My notes on past readings

Im not sure if im supposed to post these or not, but what the hell
-Bethany

Notes on A Poet’s Creed by Borges
1. Quote
a. “I suppose there should be as many creeds, as many religions, as there are poets.”
i. This quote is a beautiful sentiment that sets up the article very nicely
ii. Everyone sees the world through different eyes, thus to have a shared creed would mean that many people would have to be tailoring their thoughts and ideas, even ever so slightly, to a foreign standard.
2. Ode to a Nightingale
a. Borges says that it was through this poem that he discovered that language could be “a music and a passion”
i. When I was a little girl my mom used to read me the book Anne of Green Gables. I didn’t understand the rich language at all, but I loved the sound of it. I understand Borges when he says that looking back on his childhood fascination with language revealed something he had, for some time, grown to have forgotten.
3. Lengthy books
a. Borges talks about Arabian Nights
b. I found his suggestion that a book’s length can be a literary device of sorts
i. While others fear long books he sees that it gives the story being told more power. It reflects the way that life continues on.
4. Characterization
a. Borges talks about Don Quixote and The Hound of Baskerville
b. Though the stories are a bit unbelievable, the characters were so fleshed out that they were believable despite the plot
i. The idea that character development is the most important and attractive thing
1. I would have to agree with this. My favorite books have always been books in which I am awed by the character’s realism. For example, I was entranced by Catcher in the Rye, not for its plot, but for Holden. I believed him, and because of this I cared for him.
5. Finding metaphor
a. I adored Borges take on the way people attempt to decipher poetry
i. Borges uses the sentence “style should be plain” to explain to us that things can be read into much farther than they should be
1. I always feel as though many try to find and end up creating a deeper meaning then what authors intend
a. Perhaps it is Borges idea that poetry is about music and feeling that allowed him to feel this way
6. Free Verse
a. Borges comments that free verse is the most difficult way to write
i. There is not a strong pattern with which to create upon, there is only freedom
1. While freedom is what we aspire to, it is much easier to have some guidelines to build upon, then it is to start from a place only you have been
7. Simplicity and truth
a. Borges talks about emulating styles and disguising ones true voice
i. He admits a story he wrote would have been better had he not tried so hard to filter his thoughts through another’s writing style
1. He regretted his use of extensive metaphors and showy language and wished that he had written more simply, an a voice that was his own.
8. History
a. Borges believes that true art is art no matter when it was produced
i. He mentions Indian Philosophers
9. Truth in Circumstance
a. Borges does not like to write about an event truthfully as it happened
i. It threatens an artist’s title as an artist
1. He thinks that If all one is doing is reproduce exact events they are not artists, but journalists or historians
a. I do not fully agree with this statement, however I like what Borges says about at least changing details, if not just to make the story one’s own, but to create the correct feeling that may have not existed prior to some tampering
10. Advice for other writers
a. I like how Borges begins to give out advice only after mentioning that art is personal and should be figured out by the artist himself
b. His advice
i. He advices writers to stop over thinking and allow what is raw to immerge because it is coming from a true voice
ii. Do not concern yourself with your work’s readers
11. Quote
a. “I think that one of the sins of modern literature is that it is too self conscious”
12. Sharing responsibility
a. Borges says a reader has a responsibly to bring themselves and their own viewpoints to the literature they are reading
i. While Borges avoids flowery metaphors in his writing, some have read into his work farther than he had planned for them to. Even though he expressed feelings of dislike towards this practice earlier he writes that it is the reader’s job to bring their experiences and understandings to the table. He cannot expect anything other.
13. Borges’s tone
a. Borges is humorously self deprecating in this article.
i. “The fact that many of you have no Spanish will make it a finer sonnet”
b. This tone of modesty and wiliness to joke about himself kept me very interested in Borges.
14. All over again
a. I do not know if this was intentional or not, but the first page of A Poet’s Creed was at the end of the article again
b. I loved this effect!
i. It brought everything full circle
ii. It created more power and meaning in a way that Borges would have, in my opinion, suggested and/or approved of. Instead of emulating others, or using fancy metaphor to achieve this, he repeated his honest clear voice
1. A clever way to end, and to serve as an example for the ideals within the piece



Notes on Directors and Designers by Pamela Howard Potentials of Space by Alison Oddey & Christina White
1. The article
a. In 1988 a conference was held by the Society of British Theatre Designers on the subject of the director designer relationship
b. Directors spoke about how the relationship was perfect while a few seasoned designers who were brave enough to speak out told these directors that the relationship they thought they had with their designers were fabrications
c. Designers would avoid conflict and would only make suggestions through a guise that let the directors think it was their own idea using language that asks for their approval and not just stating their ideas
i. “what do YOU think about…….”
d. Philip Prowse, who worked with the Glasgow Citizens Theater, was one of very few directors that was also a designer
e. Prowse is quoted in saying “the best conversation I ever had with a director was with myself in bed at night”
f. Due to reviews of Prowse’s shows the term “European” became a euphemism for designers like those of us in my group in TA 10 who push boundaries with their work
g. Josef Svoboda wrote, directed, and designed his own work. He like the director/designer Adolphe Appia believed that personal vision was important in creating a cohesive piece
h. Robert Edmond Jones wrote he saw the end of realism in theater
i. The author of the article tells us that the relationship between director and designer was never equal
j. Designers do not get the opportunity to pick the shows they would like to design
k. Idea of a designer as a “wife” or a “servant” to the director
l. The author calls for the creation of theater in which all those that work on it work together with equal amount of input and prestige
2. Quotes as food for thought
a. “the excitement that should be in theater is found only in baseball parks, arenas, stadiums and racecourses” (pg 25) quoting Robert Edmond Jones
b. Design is “…a sensual nonverbal impact on spectators.” (pg 27)