Poetry Can Induce Creative Capacity In Older Adults

As they get older, many people start to experience a sense of demoralization and little self-worth. Nikki Giovanni reflects her dismay in the poem “Quilts” by comparing herself to an old piece of cloth as she transitions from hopeless to hopeful throughout her acceptance of aging.

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.

Some may argue that writing is not the only way to help others, there is no denying that there are other possibilities like group therapy but writing is still an avenue that can be taken towards the betterment of an individual. For example, Judy Willis, author of “Writing and the Brain: Neuroscience Shows the Pathways to Learning.” Stated,

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.

successful aging has been the topic of a number of scholarly articles and books and has recently been tied to participatory arts and humanities programming through agencies that provide services to the older adult demographic.

When I first thought about taking poetry writing the first thing that crossed my mind was when I took an intro poetry course at LaGuardia Community College. While the course was intriguing it was quite difficult because we had to break down every poem to discover the meaning. That meant paraphrasing the words into your own words without changing the meaning but also trying to understand exactly what is being said. I had always believed that this is an abstract idea; this course did not allow that. So when it was time to take poetry writing I avoided it until I could not anymore. However, as the course began I was pleasantly surprised at what I was able to learn these past seven weeks. One of the things that I was excited to discover was that

From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Collins served as U.S. Laureate, where his work lead to his involvement in the 180 project, creating an avenue for all students to enjoy a poem a day, whether it be read verbally or to themselves, one would be provided for each school day to help bridge the gap in the generations with poetry (Collins, poetryfoundation.org). He clearly wanted to help give readers everywhere a new perspective on poetry, especially the younger crowd that was school-age. He writes, “Poems can inspire

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

Poetry is much more than just a piece of literature: it is a form of art. Similarly, it can save the world the same way art can, since the magic of poetry consists of many benefits. One of the major advantages of poetry is that one’s emotions and vulnerability is expressed in a beautiful way. All it takes is interest and to not have interest in poetry is

These poems over the last few weeks have really helped me destress and look over my life. Collins’s poem about the meaning and understanding of poetry itself. He wants students to enjoy poems when he says, “I want them to waterski, across the surface of a poem, waving at the author's name on the shore.” Poetry is part of life, that we might as well enjoy and get something out of it. Now my thought of poetry have evolved into something that bring freeing of unending joy. With finishing up this unit and have been contemplating taking a poem class in college next year, just for fun and cultural experience. Who knows this unit might have shaped the rest of my

It is impossible to produce a piece of writing without creativity and imagination. As the foundation of writing, these aspects of writing creativity enhance the learning experience of oneself and others. Creativity and imagination also serves a therapeutic function by enabling individuals to escape whatever harsh realities they may be forced to endure. In addition, extending far beyond the creation of literature or fiction, these unique aspects of writing also enable one to establish and strengthen their own expressions, empathies, and criticisms of themselves and the world around

As a means to express myself, I turn to spoken word, which is defined as performance poetry. I have been passionate about creative writing and performing ever since I was in elementary school, but I had not realized that I could put the two together until my freshman year of high school when I discovered the work of Shane Koyczan. From there, my interest developed, but I did not audition for Walnut High School’s Spoken Word Team until my junior year. My involvement with the team motivated me to write more as well as share my work with others during events such as Open Mic Night. Poetry is an art form that I comfortably use as an emotional outlet, and I write poems about what is currently affecting me and topics I want to explore, hoping to

There are very few who even care for poetry; only 6.7% of American adults offered their time and commitment to it last year. Poetry doesn’t matter anymore because it is too indirect, depressing, and confusing for our current generation.

There are many times when song lyrics draw inspiration from poems. In many situations song writers get ideas for music through poems seeing as most are written on life experiences or events. It is evident that the poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham” written by Dudley Randall and the song “Strength, Courage, and Wisdom” written by India Arie have numerous similarities. These two works are about people who exemplify strength, courage, and wisdom. Even though both of these works were created in different time periods, they still convey the same meaning.

In light of these considerations, creativity may play an important role for dementia patients in terms of rehabilitation strategies. Considering that dementia first affects semantic memory and frontal functions, one may speculate that training programs on divergent thinking, needed for generating creative solutions in the social setting and navigating the complexities of social interactions, may encourage a more active cognitive and behavioral style, and this could be reflected in improved cognitive symptoms. More interestingly, creative therapies may help dementia patient to copy their symptoms and get benefits by expressing their emotions, with an improvement of interaction skills. Thus, creativity therapy can not only activate and stimulate