Robert Creeley and Ted Berrigan- Confessional Poem & Johanna Drucker and the Plague of Technology

Please read and become familiar with “Poetry Foundation Selections (5 Poems)” by Robert Creeley and “Wrong Train”, “Red Shift” and “10 Things I Do Everyday” by Ted Berrigan at the Electronic Poetry Center (www.epc.buffalo.edu). Each of the poets writes in a manner that is often called “confessional” in that their art directly addresses their everyday lives/feelings/intellect, etc. Creeley and Berrigan do not hide behind their art, but relish the human experience, be it happy, sad or somewhere in between. They tell their readers exactly what they are feeling/thinking at any given moment in their lives. Please write a 250-300 word page that addresses how each poet contemplates the human experience; of being a human being in the age of the postmodern experience. Do the poets delight in existence? Do they complain about and/or despise humanity? Do they celebrate their lives and ask us to join in the fun? Is there a common theme or insight into life that the three poets share? You may choose to compare how each uses imagery, or how common everyday experience is used to make written art by Creeley and Berrigan. You might think of how they each approach death, anger, technology, or any number of common elements in our lives. Each of these men want their readers to fully understand the depth of human emotion/intellect that fills them. I would suggest making a few common connections between their poems and writing your post using those connections as a primary theme. (PAGE 2) Johanna Drucker displays a negative view of postmodern, technology-based American society in her poems “Toxic Democracy” and “Sanction Status”, which can be found within the sequence “11 Works from VisCults” under her name at the Electronic Poetry Center (www.epc.buffalo.edu). Using one or both of those poems, please specifically address how Drucker explains herself as a poet who is struggling to find humanity in the 21st century world of mechanized, industrial language. You might address what you believe her attitude is toward interpersonal communication in the age of technology, or why she seems to use sarcasm so often when addressing the present moment in western culture. Your essay should be about 600 words in length and should specifically cite at least one or more moments/quotes from Drucker’s writing as a way of making your analysis that is specific to her work. No outside research is necessary or allowed for this assignment. It’s meant to be a good, old-fashioned analysis by you (the student) of a poet (Johanna Drucker).