Write a movie review for the video, "Fooling with Words." Comment on what you discovered about poetry, what surprised you in the video, what were its strengths or weakenesses? Would you recommend that this video always be shown in this course?
27 comments:
Anonymous
said...
"Fooling with Words" seemed a little dated but did give an a nice glimpse of some interesting poetry. I enjoyed Mark Dotty's poem called the "New Dog" and could relate to it. It suprised me and helped me discover that poetry, if written a certain way, can relate to life. I think the poetry in it was a strength, however it was outdated and that was a weakness. It should be shown in this course, but maybe we can expand it and write our own poetry and listen to each others, like in the movie.
Although the video "Fooling with Words" is ten years old, I really enjoyed the insight from each author. My favorite author of the entire video in particular was Kurtis Lamkind who sung his poem "Jump Mama." I really enjoyed this poem because I thought that it really was geared toward people of all ages. It also caught my attention because unlike most authors, he sung his poem while playing an instrument which provided background music.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film, "Fooling with Words." I thought it was very interesting to see how different modern poetry is than the poems we have read in text books. There was much variety to the styles of poems presented within the film. Everything from singing, to shouting, to slowly spoken, to emotional, and even through the eyes of an animal. My favorite commentary was given by Jane Hirshfield who stated, "Poetry moves the mind and heart through many realms." It was interesting to see what she had to say about her passion. In addition, I would have to agree with Katie in that my favorite presentation was from Kurtis Lamkin because he made it interesting by playing a guitar-like instrument while preaching a quote in which many can relate. Christian Prusinski
Certainly, the poetry highlighted in the video, "Fooling with Words," is not the type we students are used to. It seemed much more free-form, some more lyrical, others more abstract. I found it interesting that Doty and Herschfield had completely contrasting ideas about poetry -- while Doty contends that poetry is made to be performed for others, Herschfield proclaimed that poetry must be a very private thing. I was quite suprised by the angry, outburst-filled poem by Arimi Baraka (sp?); his use of the podium as percussion added much emphasis to his rough words. The diversity of the poetry itself was a strength; however, I found that some people stretched the limits of what we define as "poetry," doing nothing more than yelling one phrase over and over. I find that to be a weakness, but I am most likely biased as I am one for an orderly, structured formation. I would recommend that a more contemporary be shown in this course; however, it did highlight a broad spectrum of types of poetry and so it reinforces the vast array of lyrical writing. --Alex
"Fooling with Words" opened my eyes to the wide array of poetry expression.Usually poems are viewed as simple,rhythmic, sonnets, but this video revealed that poetry encompases many age groups, many styles, and many topics. Poetry can be loud,quiet,musical, and even from the perspective of a dog. When Mark Doty, the author of "Golden Retrievals", was asked about how his poetry comes about, his response was that he "puts words on paper, and lets them fall where they will". His explaination sheds light on the variety of composition set forth by poets. A Poets piece is fully dependent on their feelings and often the random ramblings of their mind. - Kyrie Ottaviani
I have to agree with Kelsey that the movie "Fooling with Words" is a little outdated but the representation of what poetry is strong and accurate. My favorite poems were the ones written by Amiri Baraki, who referenced his poems to Africa and the slavery of African Americans. He spoke with such passion and concern for black rights and equality. This showed me that the message of poetry is not outdated and has powerful meanings that we can all relate to in our own lives.
Jackie Bell: "Fooling with Words" surprisingly reminded me, rather than helping me discover for the first time, of the raw emotion and thought that often goes into the creation of poetry. While we may not necessarily agree with the emotions and thoughts, we should appreciate the expression through the chosen language. Although the poets and poems represented in the video were of an older generation and therefore more difficult to relate to, having that representation allows one to see the differences in poetry from a variety of different people, taking observation of poetry from both the movie and personal experience. Because of this, the video should continue to be shown, however, I feel that it would be better understood and appreciated if it is preceeded by an introduction to the concept of the film and the objection of the study of poetry in the context of the course in relation to the video.
