what a lot of Americans think of when they
hear Italy, but to Hugo it meant war, but he also fell in love with it. “I hate
to admit it, but that was the Italy I wanted to find. I fell in love with a sad
land, and I wanted it sad one more time.” I really liked how he wanted to go
back to the place he visited his first time and he wanted it to be the exact
same way as when he had first visited.
The idea that struck me as most valuable in Chapter 9, "How Poets Make A Living". On page 101, "in some ways the university is a far more real world than business." Hugo is dealing with people at the University who are passionate about poetry and respect him for his poetry. In business, people don't care that Hugo is a poet and some of them hate him for it. "When teaching well I'm making love to a room of people." People care about his passion for poetry and I think that's great.
Part 2: I’ve learned quite a lot from my first two
workshops. At first, I was a little nervous to share my poem because I didn’t know
what people would think and I personally don’t think I’m the best at writing
poems. It felt great when people said good things about my poem, but I also
really liked it when people told me what I needed to work on. I also found it
very helpful because it has helped me become a better writer and also gives me
some perspective on what other people thought. I personally found it very
difficult to criticize other people’s poems because I’m new at writing poems
and haven’t had much experience with it. I really liked everyone’s poems in my
class. I thought they were all very creative and it was hard to criticize it
and find something that needed work. I felt like we all learned something new
about one another. I really found the workshops beneficial and helpful.
I'm pretty sure that Hugo said no one cared when he wrote poetry in a business environment and that a few University staff members hated him for poetry.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I also picked out the same quote you did from chapter 8. I agree 100% and I thought it was interesting that he had chosen those words because like you said, I think of Italy as happy and bright. Have you ever thought about visiting Italy? I think it would be a fun place to visit. I also agree with what you said about the workshop. I was also afraid of what our classmates might say about my writing ability. I think that it was overall very beneficial and it wasn't too bad once we started.
ReplyDeleteI thought Hugo's stance on the war was interesting. As a poet, he admits that he loves terrible things like poverty. It definitely makes for a good poem, but I find it peculiar that he would want others to suffer for his poems. I'm sure the memories of such horrible things is enough to write a poem on it. Come on Hugo, have a heart.
ReplyDeleteI like how he reflects parts of his life with us in this book. I thought that the line you mentioned about Italy was very eye opening. It makes you think about history. We are used to Italy as being a place that we would want to visit never a spot for gray or sadness. I think that all writers need advice sometimes. We all need to hear the good and bad to help us grow.
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