Analysis Of Power And Time By Mary Oliver

Immediately after we are born, we start picking up sounds; the sound of our mother’s voice, the music playing in the elevator on the way to the car, and the happy cheers from a small child seeing their new sibling for the first time. We are always listening–picking up on conversations not meant for our ears, eavesdropping on the gossip of the adult world, and finding the meaning in the portentous silence. From all these auditory stimuli, we piece together the world around us to better understand what is happening to us, around us, and the secret happenings that were not for us to know. Great writers are the ones who listen and say nothing–who take it all in and save their classified information for a day when all the right words flow and form one epic story of the wondrous world we live in.

In Power and Social Change, Richard Healy and Sandra Hinson explore the term power in social change between the world and people. The topic about power was interesting because there are two distinct perspective of power. The most common view of power is power-over. The less common view is power-within. In organizing for social justice, it is important to realize that using power-within will lead to successful achievement to instigate compliance of demands listed by the minorities. Furthermore, there are three criteria of power implement in organizing for social justice, which are direct political involvement, organizational infrastructure, and ideology with worldview. Each criterion plays an important role to the success of establishing a

The article ‘What Writing Is,’ narrated by Stephen King, endorses his personal perspective on writing and the vast passion it holds in his heart and mind. By comparing writing to telepathy, King emphasizes that writing is the epitome of a euphoric sense in terms of freedom and jubilance. Throughout this excerpt, King implies how writing is a part of life that should be centralized and embraced. Writing about telepathy, King proposes that we (the readers) are “downstream on the time-line.” We are in this present moment and as he composes from a juncture in the past, he projects images into our minds through the words he records. The fact that he brings telepathy in as an analogy to the significance of writing conveys his message that we may be reading anywhere or anytime; however, we can connect to each other’s minds despite the far distance.

Similar to Mary Pipher’s article on the power writing has on our world, in the article “Healing Through

writing as it is explained by ‘’Mary Pipher” in “Writing to change the world” is that

Writing is a powerful tool for communication and connection. As an extension and expression of the mind, writing is as much about the mental processes of the author as it is about the final marks laid to paper. As we write, we hold in mind our own thoughts on the work, anticipate the reader’s thoughts, and think both in concrete and abstract ways in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whether an academic research paper, a novel, or text message to friends, writing seeks to engage, persuade, or impress concepts upon an audience. Like language and other art forms in general, the practice of writing is ever-evolving and is subject to cultural and contextual influence, expectations, and conventions. Each writer holds a theory

In her article “I Stand Here Writing”, Nancy Sommers examines the writing process and formulating ideas for writing in a more empirical manner. She states that before she found her creative zeal/ niche her writing was often undisciplined, unmethodical, and sloppy. Sommers reveals that in college she was less known for her writing and more for her long hair and misapplication of phrases. She found her true inspiration while writing her Senior Thesis on Emerson’s “Eloquence.” Throughout the entire essay, Sommers provides the reader with advice about writing. A key point that she mentions is, “If I could teach my students about writing it would be to see themselves as sources, as places from which ideas originate, to see themselves as Emerson’s transparent eyeball, all that they have read and experienced-the-dictionaries of their lives circulating through them.”

Whether while writing an essay or a birthday card, we have all struggled to find the proper words to illustrate our thoughts or feelings from time to time. Upholding the occupation of a writer would multiply that struggle tenfold. An occupation that depends on interesting, fluid pieces of writing every submission requires an adequate number of attempts and patience. Lamott expresses that writers “all often feel like we are pulling teeth” (Lamott), which proves the difficulty of writing is still there no matter the level of writer behind the work. Lamott also emphasizes that a writer “has to start somewhere” and shares her friend’s ideas in her writing to simply “get something - anything - down on paper” (Lamott). Lamott, and the other writers mentioned in this piece, carry incredible track records, while still admitting that perfection did not come initially, or even easily. Thus, proving that the Shitty First Draft has a place in any writer’s notebook or Word document. Lamott’s admission to struggling to properly begin a piece of writing surprised me, given of her success. I could not imagine a woman of her accomplishments stressing out over a food review, yet I felt relieved that someone of Lamott’s title relates to an amateur writer like myself. I often put off my writing as well when I cannot articulate a proper introduction. I do every other possible homework, or shy away from homework in general because the

The standard impression most people have of writers is that they can sit down and just let a perfect composition flow from their heads onto paper. In her writing career, Lamott has observed how “writing is not rapturous. In

Writing can be frustrating when a writer like Gail Godwin knows her capability without expressing her true potential on the first draft. Godwin’s watcher replies to Godwin’s writing in regard to her writing that reads “fail”. Ironically the person that failed the writer was the writer herself. A writer needs these emotions to create new and possibly better ideas by branching

Could you imagine travelling the world as a powerful writer, befriending monumental people? This is the life of Pico Iyers. Iyers questions the intent of technology and whether or not this generation can depict the difference between what is a want and what is essential. How does Pico Iyers write so powerfully? Iyers does not act alone he quotes people of authority, releases his personal experiences, and paints a picture that brings the whole piece together.

Writing may be an enthralling experience for one and a clever way to decompress for another. In general, however, writing has different purposes for a variety of people. “Why I Write,” written in the late 20th century by Terry Tempest Williams, describes various reasons for writing narrated from a female’s perspective. The short essay begins in the middle of the night with a woman engulfed in her own thoughts. She abruptly goes forth by reciting the multiple reasons why she continues to write in her life. Through a variety of rhetorical devices such as repetition, imagery, analogies, and symbolism, Terry Tempest Williams produces an elegant piece of writing that offers the audience insight into the narrator’s life and forces the audience to have empathy for the narrator with the situation she is incurring.

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood utilizes various elements of fiction to develop and question the concept of power and control in the patriarchal society of Gilead. Offred, the main Handmaid, is the instrument of which Atwood delivers her message about corruption and power. Offred’s vague diction, unreliable characterization, and erratic tone illustrate the distress of this transitional society (Abcarian 1403-1404). In the beginning of Chapter 23, the role of memory in the novel expands, and the readers test the narrator’s creditability. Offred concludes that all of her memories are “reconstructions”, and that she will continue this practice even if she escapes Gilead. She continues to relate fluid memories to forgiveness and forgiveness to an unnaturally complacent and obedient population (Atwood 134-135). Identifying a powerful relationship between memories, forgiveness, and power, Offred suggests that the main source of Gilead’s totalitarian power is the regime’s ability to manipulate its citizens’ will to forgive past transgressions.

The speaker then leaves the voices behind, ignoring the “melancholy.” This is tragic but realistic as life is filled with problems, making it futile to try and help everyone who asks. The second stanza marks the beginning of the speaker’s journey. The beginning line, “it was already late enough,” means the speaker wishes that they had decided to lead their desired life sooner. “The road full of fallen branches and stones” signify hardships one faces while on the path to personal growth, proving that life presents challenges along the way that must be overcome. Line 21 marks a tonal shift in the poem in which the speaker gradually finds their “voice” or individuality after years of following the crowd. Imagery like “the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds” once again ties in nature and connects stars to hope. Oliver uses an anaphora for the last four lines, to emphasize that the only life one can save is their own. Her use of the word “you” instead of “I” interestingly connects the speaker to the reader, spreading the message to live authentically and for oneself. Oliver’s transcendentalist beliefs are hard to miss in this poem, as she herself is known to be a private person

According to the ethnographic approach defined by Papen and Tusting (2006, p.312-359), creativity refers the production of something ‘new’ and ‘original’. In written language, creativeness should not be perceived as a decontextualised, individual activity or as being entirely shaped by context. It should be seen as being dependent on and emergent from the creative literacy practices through which texts are constructed because they are shaped by people, who in pursuit of their own