The film was definitely different than what is normally shown in school, but it was actually pretty interesting to listen to different poets talk about their motives and methods for writing. It was also different to actually watch them read their poetry out loud, but it made the experience more personal. Also, that one guy that was over 90years old was the cutest old guy I've ever seen. - Tanya
Though "Fooling with Words" seemed to show everyone else a whole new perspective on poetry, I was a little disappointed. It's not like I didn't enjoy it or anything, but a poem about dog's doesnt interest me at all. I really like poetry, don't get me wrong, but I didn't enjoy most of what we watched. The only one that caught my attention was the Arimi Baraka who would repeatedly yell out that "we were slaves," and I'm almost positive that the only reason I liked that one was because he was literally screaming at the audience. Though I found it uninteresting, the emotion portrayed in the poems were undeniably strong, showing that the writers really meant what they were saying. -Rachel Ruppert
I thought the movie was very interesting and showed a wide variety of poem styles and forms. My two favorite were Kurtis Lamkind and Mark Doty. Kurtis Lamkind receited his poem "Jump Mama." I really enjoyed this poem because he took a different approach than normal but singing his poem and using background music. It was more enticing to see a new form of poetry. I also enjoyed Mark Doty because although his poems were very unique, he told them with just expressions and truly felt the power of his poems; he also added some comedy. One thing i found very interesting was the fact that most said the most important thing for poetry is its audience and without the audience the voices are not heard. Kelly Kieffer.
I found "Fooling with Words" show the uncoventional side of poetry. I was shocked to see how unregulated and eccentric (to say the LEAST) some of the poets and poems where, like Amri Baraka with his screaming and yelling. I deffinatly showed the more peculiar side of poetry, although i would have much rather seen more structure poetry, me being a Catholic I like structure. Honsetly I would not recomend this video, unless its used to punish prisoners in penitentiaries.
The film, "Fooling with Words" was a very enlightening film. It truly gave me a glimpse of what raw poetry is all about. It taught me that you can honestly write about anything you want, any way that you want. Poetry is about expressing your self. The movie is a little old, but I think it should definitely be shown whenever a teacher is trying to educate their students about the wonders of poetry. I was surprised that there were so many people at the poetry festival. I was also surprised that everyone was so eager to listen to what others had to say. Everyone was there because of their love of poetry and because they wanted to be enlightened. No one seemed bored with what was going on. I personally enjoyed how every poet who read aloud was praised by the audience no matter how absurd their poem might have been. Overall, I think that it was a great film.
"Fooling with Words" was a very informative video on the many different interpretations of poetry. I learned that poetry can be included in singing, acting, and even scripture aside from the normal approach of just speaking. Although the video is rather old, I agree that it should be shown in classes that which to teach about poetry as well as poets, but I also think that the students be able to write their own poetry to share. The strengths of the video was its variation and weakness was the fact that it is outdated.
I agree with Kelsey but to a much higher degree. I think the movie was extremely outdated and quite honestly, because of that it made poetry seem outdated. The fact that the movie did not show any younger people writing poetry gave the impression that it was an old-school hobby, like knitting. I didn't find the movie interesting, and it surprises me how many people said they were interested by it. However, what I have stated doesn't really apply to the poetry itself, more, how it was presented in the movie. As for the poetry, there were a couple of poems I liked, the first one (Jump Mama) as well as the one that the man sang. These showed creativity and involvement in the writing. I think "Golden Retrievals" was a good thought, but poorly executed because it didn't captivate me, even after I was interested. More or less, I really don't think it had a profound effect on me and it is not essential to show to future or other classes. I think having poetry shown and heard throughout the classes is a good thought but it should be a wide variety of the different types of poetry.
I feel that "Fooling with Words" as many others have stated, was a rather dated, however I believe that this encouraged a better understanding of poetry itself. Although I was well aware that these people were from ten years ago, the poetry could have been written yesterday. The age of the film demonstrates that poetry does not get old and sometimes even gets better because it appears more insightful from occurrences which happened later than when it was written. However, I agree with Danielle in that it was not interesting to watch, and i think that it, especially as our first introduction to poetry, could have been presented in a more appealing manner.
The most surprising thing I discovered was that poets feel that their poems are an intimate creation. I was further surprised when they admitted that they find it peculiar that the poems were originally written for themselves and then find themself reading it to others. The weakness of the video was some of the lesser exciting poems, mainly the poets who read without enthusiasm. The strengths of this video were the lively poems such as "Jump Mama". I do recommend this video because it shows the various sides of poetry
"Fooling with Words" opened my eyes more to the culture of poetry. Although it was outdated, it still portrayed the poets in conjuncture with the audience. The close shots of the audience surprised me because the individuals seemed emotional and connected; where as when I looked around the room, I saw no one else even close to enthused. I also found a comment that Jane Hirschfield said during an interview “interesting.” She claimed that if she said the word fence the audience would be the fence for that moment. Honestly, whenever I have read poetry or listened to it I have never transformed into a fence by the mere mention of it. The poet has to at least spend time developing the fence like one poet did the dog during "Golden Retrievals." The strength of the movie would be the cultural aspect where as the age of the production would be the weakness. I think that there may be a better film that portrays poetry in the same way, but until that film is found "Fooling with Words" will suffice.
This video on poetry was hard for me to relate to. It was a little dated and the poets seemed slightly out of touch with reality. I think mainly it might be because im not a real poetic person. I think if i understood poetry i would be able to enjoy this video, but i have a hard time understanding the reasoning for throwing words together in this manner. However i did find the poem about Adam and Eve very intriguing. Lucille Crofton presents this as possibly a satirical creation story? I'm not sure but this one really grabbed my attention. I would recommend this video only to people who can truly appreciate poetry. -Andrew Schwarz
I completely agree with andrew in regards to the fact that this movie should be marketed more towards people who truly enjoy poetry. On the same note, I'm going to be blunt and say I did not enjoy the movie for this reason. I have never really been a fan of poetry except for the poems written by Edgar Allan Poe and the poetic speech in Shakespeare. None of the poets or poetry in this movie peeked my interest whatsoever.
My favorite poem was "Jumping Mama" by Kurtis Lampkin, by far. While the other poems seemed passion-filled, I could not relate to them and had trouble comprehending the deeper meaning behind. The poetry festival itself seemed extremely fun and exciting, with all of the different arenas of poems from songs to Shakespeare-like monologues to short, humerous poems. I am a fan or raw, passionate, deep and provocative poetry. One of my favorite poets, Robert Creeley, exonerates such poems and I wish more poets portrayed in the film related to and composed with his style. However, that being said, the movie overall was decent, a tad old, but still extremely various in its selection of poets and variations of presentation.
I would not recommend this video be shown because it was very monotone and I had a hard time focusing on it. It seemed a little out dated and the poems seemed comepletly non-sensical. My favorite poem was "Jump Mama" but even that I didn't enjoy very much. I think that this video should be geared towards those who are very serious about poetry.
"Fooling With Words" was definitely was too dated and although it may not be true, i do not believe people like that may be in love with poetry but are not as adamant as people in this video. It also showed me how poetry is rightfully read and construed to the audience.
"Fooling with Words" was an interesting mixture of poetry. I agree with Katie, one of my favorite poets was Kurtis Lamkin. I found his animation very entertaining, especially in his poem “Jump Mama.” I enjoyed this poem also because it had dialogue, told a story and had musical accompaniment.
"Fooling with Words" was...interesting to say the least. Some of the poetry shared with us in this movie was very strange, but I feel it served a good purpose; by showing all the different varieties of poetry, I learned poetry can be anything, so long as it means something to the person writing it. The strangeness of this video proved to be a srength and a weakness at the same time. As Jackie said, we need to respect thoughts and writings of others. Who are we to deem their creative expression futile?
Despite the movie being a decade old,I highley reccomend it be shown to future AP Language students. It allows viewers to get insight into the world of poetry, beyond the whole typical "roses are red, violets are blue" shpeel. yes, I said shpeel.
I was only in class for 10 minutes or so, however i did get to see a good amount of variety. This movie was very outdated, however it successfully portrayed numerous types of poetry and how diverse poetry can be.
"fooling with words" was to me a very, unenjoyable experience. I did not enjoy the video at all and it did not seem much like poetry to me. I think that if a more modern video was shown, the students would show more interest in what the poets are trying to say.
"Fooling with Words" seemed a little outdated and hard to follow. I'm not really big on poetry, but the only part that seemingly interested me was Amiri Bakari when he referenced about Africa and the hardship of slavery. Although his screaming antics caught my attention, the other poems did not seem to interest me as much.
27 comments:
"Fooling with Words" seemed a little dated but did give an a nice glimpse of some interesting poetry. I enjoyed Mark Dotty's poem called the "New Dog" and could relate to it. It suprised me and helped me discover that poetry, if written a certain way, can relate to life. I think the poetry in it was a strength, however it was outdated and that was a weakness. It should be shown in this course, but maybe we can expand it and write our own poetry and listen to each others, like in the movie.
Although the video "Fooling with Words" is ten years old, I really enjoyed the insight from each author. My favorite author of the entire video in particular was Kurtis Lamkind who sung his poem "Jump Mama." I really enjoyed this poem because I thought that it really was geared toward people of all ages. It also caught my attention because unlike most authors, he sung his poem while playing an instrument which provided background music.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film, "Fooling with Words." I thought it was very interesting to see how different modern poetry is than the poems we have read in text books. There was much variety to the styles of poems presented within the film. Everything from singing, to shouting, to slowly spoken, to emotional, and even through the eyes of an animal. My favorite commentary was given by Jane Hirshfield who stated, "Poetry moves the mind and heart through many realms." It was interesting to see what she had to say about her passion. In addition, I would have to agree with Katie in that my favorite presentation was from Kurtis Lamkin because he made it interesting by playing a guitar-like instrument while preaching a quote in which many can relate.
Christian Prusinski
Certainly, the poetry highlighted in the video, "Fooling with Words," is not the type we students are used to. It seemed much more free-form, some more lyrical, others more abstract. I found it interesting that Doty and Herschfield had completely contrasting ideas about poetry -- while Doty contends that poetry is made to be performed for others, Herschfield proclaimed that poetry must be a very private thing. I was quite suprised by the angry, outburst-filled poem by Arimi Baraka (sp?); his use of the podium as percussion added much emphasis to his rough words. The diversity of the poetry itself was a strength; however, I found that some people stretched the limits of what we define as "poetry," doing nothing more than yelling one phrase over and over. I find that to be a weakness, but I am most likely biased as I am one for an orderly, structured formation. I would recommend that a more contemporary be shown in this course; however, it did highlight a broad spectrum of types of poetry and so it reinforces the vast array of lyrical writing. --Alex
"Fooling with Words" opened my eyes to the wide array of poetry expression.Usually poems are viewed as simple,rhythmic, sonnets, but this video revealed that poetry encompases many age groups, many styles, and many topics. Poetry can be loud,quiet,musical, and even from the perspective of a dog. When Mark Doty, the author of "Golden Retrievals", was asked about how his poetry comes about, his response was that he "puts words on paper, and lets them fall where they will". His explaination sheds light on the variety of composition set forth by poets. A Poets piece is fully dependent on their feelings and often the random ramblings of their mind.
- Kyrie Ottaviani
I have to agree with Kelsey that the movie "Fooling with Words" is a little outdated but the representation of what poetry is strong and accurate. My favorite poems were the ones written by Amiri Baraki, who referenced his poems to Africa and the slavery of African Americans. He spoke with such passion and concern for black rights and equality. This showed me that the message of poetry is not outdated and has powerful meanings that we can all relate to in our own lives.
Jackie Bell:
"Fooling with Words" surprisingly reminded me, rather than helping me discover for the first time, of the raw emotion and thought that often goes into the creation of poetry. While we may not necessarily agree with the emotions and thoughts, we should appreciate the expression through the chosen language. Although the poets and poems represented in the video were of an older generation and therefore more difficult to relate to, having that representation allows one to see the differences in poetry from a variety of different people, taking observation of poetry from both the movie and personal experience. Because of this, the video should continue to be shown, however, I feel that it would be better understood and appreciated if it is preceeded by an introduction to the concept of the film and the objection of the study of poetry in the context of the course in relation to the video.
The film was definitely different than what is normally shown in school, but it was actually pretty interesting to listen to different poets talk about their motives and methods for writing. It was also different to actually watch them read their poetry out loud, but it made the experience more personal. Also, that one guy that was over 90years old was the cutest old guy I've ever seen.
