Fluorescence

     The poems in the book Fluorescence by Jennifer Dick were hard for me to comprehend like most other poems. The poems in this book are separated into sections and it seems like some of the poems in the section go together and I begin to think that there is a link between them all, then other poems I have no idea how they would connect. An example of this would be the poem In the Garden on page 43. I can see how the poem connects to the next couple of poems, but when I get to the poem Sighted on page 47 I begin to be question if they all go together. I feel like there has to be some sort of connection because they are in the same section. I just don't know what it is.
     One thing that I do like about this book of poems is how the structure can set the mood. The book does a good job at using spacing to set a flow when you are reading and almost put you in a mind set. My favorite example of this is section two that starts on page 15. The first half of the poem is spaced out and seems to have no structure. I believe this is because the author wants you to feel frantic. The second part however is in more of a paragraph form. This is to show a more calm sense. The person is not freaking out, but instead kinda just taking things as they come. Some of the poems also have titles where others to not. I don't know why she choose to do this, but it has to have some sort of meaning.
    My favorite poem/poems from this book would have to be the ones in section one starting on page nine. I want to go into the medical field so these ones caught my eye because they talk about the anatomy of a body while telling a story. It kinda shows her journey through what I got was medical school. Once we talked about this poem in class it made even more sense to me and I began to enjoy it even more. I think Jennifer Dick is a beautiful writer and I found myself actually starting to enjoy reading some of her poems.

Poetry

To everyone poetry can be different. Some people really love reading and writing poetry, where others like me are not to fond of it. My biggest struggle with poetry is I sometimes find it hard to understand or hard to follow and find the whole meaning. I usually like things to be presented in a very straight manner and most poetry is not. One thing I have learned from this class so far though is if I look at poetry line by line I can find beauty in it and actually start to enjoy it.

One of the poems I found my self really enjoying was Shakespeare's sonnet 118.  I like the form of his sonnets with his rhyme scheme. I feel like it makes the poem have a good flow to it when reading it. This poem itself was not also hard for me to understand which was another reason I like it. I believe this poem is about him feeling like love is a sickness. You cant control being in love and there is no cure for it. It just sneaks up on you and kinda happens. My favorite line from this sonnet is, "But thence I learn, and find the lesson true, Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you". I just really feel like anyone who has been in love before relate and find beauty in this sonnet.

Another poem I enjoyed was Emily Dickson's poem that was labeled 377. This poem didn't have a rhyme scheme but instead did something I liked with the first word of every line. The first set of lines all start with the word Under, the second set switches between the words Further and Were, and the third set uses the word Over.  I hadn't seen that in a poem before and I really liked how it made the poem feel. I also enjoyed how this poem made you think the whole poem who she was creating distance between and she waits till the very end revealing it with the line, "Between Ourselves and the Dead!'.

The last poem I found myself enjoying was And What Do You Get by Heather McHugh. Although I do not completely understand the whole meaning of the poem I enjoy how the poem does make you think. It makes you take words and remove letters to form new words to see what you get. I thought this was different then any other poem I have read and I like how it actually gets you to interact with the poem instead of simply just reading it.

Introduction

     Hi, my name is Amber Ivan. I'm twenty one years old. This is my first year at Eastern Michigan University. Before Eastern I studied for almost two years at Washtenaw Community College. While at WCC I planned on going into the nursing program, but when I took my CNA course I found out that wasn't for me. My current major at Eastern is health care administration. At the moment though I am currently undecided if I want to purse this path or venture down a different one.
     Along with going to school I work part time as a receptionist at a hair salon. If I have learned one thing from this job it is that I will never want to do hair.  In terms of what I like to do for fun it's pretty much like any other twenty one year old girl. I like to go out with my friends on the weekends. I also like to go to the movies, I love doing anything outdoors when it's nice out, and I really love to read a good book.
     Writing is not one of my strong points. I believe that I can write pretty good essays, but writing is not something I enjoy to do. Creative writing is something I struggle at though. I'm not good at opening my mind and being able to write things such as poems. I guess I believe I'm scared of taking the risk and people not liking what I write. I hope this class can help me become a more confident writer and actually help me enjoy writing instead of dreading it.