Ode To Music Autobiography

Sabrina Benaim’s spoken word piece “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” is emotionally overwhelming. Crammed with many impactful metaphors, the poem captures feelings of darkness and loneliness that accompany mental illness. Her hysterical tone barely allows time for breath, stressing to the audience the panic that comes with being trapped inside your own mind. The piece is performed in front of a live audience in Oakland (CA), as part of the 2014 National Poetry Slam semi-finals. The purpose of this essay is to justify why and how the piece “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” is both creative and communication. It shall also address the various strengths and weaknesses the spoken word piece has.

Depression placed a dark brooding shadow over my mind. I was weighed down, oppressed by the burden of having to carry on with life. In my mind, there was a crushing sense of hopelessness that I have never felt before. The only therapy I found was taking that beautiful, freshly sharpened razor to my left arm. A sigh of relief departed me as I watched the bright red blood drip from my vein. The only burden I had was going to school and hiding my war scars. Each day, the darkness spread through me like cancer. My body withering away, I needed an escape route from this crucial disease. This all continued until the day I saw a light and the darkness began to fade

There are 14.8 million American adults between the ages of 15 to 44 who experience depression in some point and time throughout their life(“Depression”). Although depression is a word that is commonly misused 14.8 million people have experienced some form of depression, weather It may be major depression or mild depression. Often more than not, individuals confuse the days of unhappiness and the lack of desire to function with the rest of the world with major depression. When analyzing the poem Marks by Linda Pastan and the poem Myth by Natasha Tretheway I notice key features of a depressed individual. Pastan and Tretheway portray each of their characters as a depressed individual; because they focus so keenly on their unhappiness with their lives, and even suicide. Many people will argue that poetry and writing does not help with the effects of depression, but I disagree and I will explain why and how each author may be battling with their own form of depression as well as how writing these poems has empowered them and also given them the ability to handle depression.

The failed diagnosis led to the narrator’s baby being nurtured by a nursemaid. As a result of her inability to care for her own child, the narrator descended into emotional chaos as would be expected of any mother. Another case of the narrator’s emotional deterioration results from her being “deprived of the freedom to write openly, which she believes would be therapeutic,” (Werlock2). Without writing, the narrator looks to her room for guidance. She develops an emotional attachment for the yellow wallpaper as it “both intrigues and repels her; it becomes the medium on which she symbolically inscribes her ‘text.’” As the story progresses, “she detects a subpattern in the wallpaper that crystallizes into the image of an imprisoned woman attempting to escape.” Eventually, as her emotional distraught increases, “the narrator's identity merges with that of the entrapped woman, and together they frantically tear the paper from the walls.” The narrator’s postpartum depression and inability to write openly led her into an emotional insanity in which she became vulnerable and developed an obsession for the yellow wallpaper.

Everyday people endure the intense pain that occupies the entirety of their lives. Everyday people have pieces of them broken off by the egregious events that take place. Being broken isn’t just having a sprained ankle, it involves the deterioration of a individuals spirit and wellbeing. A personal response detailing the distinctive connection the author has to the state of being broken is entrenched within the portfolio. Also included is a poem that shows the desperation of death by a soul so broken by a society they feel truly differentiated by the rest of the population. Amanda Todd’s viral video of a young teen tormented by peers and a cyber blackmailer, Deborah Sheeds’ take on a conflicting look into the world of glamour, and a remarkable

One of the most powerful and efficient feelings in the world is empathy. With it, humans have the ability to love, care, and communicate. Each author, poet, and artist enlightens and shares with their readers a piece of knowledge that allows them to reflect on their lives in a way similar to how the former once did. Their words are a guidance when the lost are in the shadows, an inspiration when their minds overflowed with ideas, and the confidante when they're in need of a friend. Using their humanizing quotations, I was able to seek in myself answers I wouldn't have discovered without a nudge from each source's experience. In parallel moments, there were feelings of captivity, perplexity, and instability; and with a lack of progression, there was no room to think or grow.

When I entered the band hall for the first time over six years ago, I instantly fell in love. I had heard so much about band from my older brother, and I wanted follow in his footsteps. Originally, I had three choices for what instrument I could play, flute, clarinet, and oboe, which was a decision that would determine what I would stick with for the next 7 years. I knew I couldn’t play clarinet because I wanted to choose a different path than my brother, and I turned down oboe because it was one of the more advanced instruments. So with flute as my default, I began on my musical journey that would last all throughout high school. Right off the bat, I was an extremely determined player, I practiced and practiced sometimes even more than I did

I’ve heard that depressed people make the best poets. This is a pretty good example. Lloyd Brown constant use of complex vocabulary and sentence structure, paired with his use of imagery and personification in many of the ideas and supporting details he presents, makes this paper seem more like a free-verse poem rather than an essay. Every idea he introduces is either an elaboration or an extension of an idea previously mentioned, which is good when writing an essay. The voice is a little too difficult for me to understand exactly what Brown intended to say, but I’m sure that readers with more experience with complex literature than me would enjoy this thoroughly.

mornings. Elvis was someone me and my dad would listen to in the car going to his work. Waylon Jennings is one of my favorite old county singers, I even have a record player to listen to his albums that enjoy very much. Most 21 year old people do not buy a record players these days but this to me makes me different from everyone else. Music effects me at work by making memories with the children at the daycare. I can teach the children songs with funny dance moves to them while they also teach the children repetition and to mimic what I am doing. Singing along to the fun and silly words. One of my other favorites is Italian music. This type of music I grew up on, listening to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra being able to repeat every word and

In my adolescence, I covered up my emotions with jokes and filled the voids of life with worldly things. It was hard to trust, impossible to trust. The struggle for inner peace was a raging battle that dragged along throughout high school. My feeling of emptiness and sorrow was filled with things I’m ashamed to say I’ve done. I was a ship in the middle of the sea with no captain. My life was meaningless and had no value. I joked about the things that hurt me and put up a wall around my feelings and never let anyone in.

Relate to self and audience: I love story. Matter of facts, I would love to get to know each of you and listen to your personal stories. Especially, I enjoy listening to struggles-related stories. Every day, each of us walks to class and acts “normal”, though we might carry something deep inside. Something that is too dark which we cannot let others know. From time to time, we keep carrying that wound. It hurts us every now and then, but we say nothing.

These hospital white walls followed me everywhere, being a symbol of traumatic angst and perpetual depression. I strived to succeed in school, but I was blocked by the pressures of staying alert for MRI scan results and doctor evaluations. I tried to hide these walls deep inside of me because I didn’t want to be another sad story. This affected my school grades as I would sit in each class I didn’t want to accept the black and white formality of grades. Since I didn’t have control over the fluctuating circumstances of my family’s illnesses I didn’t want to

Every person on this earth has a past that shapes them and makes them into a unique individual. I am a 19-year-old student who has a life that may seem to have little flaws from the view of an outsider, but in all honesty been a journey of difficult ups and downs. I have found that many of the readings we are required to do in university will not personally touch us or make us reflect deeply on our own lives. This certainly was not the cas e when I read the personal essay titled Ghosts and Voices: Writing from Obsession by Sarah Cisneros’, because I found that I connected on a deeply personal level to three principal aspects of this piece of writing. First of all, I was also ostracised as a younger child, but in a school setting not at home. In those difficult years when I felt like I had no one, I escaped into the worlds created in books and through trying to write my own stories. Secondly, like Cisneros’, I found myself deeply connecting with some of the books I was reading and in them found the girl that I wanted to become. Lastly, this entire piece was how Cisneros’ discovered her voice as a writer. She found that the best way was to write what you know best, basically using your own experiences to draw your readers/audience in, which is also something I am well versed in not only as a writer but also a performing musician. I truly connected with this piece by Cisneros and was able to find many key parallels between our personal lives that really struck a chord with me.

Through writing down four chapters about myself in a memoir, I realized several truths about my inner thoughts and emotions. The assignment required us to set our personal feelings and past experiences into writing for another set of eyes to scour through. This had become a lot more than a simple assignment; it had become a wrecking ball. Throughout the years, I had built a wall around myself- a wall that kept all true emotions, feelings, concerns, thoughts, and memories in and kept all strangers, acquaintances, friends, and even family out. I now had to compromise the safety of my walls and step out into the unknown. However, I was to

Time flew by, and soon the loud ding-ding of the class bell was ringing and the hallways filled with students from every classroom in the building. Squeezing out of my row and maneuvering my way to the door, I met up with my friend Megan, who stands waiting for me. The two of us, packed against the rest of our lethargic classmates, proceeded into the hall and found our place in the prattling herd of human cattle. Turning to Megan, I asked, “What are you going to write your anthology about?” “I think I’m going to write about my family; one poem per person,” she responded. “What about you?” Her question elicited a laugh and a shrug from me. “I have no clue. I’m just going to hope that it comes to me before the first poem is due,” came my riposte paired with a reckless grin. “Jess, you do know that the first poem is due tomorrow, right?” Megan raised an eyebrow at me, a mildly concerned