- Tanya
Though "Fooling with Words" seemed to show everyone else a whole new perspective on poetry, I was a little disappointed. It's not like I didn't enjoy it or anything, but a poem about dog's doesnt interest me at all. I really like poetry, don't get me wrong, but I didn't enjoy most of what we watched. The only one that caught my attention was the Arimi Baraka who would repeatedly yell out that "we were slaves," and I'm almost positive that the only reason I liked that one was because he was literally screaming at the audience. Though I found it uninteresting, the emotion portrayed in the poems were undeniably strong, showing that the writers really meant what they were saying.
-Rachel Ruppert
I thought the movie was very interesting and showed a wide variety of poem styles and forms. My two favorite were Kurtis Lamkind and Mark Doty. Kurtis Lamkind receited his poem "Jump Mama." I really enjoyed this poem because he took a different approach than normal but singing his poem and using background music. It was more enticing to see a new form of poetry. I also enjoyed Mark Doty because although his poems were very unique, he told them with just expressions and truly felt the power of his poems; he also added some comedy. One thing i found very interesting was the fact that most said the most important thing for poetry is its audience and without the audience the voices are not heard.
Kelly Kieffer.
I found "Fooling with Words" show the uncoventional side of poetry. I was shocked to see how unregulated and eccentric (to say the LEAST) some of the poets and poems where, like Amri Baraka with his screaming and yelling. I deffinatly showed the more peculiar side of poetry, although i would have much rather seen more structure poetry, me being a Catholic I like structure. Honsetly I would not recomend this video, unless its used to punish prisoners in penitentiaries.
The film, "Fooling with Words" was a very enlightening film. It truly gave me a glimpse of what raw poetry is all about. It taught me that you can honestly write about anything you want, any way that you want. Poetry is about expressing your self. The movie is a little old, but I think it should definitely be shown whenever a teacher is trying to educate their students about the wonders of poetry. I was surprised that there were so many people at the poetry festival. I was also surprised that everyone was so eager to listen to what others had to say. Everyone was there because of their love of poetry and because they wanted to be enlightened. No one seemed bored with what was going on. I personally enjoyed how every poet who read aloud was praised by the audience no matter how absurd their poem might have been. Overall, I think that it was a great film.
"Fooling with Words" was a very informative video on the many different interpretations of poetry. I learned that poetry can be included in singing, acting, and even scripture aside from the normal approach of just speaking. Although the video is rather old, I agree that it should be shown in classes that which to teach about poetry as well as poets, but I also think that the students be able to write their own poetry to share. The strengths of the video was its variation and weakness was the fact that it is outdated.
I agree with Kelsey but to a much higher degree. I think the movie was extremely outdated and quite honestly, because of that it made poetry seem outdated. The fact that the movie did not show any younger people writing poetry gave the impression that it was an old-school hobby, like knitting. I didn't find the movie interesting, and it surprises me how many people said they were interested by it. However, what I have stated doesn't really apply to the poetry itself, more, how it was presented in the movie.
As for the poetry, there were a couple of poems I liked, the first one (Jump Mama) as well as the one that the man sang. These showed creativity and involvement in the writing. I think "Golden Retrievals" was a good thought, but poorly executed because it didn't captivate me, even after I was interested.
More or less, I really don't think it had a profound effect on me and it is not essential to show to future or other classes. I think having poetry shown and heard throughout the classes is a good thought but it should be a wide variety of the different types of poetry.
I feel that "Fooling with Words" as many others have stated, was a rather dated, however I believe that this encouraged a better understanding of poetry itself. Although I was well aware that these people were from ten years ago, the poetry could have been written yesterday. The age of the film demonstrates that poetry does not get old and sometimes even gets better because it appears more insightful from occurrences which happened later than when it was written. However, I agree with Danielle in that it was not interesting to watch, and i think that it, especially as our first introduction to poetry, could have been presented in a more appealing manner.
