Prof. Jessica Penner | OL05 | Fall 2020

Week 12: Style & Voice, Continued

We’re going to spending more time this week considering style and voice. Read the following poems by Yuyutsu Sharma and heidi andrea restrepo rhodes.

After reading both poems, answer the following questions:

  • How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
  • Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!

Answer the questions in the comments section by Wednesday, 11/11.

Hereā€™s the continuing assignment from last week:

If you haven’t done this yet, make sure you take time to do it this week! If you started this last week, keep on looking and writing!

Go to this website. Itā€™s a site that has writing prompts for poetry. Each prompt has a poem. There are several, so survey the prompts and then choose at least four youā€™re attracted to.

  1. Read the prompt and poem carefully. Read the poems first for enjoyment, then examine how each poet ā€œdoes it.ā€ Whatā€™s their style? Formal, conversational, something in between? Whatā€™s their voice? How do they express their unique self?
  2. Next, I want you to match the poetā€™s style and voice with your own words (not copy, of course, but try to follow their word choicesā€“if they use slang, use slang, if they have rhythm or rhyme, use rhythm or rhyme). See if it works. If it does, great, but if it doesnā€™t, donā€™t stress. Look at other poems and prompts.
  3. There isnā€™t a deadline for this assignmentā€“yetā€“but there will be, so start this week, so you have time to write an experiment!

I assume you’re seeing that poetry has many different voices and styles, and that poetry breaks a lot of the rules of grammar and spelling or has its own entire set of rules. This is why I want you to spend a lot of time examining and trying out different types of poetry!

This week is going to be a workshop week. Go to the Assignment page for Week 12 to see what’s due and when!

18 Comments

  1. Jozelyn Santos

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    – Yuyutsu Sharma: I would describe the voice of the poet as annoyed. I say this because the way she described the actions of the person reading the poem was as if the person was in pain just by reading it. By saying the person was a “cranky critic,” I can see that the poet was not enjoying this current moment. In terms of style, I did not notice any rhyming but the details used was able to paint a picture for me without being lengthy.
    – Heidi Andrea : Honestly, this poem was a little confusing for me. However, I would describe the poet’s voice as a tone that is in need for something. I say this because from what I understand the main question is “what is a bell without its heart?” To me without the “heart” it can not ring, therefore losing its purpose. In terms of stanza, I did see some repetition of “say & say” almost giving the bell its own voice.

    • Jozelyn Santos

      Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
      – I enjoyed the poem, “Heart of the Bell” more because I felt challenged. I read the poem about three times to try to understand the concept or the message in between the lines. At first, I thought it was just about a bell meaning useless unless it has the heart, which is the thing inside the clings from both sounds making loud noise. Then I started to noticed that the poet was giving the bell a voice, which made me think of personification. It gave the bell a human organ, giving the action of pacing and the feeling it has when it is being rung. I think it was interesting to see that if the bell doesn’t have the “heart” that what really is its purpose? There really is none, therefore it becomes forgotten.

  2. Angelica Hernandez

    1.How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    From what I read you can tell how different they write, Rhodes is more of a complex writer I only say that because it was harder to understand the overall message. She uses personification in the poem. Her voice feels passionate and strong. Sharma is more of a “calmer” or “casual” writer when it comes to style and voice, that the way I see it. You are able to imagine the setting of the poem and the overall emotion the author is giving. Their writing styles are the opposite, which is interesting.
    2.Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed Sharma’s poem more because I was able to understand it more than Rhodes’s poem. Sharma’s poem is short, comprehensible, and it’s more like a story which also helped me understand. Also, I like how the poem relates to the pandemic because in the poem he says “corona poem”, and how he said that the girl sneezing makes her a cranky critic.

  3. Luzmery

    ā€¢ How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    By the way Sharma concludes the poem saying ā€œsome cranky criticā€ we can tell that he was irritated by the personā€™s little care and slowness when reading the poem he spent the whole morning writing, I could picture him a little bit desperate to hear the personā€™s thoughts about his work. When it comes to Restrepo, it was a bit hard to understand, her word choice made me read the poem more than twice. When she said ā€œwho can know but the bell, its cloven meatā€ I felt she was just trying to say that the bell is the only one that knows what it has really been trough.
    ā€¢ Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed Sharmaā€™s poem more, I understood it right away, was able to picture the whole thing in my head and somehow felt related to him and how we feel towards someone when they are giving us their opinion about something we have put a lot of work into.

  4. malik lee

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    I enjoyed the style of Sharma’s poem being able to picture what’s going on in my head made it understandable.The word choice was a little difficult to get but I read the poem more than once.
    Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed reading Sharma’s poem a little more.I was able to visualize the poem while reading and was able to relate to it a little bit.

