an essay was the genre i initially envisioned for this experiment. i wasn’t quite sure what kind: academic, persuasive, expository? i hadn’t yet decided, but all i knew was because my original piece was a poem, i wanted to step out of the realm of the story of this rose, and research and view poetry as a genre in general.

 

what you see above is the outline, or backbone of this essay. i would begin by exploring what the key legitimizing factors are for poetry, modern or classic, and then analyze my own poem to ultimately decide if it really is a “legit” poem.

 

for this sample excerpt, i decided to flesh out the bad poetry part, “Idea Two,” (not shown here because of how embarrassingly bad it is). here, i wrote about one example of a‘bad poem’ critic, and his views. following, i had reflected and explored through Seamus Cooney’s lens to determine whether my own original poem is good or bad. of course, i came to the conclusion that it was bad afterall.

 

i found during the process, that i didn’t enjoy writing the sample excerpt of this essay. it was especially challenging to keep an academic tone. however, i came to the conclusion that perhaps this type of excerpt could be found in a more casual setting, such as a blog post, since i observe my own poem in another person’s lens. the only two good things that emerged from this experiment was: 1. my understanding of how important it is to have a specific audience to appeal to, and 2. after much research, i found that there was a niche genre titled “bad poetry.” i stumbled upon several articles that mentioned the appreciation for bad poetry. when i read this, it felt exciting to be able to belong my poem in niche. and so i wrote the sample excerpt specifically for those who enjoy writing and reading bad poetry, such as students, professors like Cooney, contest panels, etc.

 

maybe when i have the time, or care, to fix up and post my sample excerpt, i will. but until then, move to experiment three. thanks.