The most surprising thing I discovered was that poets feel that their poems are an intimate creation. I was further surprised when they admitted that they find it peculiar that the poems were originally written for themselves and then find themself reading it to others. The weakness of the video was some of the lesser exciting poems, mainly the poets who read without enthusiasm. The strengths of this video were the lively poems such as "Jump Mama". I do recommend this video because it shows the various sides of poetry
"Fooling with Words" opened my eyes more to the culture of poetry. Although it was outdated, it still portrayed the poets in conjuncture with the audience. The close shots of the audience surprised me because the individuals seemed emotional and connected; where as when I looked around the room, I saw no one else even close to enthused. I also found a comment that Jane Hirschfield said during an interview “interesting.” She claimed that if she said the word fence the audience would be the fence for that moment. Honestly, whenever I have read poetry or listened to it I have never transformed into a fence by the mere mention of it. The poet has to at least spend time developing the fence like one poet did the dog during "Golden Retrievals." The strength of the movie would be the cultural aspect where as the age of the production would be the weakness. I think that there may be a better film that portrays poetry in the same way, but until that film is found "Fooling with Words" will suffice.
This video on poetry was hard for me to relate to. It was a little dated and the poets seemed slightly out of touch with reality. I think mainly it might be because im not a real poetic person. I think if i understood poetry i would be able to enjoy this video, but i have a hard time understanding the reasoning for throwing words together in this manner. However i did find the poem about Adam and Eve very intriguing. Lucille Crofton presents this as possibly a satirical creation story? I'm not sure but this one really grabbed my attention. I would recommend this video only to people who can truly appreciate poetry.
-Andrew Schwarz
I completely agree with andrew in regards to the fact that this movie should be marketed more towards people who truly enjoy poetry. On the same note, I'm going to be blunt and say I did not enjoy the movie for this reason. I have never really been a fan of poetry except for the poems written by Edgar Allan Poe and the poetic speech in Shakespeare. None of the poets or poetry in this movie peeked my interest whatsoever.
My favorite poem was "Jumping Mama" by Kurtis Lampkin, by far. While the other poems seemed passion-filled, I could not relate to them and had trouble comprehending the deeper meaning behind. The poetry festival itself seemed extremely fun and exciting, with all of the different arenas of poems from songs to Shakespeare-like monologues to short, humerous poems. I am a fan or raw, passionate, deep and provocative poetry. One of my favorite poets, Robert Creeley, exonerates such poems and I wish more poets portrayed in the film related to and composed with his style. However, that being said, the movie overall was decent, a tad old, but still extremely various in its selection of poets and variations of presentation.
I would not recommend this video be shown because it was very monotone and I had a hard time focusing on it. It seemed a little out dated and the poems seemed comepletly non-sensical. My favorite poem was "Jump Mama" but even that I didn't enjoy very much. I think that this video should be geared towards those who are very serious about poetry.
"Fooling With Words" was definitely was too dated and although it may not be true, i do not believe people like that may be in love with poetry but are not as adamant as people in this video. It also showed me how poetry is rightfully read and construed to the audience.
"Fooling with Words" was an interesting mixture of poetry. I agree with Katie, one of my favorite poets was Kurtis Lamkin. I found his animation very entertaining, especially in his poem “Jump Mama.” I enjoyed this poem also because it had dialogue, told a story and had musical accompaniment.
"Fooling with Words" was...interesting to say the least. Some of the poetry shared with us in this movie was very strange, but I feel it served a good purpose; by showing all the different varieties of poetry, I learned poetry can be anything, so long as it means something to the person writing it. The strangeness of this video proved to be a srength and a weakness at the same time. As Jackie said, we need to respect thoughts and writings of others. Who are we to deem their creative expression futile?
Despite the movie being a decade old,I highley reccomend it be shown to future AP Language students. It allows viewers to get insight into the world of poetry, beyond the whole typical "roses are red, violets are blue" shpeel. yes, I said shpeel.
I was only in class for 10 minutes or so, however i did get to see a good amount of variety. This movie was very outdated, however it successfully portrayed numerous types of poetry and how diverse poetry can be.
"fooling with words" was to me a very, unenjoyable experience. I did not enjoy the video at all and it did not seem much like poetry to me. I think that if a more modern video was shown, the students would show more interest in what the poets are trying to say.
"Fooling with Words" seemed a little outdated and hard to follow. I'm not really big on poetry, but the only part that seemingly interested me was Amiri Bakari when he referenced about Africa and the hardship of slavery. Although his screaming antics caught my attention, the other poems did not seem to interest me as much.
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