Skip to main content

Can Poetry Help Resolve Social Issues?

Today in our present-day society, there is no doubt that many social issues are unsettled. While many of these social issues will remain unresolved for a long time, given that everyone has the right to their own, individual opinion,  poetry could possibly help.  I feel as if when we discuss and inspect these social issues we are only viewing the simple, head-on interpretation of what they mean, how they affect society, and so on. However through the use of poetry, authors are able to capture and portray a complexity of the issue that was not being seen before. Poetry invokes empathy, compassion, connections, and just overall helps us to realize the pieces that we missed. With this in mind, I believe that it becomes more clear that maybe many of these social issues do lack these components that could prove to be beneficial. When our society talks about and wishes to resolve such social issues, we want one answer because it seems to be our human nature to wish for simplicity over complexity. However, I personally don't think simplicity can be the answer in situations such as these. With so many voices needed to be heard in such controversial issues, complexity is inevitable. Obviously I am not trying to say that poetry is the magical solution to all our world's social issues. However, maybe it could help us discover more clarity as poetry allows us to connect with one another and open our eyes to a new perspective.

Kanye Shrug GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who is Meursault?

 The Stranger's Meursault, displays a pattern of behavior that is very uncommon in most literary works. While readers are usually able to relate to the main character and sympathize with the emotions that they are feeling, Meursault is the opposite. The way Meursault interacts and feels about certain situations and characters is quite strange, as if he's almost a stranger (hence the title) to the readers throughout the novel. We begin to wonder, is he a sociopath? Where are his emotions? Or why does he act this way? We wonder these questions because of how unfamiliar his character is to its readers. A term to somewhat describe Meursault's perspective and type of behavior would be nihilism. A nihilist is someone that does not believe in anything, has no loyalties, and ultimately believes that they, and society, have no purpose. Wow, that sure sounds like someone I'd love to be around! Meursault's detached personality erupts strange emotional behavior. For example, du...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thank You School for...

 This I have learned... With such an interesting and unpredictable year, I have to admit, to my surprise, that I actually learned the most important life lessons this year. I find that my life and lifestyle is more appreciative and meaningful now because of the lessons that both COVID and online school have taught me. The most important takeaway being to never take anything for granted--even the endless hours of schoolwork or early morning school alarms. One particular thing that I will remember from this year is to always appreciate not only your closest friends but also your "school friends" because if not for school, then those close relationships would have never formed. While I never use to think twice about these concepts, I now will never be able to forget them and they'll always positively linger in the back of my mind.  The big understanding that I will take away from my entire school career as a whole is that school is meant for so much more than just the classe...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's So Great About Poetry?

Poetry- the unit that most students dread to learn about in their English class. But why is poetry so disliked among high school students? A few of these reasons, and that I can attest for personally, are that poetry is seen as old, it can be quite difficult to understand/interpret, and we just fail to see the point of it. However, after interpreting some poems in class, my perspective began to shift (only slightly not significantly though). While I am still not the biggest fan of poetry, I am beginning to see a different side to it.  Yes, poetry is all of the negative things that I stated above (at least in my opinion) but once poetry is understood, the lesson becomes that much clearer and applicable. Understanding and correctly interpreting poetry is not only a beneficial skill to have but it also opens your eyes to a deeper understanding to things that are important in terms of culture, history, and etc. For example, poetry has effectively been used to advocate and teach about i...
Post a Comment
Read more