Journal 6- Jake Ritzert

Journal 6- Jake Ritzert
Part One: The poem Contact by Robbie Gamble caught my attention the most because of the humor and tone the poet uses.
1.) The first thing I found interesting was the the overall structure of the poem was wacky. The stanza line length are as follows: 5, 3, 2, 1 and contains no rhyme and close to no poetic devices that I am familiar with, but still reads like a poem.
2.) The one thing I feel that gives the poem as poetic feel is how Robbie Gamble uses 2 lists within the stanzas to establish some kind of structure. The first  2 stanzas contain these lists and I think it puts the reader into a state of rhythm from some sort of repetition that the lists give off. I think it is a very creative way to make the poem have more meaning.
3.) I thought that it was very ironic that the overall theme of the poem was that contact with items creates potential outcomes or emotions throughout your life. The author's last name Gamble is ironic because the person in the poem rubs the head of a man that is happy even though he has been shot 7 times before. I think that he is rubbing the man's head for luck and gambling involves lots of luck so the last name and the events in the poem correlate.

Part Two;
I believe that my criticism has improved the most, but this also is impacting and helping my writing. I feel like I am able to recognize and detect imperfections in rhyme or rhythm better when reading poetry. I think that I can detect awkward lines and writing because my style of writing usually contains a rhyme scheme. This has lead me to be able to pick up on poetry that lacks rhythm. I also feel like I have become more confident when addressing people's work and have a valued opinion when trying to criticize other poetry. However, I feel like all of the criticism the workshops have provided for my own work has helped my poems immensely. Workshops have allowed for me to identify some of the flaws in my writing. I think my writing is improving the most in establishing a more equal syllable pattern in each line and in being okay with trying new styles and poetic devices even if they don't always work best.
I feel like I am finally starting to break free of my own established style, which has allowed me to venture out of my comfort zone and try to find new and better styles that can improve my work.
I never thought poetry would become something that allows me to express myself in such an honest and thoughtful way. I now have a new view and appreciation for poetry that I never believed possible.