The authors Carolyn Forche and Sam Hamill both wrote about poetry, and its effects, in very different ways. Both of their works in regards to poetry of witness emphasized the power of thoughts, and the expressions of feelings. Forche placed emphasis on a one-on-on type of view, while Hamill spoke about society as a whole.
Carolyn Forché compiled poetry of witness from a number of different authors all living in countries run by oppressive governments. I think that Carolyn’s main goal was to let people, who may have not otherwise been, be heard. I agree with the idea that America’s economy is run by the manufacturing of war materials, and that we kind of shy away from peace for this reason. Also, we have never seen a war on our soil which makes it less personal. I did not find anything in her piece that I disagreed with.
Sam Hamill places society’s tendency towards violence on the inability for people to feel emotion, he points out that boys are groomed to become manly and gruff and that girls are taught to stand in line with what they are taught and not ask questions. His ideas relate to poetry of witness because this type of poetry is all about feeling, and opening up to other people’s emotions by seeing their point of view. I agree with this author that people of this generation fall into gender roles and have trouble breaking out due to being so deeply ingrained from childhood. I disagree with most of what he says about the prison system, especially the emphasis on rehabilitation instead of just punishment, mostly because I have seen “rehabilitated” individuals be released and return to the same activities that got them into jail to begin with.
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