You haven't been around academia much in the last 20 years or so, have you? That work would definitely garner an "A." I read the first few pages of Michelle Obama's Princeton senior thesis, and if that's the level of writing it takes to get a degree from Princeton, then most of my never-say-remedial composition students at a Los Angeles community college were Ivy League-worthy.
Wow, maybe before it is all said and done Obama will win a second nobel prize. I don't know if that has ever been done for. He is certainly as deserving of the literature prize for this work of poetry as he was for the peace prize.
Well, in context, this is really mediocre, which I mean in the best way. Bloom compares his second poem to Lawrence, but I think it is attempting to catch the rhythms of William Carlos Williams, too. Given that Obama was 19, this is all very impressive -- most 19-year olds are hardly that thoughtful. That said, I agree with Bloom that Obama was never going to be a poet. But if this is meant somehow to embarrass him, it is impossible to see how, unless it is just to sneer at teens who like poetry.
Man, I hate that I have to defend this dude, but when you read the whole thing (I majored in English lit, had to do it!), the passage in question is actually attributed to the writer's grandfather, "Pop." So in essence, the young narrator is getting an earful from Pop, between shots of Seagrams "neat," about how soft he is and that he's had it easy. Ever had a parent or grandparent tell you they walked 20 miles to school, uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow? That's the scene. The narrator is almost rolling his eyes at his subject, imagining him as "a spot in my brain," small as a "watermelon seed," until the end when the loud, uncouth Pop demands a hug and both end up laughing.
Now, has O had it easy? We can speculate based on what little we know of his history that he has, but adolescents and young adults would surely argue the point against their elders.
The piece does seem to present a mixed image of Pop. Brings to mind a certain major speech in which O's beloved grandmother finds herself taking up space under a bus. :0)
Well, we have a hint as to one of his grades as an undergraduate. Not an A.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou haven't been around academia much in the last 20 years or so, have you? That work would definitely garner an "A." I read the first few pages of Michelle Obama's Princeton senior thesis, and if that's the level of writing it takes to get a degree from Princeton, then most of my never-say-remedial composition students at a Los Angeles community college were Ivy League-worthy.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAh yes, one of the forgotten verses from that classic number performed by Kermit the Frog...
Great, now I'm going to have that stuck in my head all day.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOur first green president?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEEEEWWWWWIE. Awful even by the incredibly low standard of the adolescent self pitying genre. Are you sure Bill Ayers didn't write that?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseStupid and trite. This is about as relevant as the little ditties George Bush etched onto lavatory stalls at Yale.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, the poem is stupid and trite.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePetty and juvenile. That's the description of your second sentence.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOne of the young men was joking around.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow, maybe before it is all said and done Obama will win a second nobel prize. I don't know if that has ever been done for. He is certainly as deserving of the literature prize for this work of poetry as he was for the peace prize.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusecorrection: done before
it was the auto spell checker's fault, if you have a mac you might know what I'm talking about.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe following are multiple Nobel winners:
International Red Cross - Peace 1917, 1944, 1973
UN High Commission on Refugees - Peace 1954, 1981
John Bardeen - Physics 1956, 1972
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMarie Curies - Physics 1903, Chemistry 1911
Linus Pauling - Chemistry 1954, Peace 1962
Fred Sanger - Chemistry 1958, 1980
AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, in context, this is really mediocre, which I mean in the best way. Bloom compares his second poem to Lawrence, but I think it is attempting to catch the rhythms of William Carlos Williams, too. Given that Obama was 19, this is all very impressive -- most 19-year olds are hardly that thoughtful. That said, I agree with Bloom that Obama was never going to be a poet. But if this is meant somehow to embarrass him, it is impossible to see how, unless it is just to sneer at teens who like poetry.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn the absence of both rhyme and meter, how does one identify poetry? Indentation? Excessive banality?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnything that you write while on drugs is by definition poetry.
captcha: off the record
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseScience is still pondering how that much narcissism can be compacted so densely into one four-line stanza.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIs he saying "Things have been easy for me" because of affirmative action?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn the poem, Obama's grandfather is asking the question, not Obama himself.
Luckily for me, no one can see or care about the nonsense I wrote at 19. At least I hope it's not on the web somewhere.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMan, I hate that I have to defend this dude, but when you read the whole thing (I majored in English lit, had to do it!), the passage in question is actually attributed to the writer's grandfather, "Pop." So in essence, the young narrator is getting an earful from Pop, between shots of Seagrams "neat," about how soft he is and that he's had it easy. Ever had a parent or grandparent tell you they walked 20 miles to school, uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow? That's the scene. The narrator is almost rolling his eyes at his subject, imagining him as "a spot in my brain," small as a "watermelon seed," until the end when the loud, uncouth Pop demands a hug and both end up laughing.
Now, has O had it easy? We can speculate based on what little we know of his history that he has, but adolescents and young adults would surely argue the point against their elders.
The piece does seem to present a mixed image of Pop. Brings to mind a certain major speech in which O's beloved grandmother finds herself taking up space under a bus. :0)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse