AGENDA:
Video: Thomas and Beulah
READ: Post comment on the blog
https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2017/01/04/reading-rita-doves-thomas-and-beulah/
WRITING:
Work on your POETRY CYCLE (see previous post for assignment)
Work on your Scholastic contest entries
REMINDER: Coffeehouse--next Wed. 11/20 7 pm Extra credit for attendance and reading
Thomas and Beulah is a collection of poetry and memoir, and I found it fitting that is was included in the author's "The Joyful Partnership of Poetry and Memoir" class. However, the author/teacher's fears that she wouldn't be able to teach it, being white, seemed to dominate the entire article as it progressed. I understand the worry, but it seems fruitless, it's the actual text and the message that matters, as she realizes. The author really enjoyed "Daystar," but I can't relate to it. The last poem in Thomas section was really powerful to me as the line, "Oh, the writing on the water" was said. That was the specific poem that I enjoyed, to add to it.
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ReplyDeleteOut of the whole reading the main part I liked was where it said "...it showed how sometimes the moments that change us most aren’t the ones that make the news". That's so true . The important things aren't being talked about only the negative. People focus on things that isn't important. Something big that happened in your life no one would ever know about you may feel like its important, but the news doesn't and they'll never broadcast it. Because you think its important you think it should be talked about, but it isn't. I enjoyed the talk because it was about Rita dove, but really about her grandparents experiences in the Great Migration.
ReplyDeleteThe article was informative on the fact that the collection of poetry "Thomas and Beulah" is somewhat difficult for those who aren't of color to relate to. Yet, in the article the teacher explains how she perceived that the poem "Daystar" was a poem that everyone could relate to. I thought it was intriguing how interested the teacher was into the characters and the story's about them. She explains how Thomas and Beulah are universal, and also adds emphasis on the lives of the characters. I found this article interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe article gave me a lot of information but sort of difficult so I had to read it a few times.But i like how it was bringing things that people don't really talk about to light. and while reading I kind of started to think about my own life. but I do agree that the white community would have a hard time making a connection with some of the things mentioned in Thomas and Beullah.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article "READING TOGETHER: RITA DOVE’S ‘THOMAS AND BEULAH’" I found that the book goes beyond African American reliability, but is link between the ups and downs of life. The article elaborates on details of Thomas and Beulah's life separate and together as a family. I think that the poems can and should be taught to anyone willing to listen as they share human experience with a sprinkle first person perspective on how it was to be African American in the 20th century and adds further to my understanding of the readings.
ReplyDeleteI liked how the author of the article centered her understanding of "Thomas and Beulah" around the poem "Daystar". The author, a white woman, was curious if she could relate the book enough to teach it.She was very interested in the book and Daystar and even included it in the article. The ideas of Thomas and Beulah, although being about an African american couple who experience cross burning and lynch mobs, are ideas that other types of people can identify with.
ReplyDeleteI think that the collection "Thomas and Beulah" is multi-dimensional and therefore everyone can relate to a little piece of it. The author of the article touches on the fact that it is hard for people without color to relate to some certain poems like "Daystar" and how they might have felt. This attitude towards poems written by people who are different than you are is very close minded. She is not even empathizing with the characters and experiences in the poem which is part of the severe division problem our country is facing. Being white, I can't relate to the experiences directly, but I can recognize and understand the emotions behind them.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that she says she had a harder time understanding or connecting to these poems because she is white. I have found that, while perhaps these poems will mean something a little different to me, I still can understand and empathize. This ability to connect, despite cultural differences, is one of the cool things about poetry, not one of the obstacles we have to face while reading it. It creates empathy. So, I guess I would disagree with the author of this article.
ReplyDeleteThe article shows a new perspective on the poem and the audience of the poem. I think more teachers, should read Thomas and Beulah with their classes. The authors states she questioned if she didn't really understand the poems was because she was white. Teachers who taught her didn't explore African American literature enough to understand the poems. I agree with her for the most part and my favorite point she said was when she said "One reason I chose the collection was because it showed how sometimes the moments that change us most aren’t the ones that make the news...". That's a justifiable reason and a good one. And I agree very much with that.
ReplyDeletewhen I was reading this article she said lots of things that seemed hard to understand she also said things about connecting to poems because of the color of her skin poems could mean lots of things for many people not just by the skin or race so I would not agree with the author
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the author, who happens to be white, had a difficult time understanding what was happening in Thomas and Beulah was somewhat interesting; it never occurred to me that this story could go beyond the reliability and understanding of a black audience. By her honing in on her understanding of the story through "Daystar", this shows that Thomas and Beulah was significant to her to a certain degree. Most people wouldn't go out their way to understand something without a purpose or if it didn't hold a meaning to them.
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