For this week I would like you all to read the article by following the link below:
"You Call That Poetry?"
The article discusses poet Aram Saroyan's infamous poem, "lighght."
After reading the article, I would like you to post a comment discussing whether or not you think "lighght" is a poem? In your response, consider our conversation this past week in class. Ask yourself what are the criteria for something to be called "a poem?" Why do you think this poem caused so much controversy? Was the uproar the poem caused appropriate?
I personally do not think that this one "word" or combination of letters is a poem. I think a poem is a combination of words, not just a combination of letters. However, I do not think this combination of words needs to make any apparent sense just like how some artwork does not appear to make any sense. I think this caused so much controversy because it changed how society viewed poetry. Some individuals did not agree with the fact that people viewed this combination of letters of poetry, thus, causing an uproar. I think this uproar was uncalled for because the government did not need to get involved over a poetry controversy. Also, poetry is like art, anyone can read and analyze it however he or she chooses.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading the article, I kept changing my mind on whether or not I thought "lighght" is a poem. I understand both sides of the controversy and my appreciation for poetry urges me to disagree with Congress's statements but truthfully, I cannot. The "poem" doesn't strike me as anything of any value nor does it seem that original considering people have tested the boundaries of art in this way since the DaDa movement in the early 1900's. I appreciate Saroyan's argument but ultimately, I don't believe that lighght can be classified as poetry.
ReplyDeleteThe story about "lighght" was very interesting. The fact that people considered it a poem, and such a controversial one, was really intriguing to me. Was it because they thought that kids would begin to spell wrong after this poem was released? As a poem, I don't really see what all of the fuss is about. It is a single word and doesn't really have a meaning. This is what makes me believe that anything these days can be made into a poem. I agree with Alyssa, I don't really think that this word can be classified as poetry.
ReplyDelete-Sydney Gitelis
Based on what we talked about in this class, I think this can be classified as a poem. The fact that it started a controversy helps make it one. Some people say it has meaning and others say it's just a misspelled word. I think Saroyan did this on purpose to get a rise out of people. We said that the author's purpose in writing a poem is to get you to focus on the language, not necessarily find a deeper meaning. That's what happens here. If it wasn't a poem, I don't think an article would be written about it. No one would bother to argue over its possibility as a poem, but instead everyone would know for sure it wasn't one and never mention it.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a very interesting take on poetry. It changes a word on paper into an objct just by reading it. When you look at the lighght it makes me think of bright white "light". It is very unique in the fact that I have never read single word poems and I like the imigaes they can envoke. I also foudn it completey rediculous that the United States Government got so affeneded by the award issued to the author. I think it was funny that it was broken down to price per word basis. At least in that respect he did a great job, I mean I bet every poet wished that he could get that type of money for one word.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I have finished my short story but I lost ur email address. I think it is Steven-Toussaint@gmail.com please let me know if this is incorrect. I will email it to that address and I wll send ellie a copy also. Sorry for the inconvenience
Hey Steve
ReplyDeleteAlso i wrote down your email and have finished my story but every time i send it to you it comes back saying this email doesn't exist. I can bring in a hard copy if you'd like or from class i can email it to everybody?
As far as the poem goes i'm kind of hit or miss. I thought it was very interesting but i particulary didn't like the style of it. I've never really read a lot of poetry, especially like this. I thin k it relies heavily on the interpretation of the reader and really depends on the mood they are in, in order to get a rewarding experience. Not sure if i was not in the right mood or what but it didn't really excite me that much. I think it was clever, but not really my cup of tea.
To me, what makes art "art," is by how hard it was to create it. Like the old saying goes, "If it were easy, everyone would do it." I really wouldn't consider "lighght" to be art because it was so easy to come up with, in fact, I'm sure light has been misspelled this way by accident numerous times; is everyone creating poetry or just grammatical mistakes? Easy is easy, Art is hard. Now when it comes to the controversy, it doesn't surprise me that the government would get involved when it comes to money because that's all they are good for. What does surprise me, however, is that they took it out on the poet and not the people who picked it as a award-winning poem. Anyone should be able to summit anything they want, it is not their fault that people choose to pick it as a winner; the people that picked it and awarded it money should be the ones to blame. Although I don't consider "lighght" to be poetry, I do consider Saroyan to be a genius for getting paid for a seven-letter misspelled word.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, because at the beginning of the article, my thoughts were "How is that a poem? It's one word and misspelled. How old was the kid who wrote it? 22? Wow..." and as I progressed through the article, I realized that that's what makes it a poem: It makes you ask questions. It makes you think. And as a person, we try to find the link to what makes it a poem, and we can't find one. That's why it's a poem.
ReplyDeletePoetry is so subjective. Who are we to say what is or is not poetry? That being said, I do believe it is. Poetry is described as the stylistic use of words and language, and "lighght" is just that. Although many of us may not like it, it is a stylistic presentation of both words and language. To say this is not a poem would be to say that a stick figure is not a drawing or picture.
ReplyDeleteI stand by my opinion of poetry from last week, that it can really be anything you want it to be, so I would agree that this is poetry. Even though it may seem like it doesn't have any meaning, it obviously had some meaning, even if it is doing just this-testing how people view poetry and how to classify it. If poetry plays with language itself, and distorts meanings by putting different words together, than I think this could be viewed as poetic since he is playing with one word and language.
ReplyDeleteAs bad as i want to rip on this guy for calling his terribly misspelled word a poem, I can't. The one thing that i keep thinking when i try to come up with a valid argument is poetic license. This guy and anyone else for that matter have the right to create whatever they want and call it whatever they want, however ignorant or stubborn it is. If he wants to call it a poem, he can but why he gets awards and money for it is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, one misspelled word is not a poem. This word/phrase has no literal meaning to me, other than a play on the spelling of the word "light". Apparently it had some meaning in the context of the events told in this article. However, I think the uproar was exacerbated and blown out of proportion. I could see meaning in phrases like "lighght" or "eyeye" better portrayed in an abstract realm such as art, rather than in literary means.
ReplyDeleteI can see why the reaction to this poem was so strong considering the monetary and literal awards that were given out for one misspelled word. I also think that we don't really have a right to confirm or deny what someone else has created as a valid piece of art. They created it, so it's art to them no matter what it stands for or means. If we started to place such strict boundries on what can be considered art then we are taking away the only real way people can freely express their emotions which is something this country fights and dies for.
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