  5. Leviza Murtazayeva

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    -The style of the poem by Yuyutsu Sharma is very up straight and forward, it gives away a voice of someone who is not so calm and more exhausted from something going around them. When the author added lines about taking out pages it made me clearly imagine what is going on, The author was very descriptive.
    -Rhodes wrote another poem which was more complicated to read, where a reader needed a few re-reads to understand what is going on. The title reminded me of stress that heart feels and then it rings, that is what the poem made me imagine while reading it, it was really deep and intense poem.

    Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    -Sharma’s poem was my favorite one because of the voice and style that it has brought. It reminded me of a tone that I would use if I was to a write a poem, because it expresses me as a person, a very straight forward person. When Sharma added the final line ” some cranky critic” it made me believe that the person the story was about is just trying to be happy, without anything or anyone going in their way.

  6. Amna Ahmed

    -How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    Sharma’s style was much more tame compared to Andrea’s. Sharm’s poem was calm, almost had a conversational tone. Sharma sounded annoyed or put-off. In the poem, Sharma says, “she looks at it for a second, them almost disinterested”. He’s annoyed that the reader was not interested in his poem. For Andrea, her poem felt much more complex. It felt like i would her poem on a test. The voice of the poem was cold and negative. Often times there would words like, “demise”, “restrained”, and “catastrophe”.

    -Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed Sharma’s poem more than Andrea’s poem. Sharm’s poem was easier to understand. To understand Andrea’s poem I had to dissect the poem and read it more than once to fully understand it.

  7. Parikshit Thapa

    1. How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    Yuyutsu Sharma looks like he is very forward and straight. It looks like he is tired and exhausted from something he is working on. The poem was very descriptive and detailed and it was really fun to read.
    Heidi Andrea’s poem was not as easy as Yuyutsu Sharma’s. It took me some time to understand the poem. The way she chooses the words shows that she is really into writing and she is writing down what she feels and what she has been through.
    2. Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed reading Yuyutsu Sharma’s poem. I like how the poet is so descriptive and uses simple language and is easy to understand. I was able to understand the poem easily and I might have heard about him back when I lived in Nepal.

  8. Angelica Salazar

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    I would describe the voices and their style of both authors to be distinct from each other. While reading the poem by Sharma, the poem had a more casual tone, the structure of his stanzas were simple and easier to comprehend. he was more focused on describing the event of what occurred while the shopkeepers daughter read the poem. In the poem written by Rhodes I thought her poem was more complex by the way she used imagery and the words in her stanzas when describing what the stories of the bells say. I say this because after reading it a few times the way she forms her stanzas make me, as the reader feel like there is an important significance for the bell to have its heart, its not a bell without it.
    Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed reading “#FlattenTheCurve: The Shopkeeperā€™s Daughter”, I liked this poem for the reason that I was able to understand its context better. I thought that although it was short the imagery of the poem allowed me to picture the event. I also liked how Sharma used the action of the girl sneezing, as a form of critique.

  9. Saja Musa

    1. How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?

    Yuyutsu Sharmaā€™s voice in his poem is that of a annoyed individual. From his voice, we can tell that he is bothered by something that is holding his creativity back. He is bothered by the criticism that his piece of work is recieving. My take from his poem is that he had a goal of writing and publishing but corona halted his creativity. The biggest lead to that was when he stated, ā€œtwisting her face eerily…. turning the page with my Corona poemā€. Heidi Rhodesā€™ voice in her poem is a bit complicated to understand. However, after rereading the poem, I realize that her voice is that of a person who is trying to keep pushing forward despite the hardships. The bell she talks about throughout the poem is the individual who has been through so much and is trying to persist. For instance, the bell has gone through wars and floods but it still kept ringing. This came to mind because of the last line when she states ā€œto know the catastrophe to come but nonetheless ring & ringā€.

    2. Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed Rhodesā€™ poem because it was challenging at first but after I reread it and understood itā€™s message, I enjoyed it. The main reason I enjoyed it is because of the message behind it. Every individual has their own interpretation of a piece of literature, however despite the poem starting off negatively, I feel like the ending was hopeful. Despite the challenges this bell went through, it still rung. This is very motivational especially during these difficult times during this pandemic.

  10. Maria Mateo

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet?
    What makes you describe it this way?
    Sharma style was more straight to the point and descriptive , the use of simple words make the readers understand better what he was trying to say in his poem. While Restrepo uses complex words and did not help readers understand the perspective of the poem.
    Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific?
    I did not like any of the poems because Sharman poem was kind of simple and not interesting while Restrepo was very difficult to understand and it took me awhile to get what she was trying to communicate through her writing.

  11. Sarvinoz Erkinova

    Heidi Andrea Restrepo has a very unique style in her poem. It’s catalytic as well as dark. Full of metaphors and full of meaning, it could also be a past experience. “The shopkeeper’s daughter” by Yuyutsy Sharma is rather simple to the eye, his voice and style are pretty understandable and easy to comprehend to the reader. But I enjoyed the heart of the bell more because of how it could be something you would hear in an old folk’s tale or a movie scene where a king asks his poets to sing him a poem. It sounds great. In other words, it’s a poem fit for royalty and very sophisticated in nature.

  12. Dylan

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    Sharma’s voice feels much more laid back and whimsical. He doesn’t use a lot of complex vocabulary, and the poem’s pacing feels similar to a walk in the park. The way he spaces every two lines makes the poem have a rhythmic, calming effect.
    Rhodes feels much heavier. She uses a combination of complex vocabulary and irregular wording and punctuation, which makes the poem feel more purposeful. The use of so many punctuation marks made me take my time when reading. I tried to find an overarching pattern, and could not. She used words that I know but don’t often see or hear, and that made me think harder.
    Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I like Rhodes’ poem more because it challenged me to think. How should this poem be spoken? What tone is she using? I honestly don’t know the answers to either of them. But there’s something about the way she brings words together, like the “devout lick of metal” or “they stilled their blood in the chill of state restraint.” She’s creative, and I love that.

  13. nickay82

    ā€¢ How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    #FlattenTheCurve: The Shopkeeperā€™s Daughter by Yuyutsu Sharma is conversational and casual. Base on the description of the person who was reading the poem, the author’s voice in the poem was agitated and annoyed when he talked about the way the person reading his paper was twisting her face and the fact that she seemed uninteresting in his work.

    In heart of the bell by Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes, the style was more formal, and the writer was clearly passionate about the object (the bell) he was talking about. Andrea’s way of describing what would happen if the bell loses its heart was very deep and intense.

    ā€¢ Which poem do you enjoy more? Why? Be specific!
    I enjoyed Heart of the bell but I like Sharma’s poem more. It was easy to understand. His writing style makes it easy to visualize what was taking place. It was short and to the point and include all the details to make it complete.

  14. Robert Rampersaud

    ā€˜Flatten the Curveā€™ poem by Yuyustsu Sharma, he was disappointed because people was paying attention to his work. He believes the people reading his work was cranky people. The second poem was heart of the bell by Heidi Andrea. This poem was little more confusing to understand what the author was trying to say. From what Iā€™m understanding catastrophe will strike if a bell breaks. Out of these two poems, I like ā€˜Flatten the Curveā€™ because the poem was easier to understand, and the it was straight to the point.

  15. Mohammed Hashim

    How would you describe the style and/or voice of each poet? What makes you describe it this way?
    1. The poem Flatten The Curve by Yuyustsu Sharma included more of modern english and much more regularly used words. It was easily understood by the audience. While “Heart of The Bell” by Heidi Andrea was a little difficult to wrap your head around because of the style and the poem being more formal. I’m describing them this way because of the language and style the authors used to tell their poems.
    2. I enjoyed Sharma’s poem “Flatten The Curve” more because it’s more realistic to me and more latest also easy to understand.

  16. Marina Malak

    Sharmaā€™s poem was descriptive of a person that critiqued his poem. From the poem words we can tell that the authorā€™s voice is irritated and annoyed at the person who is reading his poem ā€œCorona poemā€ as he called it. The style is more of casual tone that does not have rhyming. Rhodesā€™s poem is more complex and formally written. The poetā€™ voice was difficult to understand but I think she is using metaphoric message to reference something else using the ā€œbellā€. The poem did not rhyme but there were repeated phrases. The poet sounded like she was talking about the life or suffering of the bell and how without the heart it cannot ring. I enjoyed reading her poem but I think it is too complex to be understood by itself without any background or ending stanza that make a connection between the bell metaphor and her intention.
    I enjoyed reading the Rhodesā€™s poem even though I did not fully understand what she is describing but it was very artistic and open to different interpretation. For example, I personally think that the bell metaphor can be traced to many stories in many cultures such as Chinese folktales, Christmas bells, and church bells. That is why I like this poem, it gives space for the readerā€™s mind to wonder and research.

  17. Adama Barro

    Yuyustsu Sharma poesy was not fun to read, it is just like an opinion, the style is not captivating, it is just in plain English, hes voice is a disappointment, furious and discussed.
    Sharmaā€™s poem ā€œFlatten The Curveā€ is very attractive and captivating, it makes you wanted to read the entire poem,the voice and style is very poetic.
    I definitely prefer Flatten The Curve.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *