While others might say that they know how to express the deep emotion they feel through writing, I know something that they do not. Expression through writing is a funny thing- so very few people in every generation are truly gifted with it- it cannot be taught or learned, it simply is something one is born with. Or maybe its given by God, or the fates, those crazy mythological ladies with the string, who knows? The point is that in his poetry, Langston Hughes can make you feel things by just reading some lines about a black man singing the blues. He makes you realize just how much whites looked down their noses at blacks through saying things like, " With his ebony hands on each ivory key he made that poor piano moan..." Expression lives in many other types besides literary expression of course; there is musical, verbal, humorous, and behavioral. Everybody has at least one method of conveying emotion that they are truly gifted in. While some of these are more natural, like behavioral and verbal, the most powerful (in my opinion) is musical expression. Music can make you feel happy or sad or excited or calm all from some notes and some lyrics. The man in Weary Blues made his piano "moan," if there was ever a man who could make an instrument moan, its Jimi Hendrix. The things that man did to a guitar were unreal. He can make any sound emanate from his guitar, including the national anthem, all of it. He would use his guitar to purge his emotion, playing for hours every day. This fresh start given to him by the guitar is similar to how Jeannette Walls had fire in her life to signal a fresh start. Every time something in her life caught fire, she rebuilt and recovered. This may seem crazy, however, Jeanette used it to her advantage; she was able to see the significance of fire in her life and used it to be ready to rebuild. She expressed herself in her rebuilding. So next time you gaze into the night sky and stare at the wonder of outer space, think about the ways that you best express yourself; then use those ways to share your emotions with others. After all, if we can't communicate and share our ideas, what is the point of existing?
I really like how you mentioned talent as a means to express and dispel emotion. It also makes me sympathize with those how do not have a similar escape mechanism similar to Jeanette. The fire represents her life in many ways but did not make her life any easier.
I like your exploration of "expression", since everyone has different ways of expressing themselves. Also, great question at the end!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you still managed to find a way to express yourself with the puzzle words we had to include rather than just analyze the piece.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you mentioned talent as a means to express and dispel emotion. It also makes me sympathize with those how do not have a similar escape mechanism similar to Jeanette. The fire represents her life in many ways but did not make her life any easier.
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