Abstract

Hossain discusses how eco-poetics is displayed in the two poems: “A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay and “A Passive Voice” by Laura Da’. These poems aren’t exclusive to themes of nature; they allude to historical events and political scrutiny. Hossain explores the poets’ intentions and makes a connection to her own heritage.

Informal Piece: The Dystopian We Live In

The first poem we read in our first week of class left the biggest impression on me. It’s one of the poems we had read that directly ties to society’s flaws, which affects many of us but in different forms. The title of the poem is “A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay. The hero of this story is Eric Garner, a man who doesn’t live in the fictional world but doesn’t live in our world anymore either. Garner was killed by suffocation at the hands of the police in 2014. Gay told his story, that he worked as an employee for a recreation center. One task these employees have is to plant trees. Trees give warmth and shelter to animals outside. They don’t take our food away from us because they make their own. They take needless carbon dioxide and give oxygen “for us to breathe” (line 15). Garner had supported our source of life by planting these trees. The poem describes him to be a martyr; his contributions to society couldn’t change his fate or protect him from police brutality. I think Gay wanted to share his story not just to make us remember his name, but to bring to light that many black lives were failed to be protected, especially by the law enforcers who had the job to do so. It’s systematic racism and perhaps, our country still hasn’t improved from the time of his death. Right now is the time this poem connects with me the most. The same people who have continued to reign with power are committing and allowing more atrocities external to the states.

The poem “Passive Voice” by Laura Da’ has a similar trope of realism and injustice. The speaker is a sixth-grade teacher who is against the use of passive voice in their writings. They allude to the Native American village and its history of colonialism and violence from Western imperialists. Nature is used as evidence that their story existed and the land belongs to them. The marks on the tree they left behind are still present. I think they are insinuating that being passive and acting with a lack of assertiveness will take away what belongs to you, or you’re more prone to it happening. As I said earlier on, this speaks to me the most right now in the present when imperialist governments only care for land and resources they can get access to and steal, no matter how many people are in the way. But other than recent times (or rather, when we are finally starting to be aware), my country, Bangladesh, 50 years ago had fought for freedom also. My family was lucky and didn’t live in the war zones. As the poem said, “[w]here most were women and children”, the men and young boys had formed militias to fight against the oppression because we didn’t have a military of our own. My granddad had also done business in Pakistan so my mother and her family had lived there for some short time, her birthplace being Pakistan. But Bangladesh has always been our home, even if I don’t remember it. 

Abstract

This is Hossain’s first writing assignment for the class: an informal piece on her first impressions and initial understanding of eco-poetics. She reminisces about her previous English classes, the parts she enjoyed and the parts she felt dissatisfaction with. She hopes to find a structure in these FIQWS classes that’s different from the curriculums set by College Board and the state department.

Informal Piece: I Hate College Board

The interpretations of the issues we have in our environment that correlate to mankind and our values are what define the concept of ecopoetics. It’s a literary type of art that enables the reader to understand and sympathize with the speaker’s reaction to the ecological issue. The poet rejects or disapproves of an event they observed. The themes of nature and humankind aren’t mutually exclusive. We’re not necessarily expected to view nature as some sort of spiritual entity or a divine beauty. It’s more about identifying the issue and the speaker’s perspective, understanding it, and acknowledging the flaws we have in our society. I think that’s why ecopoetics is something cool because it’s not centered around a theme like stereotypical poetry, we get to learn about the subject of the poem and analyze it in a way that connects to our present-day world. We can all relate to it, one way or another. 

I still don’t have a clear understanding of the subject as this is my first time hearing about it but I like the concept of acknowledging societal flaws and rejecting them through poetry. I always empathize with news stories I see or read about hindrances to ecological matters. In the second grade, my teacher – Ms. Torres – planted trees outside the school building with the class. I still remember this day as something that impacted my point of view. Although I was just seven years old, I wanted to protect the Earth and preserve the qualities of the natural world. 

In my AP Literature class last year, we spent some time dissecting poems and the literary devices that the poet uses to convey a universal message. I still remember how on the AP exam, I finished both my essays and left the first one completely blank. The first literature piece was just nine lines, and I couldn’t understand it. Poetry is something I see as group work, building on the ideas we all have since the writer’s way of introducing the theme can be vague and it’s so much more interesting to hear different perspectives on why the writer uses certain language and diction. Rather than naming the boring literary devices as “imagery”, “point of view”, or “symbolism” like the robotic expectations from CollegeBoard, I want to talk about the cool parts of poetry where we accept or reject the ideas presented to us. The collaborative aspect where we share ideas and perspectives, is the fun part of poetry. 

I’m still not sure how the class is structured but I’d imagine it can help me become a more fluid writer. I also want to be more knowledgeable about the topics present, things that seem like background knowledge since the environment is something we interact with every day but don’t know about. Although I have slandered the constant talk of literary devices, I know every single piece of literature uses these and if we identify them, we could utilize them in our writing and it can benefit us in our development as young writers.