Anna Dardia 804 Poetry
Reading Response
It's hard to not
take the privileges of living in a good neighborhood for granted. Especially so
when the majority of us never have the chance to see true suffering and
poverty. As Nikki Giovanni said in her poem Photography,
“It’s easy sitting in the sun/to forget that cold exists.” In other words,
it is difficult for us to take a different perspective on the good and the bad
in our world, especially from such a privileged position.
The issue with
living such safe, full lives is that it becomes hard to take a step back and
look at our life from another perspective. For example, Giovanni states that,
“It’s easy when thinking/we have the best/to assume others covet it.” This
insinuates that just because others are not as privileged as we are doesn’t
mean that we have the right to pity them. While it is important to not take our
luck for granted, we should also try to see not only the bad, but also the good
in he lives of others. This is supported in the lines, “both the surf and the
sea have their lovers/and their meaning for love.” Meaning that everyone wants
different things and we should not pity those who are satisfied (with what
seems to us like) less
Another way to
think about our perspective is by looking at the camera metaphor itself.
Giovanni says, “the eye, we are told/is a camera/but film is the heart.” I took
this to mean that while we can view images through our eyes (like through the
lens of a camera) we will be unable to see the beauty of them as well as some
one who has an emotional connection to the images. For example, to somebody
from a more rural area a city may seem ugly and disgusting, but to me (as
somebody who grew up in a city), cities have much more appeal. This is another
example of how we should look at other people’s lives. If we look from another
perspective we may find beauty in something “ugly.”
While it is important
to not take things for granted, readers should still attempt to look at the
world from someone else’s point of view. It is in no way easy to try to see
from an opposite, or different perspective, but we should try to understand
others opinions. It seems to me that by taking a different perspective on the
relative ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ in our lives, we will be more able to become more
flexible in our opinions, and more compassionate as well.
Wow! This is a very though-provoking, interesting, and honest response. I like and agree with all the meanings you took away from the poem, and though your descriptions and incorporation of lines and details from the poem really sharpened your response.
ReplyDeleteReally great response! I wrote about the same poem, and had a similar thesis, so naturally I agree with your focus... But I think you did a better job than me!
ReplyDeleteFantastic response! Comparing the poem to where we live was a great idea! I agree with you, sometimes living in such a well known neighborhood for positive reasons, we tend to forget those not as fortunate are there. Sometimes we have to remember to in ways to "think outside the box" and appreciate how lucky we are to have the things we have that others may not. Overall, you helped me see through another set of eyes when reflecting on this poem. Great job!
ReplyDeletethat's a really interesting interpretation of the poem. it was a great idea to relate the poem to a real world issue. you used great examples and thoroughly explained them. you had a very focused thesis that was detailed enough but not overdone. also nice word choice. overall, great response!
ReplyDelete