on SYNTAX

The chapter in "Writing Down the Bones" entitled Syntax is a very interesting one, in which the author implores the reader to take a selection from their most boring pieces of writing and rearrange the words without concern for syntax or order. Afterward, the reader/writer is encouraged to add random punctuation marks to the piece, then to read the selection adding intonation and inflection.

Goldman states that "we think in sentences, and they way we think is the way we see." She opines that if one can "crack" what we have learned to be the traditional sentence structure, we can, likewise, crack our perception of the world around us and examine it in fresh new ways. One of the most interesting examples of creating a work that is outside of our normal ideas of syntax were a group of poems that the author included from an anthology of poetry written at a residence for mentally retarded women. I thoroughly enjoyed many of the pieces included in this chapter; some (most notably "Give Me a White" by Marion Pinski) reminded me of the work of Gertrude Stein. Goldman states that one reason she finds the women's poetry remarkable (or "fresh") is due to the nature of surprise that is evident in their work. I didn't necessarily find that same sense of surprise in these pieces. There is a considerable amount of attention to detail, and the common imagery of cabbage (which is found in both "The Stone and I" by Beverly Opse and "Everybody" by Shirley Nielson) is something I find interesting, but what really grabs me is the fact that, despite the unconventional syntax (or lack thereof), one is still able to glean meaning from these poems. That is, there are easily recognizable images, conflicts, and themes within them. Such ideas are so universal that they exist outside of the laws and principles of grammar. I like to imagine that they are too large, too obvious to humans, to be able to be contained, or imprisoned, in something that we've created.