Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 220 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Poem Porn
In the poem "Porn," Dorothea Lasky captivates the reader by providing a beyond personal experience. The narrator uses porn as an escape which seems to confuse her even. Porn is described as horrific but also a distraction from her disastrous love life. The title and the scene referred to as Divorce Party was shocking since its seems to be such an improper reference. However, Lasky is able to use an uncommon reference and connect it to the idea of failed love encounters. This is a genius idea because most people watch porn and talking about it freely makes people uncomfortable. Like feelings of love, people stray away from the topic and prefer not go into detail about it. While the narrator says directly "I watch porn" and "...I'll never be in love." Both revelations that most will never confess. The second stanza is one of the most interesting because it can be interpreted various ways, the reader may question, "What love or sexual encounters has the narrator had with her ex-boyfriend, half brother, and boss?" The reader can draw references of peculiar relationships, harassment, or rape. The poem provides honesty and also leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. These qualities make for good writing.
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I agree. This poem was a good one. I liked how the author compares her love life to porn. She used very good comparisons to her love life. She expressed anger in the second stanza, it's very strong. This poem still has me guessing at what it's really about, overall I found it pretty interesting.
ReplyDeletethe poem is basically talking about freedom but then it turns it around and asks does the reader have freedom since the author has the readers captive in reading the poem. she explains that she isn't really free because she watches porn and she doesn't have a love life and she's never going to have like if she is upset because she feels she can connect with someone like watching porn. I'm confused does the reader like watching porn ? cause in the beginning she expresses herself as if she didn't but she had no choose because her love life in nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Natalya comment on this poem I agree with her. Most people who watch porn are embarrassed or ashamed of it, and are not comfortable talking about it openingly, in contrast to this poem. Like Natalya said divorce party seems to be a reference to the narrator'so love life, maybe she had a bad relationship that ended in a divorce. The second stanza tells me that maybe the narrator had dealt rape because she describes that the man in the scene reminds her of monsters that darkened her life such as her half brother, boss or ex boyfriend. Most people would be uncomfortable or ashamed to say that they watch hours of porn because they will never be in love but the narrator is embracing this, yet still seems angry that she can't find love. This poem was very interesting to read because the narrator was able to take something (porn) that not everyone is open about, and make many references from it about her personal life.
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