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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>10-27-22 Group-2 Critiques<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Leonard’s piece:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A piece that honors and extols nature instead of development and the expansion of humanity into pristine natural spaces. The part about the leaf blowers and lawn mowers truly resonates with me as this has been an ongoing issue in my area since I moved here. As for many who move to our country-like places, taming nature instead of appreciating it seems to be their priority. I fear that if our species survives, the remaining natural, green, undeveloped places will only be found in national parks. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>***<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Alice’s piece:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A very nicely constructed piece in which a ghost is felt, smelled, heard and finally seen. Most lines other than the last nine, begin with the word: “once.” Question: is this approach known as parallel structure? I really like this piece a lot. The places where the ghost is encountered all fit together well and add to the overall eeriness the poem creates. And is there a deeper message, like occasionally one can get a presentiment of their own mortality in certain places? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>***<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Joan’s piece:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A piece in which ghosts and malevolent forces impinge upon the narrator. Whether she is dreaming or she is their dream is not fully clear. The piece does create a feeling that is uncomfortable. Again, this is another fascinating poem by Joan where I can only make broad observations and am, admittedly baffled by several lines. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>***<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Valerie’s piece:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>A piece that conveys to this writer a sense of world weariness. Natural beauty is up against: “cell phones,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>radio/Tv<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>laptop and AI intrusions?” As a result, many are lost to Earthly beauty. The prevailing or current default state of humanity is: “the calamity of grand boredom.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Perhaps the only chance for hope in this piece lies in: “<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Earth shares her green and gold,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sky, her pudgy cloud-pictures<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>for those blessed enough to see them.” It seems that to many, such are no longer visible. There is only noise and boredom.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>