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lexiandliterature · 15 days

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Hot take on Kaur, I'm glad to see someone else is awake.

i'm genuinely surprised that more people aren't talking about this but i guess i will.

i'll first preface this with the fact that i understand why people like this kind of "poetry." it's accessible, it's easy to understand, and most importantly, its relatable. but is that what poetry is? i'm not sure, you tell me. more importantly, is that what poetry's become? if it is, it's quite sad.

the way i think about instagram poetry is that someone had an idea, found a few nice words that went with said good idea, and then... gave up writing the rest of the poem. they then proceeded to click enter a few times to make it appeal to the eye and draw some line art that is vaguely related to the poem but would be more impactful IF THE POEM WAS ACTUALLY FINISHED. a lot of the lines kaur writes are not that bad, sometimes they pack a punch and if they were with an actual fleshed out poem, i don't think it would be so bad.

my main issues with here are that:

her writing screams lazy and i personally don't believe she can classify this as poetry. there is no fleshed out effort and certainly no intention. if you asked me to identify what exactly makes her writing unique i would say the brevity, which isn't so much a writing style as it is just a pure lack of care.

something i will get into in a later post, is the fact that she's marketing blank pages. she is profiting off of having 2 words on a page, a tiny drawing of something and then nothing on the rest of the page. let that sink in. she is making money off of her relatable content that can't even comprise one page of work. i am so certain that if you tried to jam all of her work on to a page, you would be able to fit most of it onto like 3 pages maximum.

the irony of all of this is that this 2-3 line work of i don't even know what is likely PLAGIARIZED. that's right. she stole someone else's work to shorten it into this abomination. i have no words.

#lexiresponds #rupi kaur #instagram poetry #poetry #writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writers and poets #creative writing #rant #writing critique #writer #on writing #author #opinion #books #poem #poets on tumblr

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lexiandliterature · 16 days

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copy paste & copyright: i loved fourth wing and i think i know why.

like everyone else, i have been patiently waiting for the third book of the empyrean series "onyx storm" to release and as i've been waiting, i've had some thoughts.

i've come to two conclusions as to why i enjoyed it so much, the first being the pacing. when i first read the books i could not put them down. credit to rebecca yarros because the flow was amazing. the endings of each chapter we're excellent and i couldn't wait to read the next chapter after i had just finished the last.

and the more important second conclusion, that her books are the literally a copy and paste every single dystopian/fantasy novel that has come before her.

don't believe me? well think for yourself.

when i first read fourth wing, i got this really strange feeling that i'd already read something very similar. and i was not wrong! red queen by victoria aveyard IS SO SIMILAR. two girls get ripped from their lives to join a magical school to hone their abilities, both of them lightning wielders with eventually some kind of light dyed hair at their tips. Both of them have an older brother who's just mysteriously died who we later learn aren't actually dead. and they both have friends that are actually in love with them (Kilorn vs Dain). they both fall in love with someone very very off limits, get a shocking reveal and then realize they are the pinnacle of this giant rebellion! also the naming? war storm? onyx storm?

not convinced? then let's compare it to divergent by veronica roth.

they both come from a quiet more reserved and then go to a place where they are to become soldiers (abnegation to dauntless, scribe to basgiath). they both have to take a test of bravery (tris' jump into the pit and violet's parapet). they both are extraordinarily weak but still have to fight in weekly fights where they basically almost die. when they finally start advancing in the rankings due to training they both receive assassination attempts (tris being almost thrown into a pit and violet being almost killed in her sleep). oh and don't forget BOTH of them fall in love with their superior. to top it all off, they're both the pinnacle of some rebellion.

i still LOVE fourth wing though because it honestly has some of my favorite parts of every single trope. and i understand that writers take influence from one another....but im so surprised it hasn't been accused of plagiarism yet...

just me?

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lexiandliterature · 16 days

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let's talk about rupi kaur and why she's everything wrong with online culture.

i've heard many a good review about rupi kaur and her poetry and i will tell you right now that i confidently disagree. in case you don't know who she is, rupi kaur is a "poet" on instagram with over 4.5 million followers known for her short but impactful poems that captivate the hearts of millions of people around the world.

her rise to fame caught the tidal wave of internet virality as she self published her first collection, Milk & Honey, earning critical acclaim. I like to call it milk our money but i'll get to that in another post.

let's first define poetry for what it is. though this definition can depend on who you ask, i like to think of poetry in four main categories: theme, meter, form, and intention. theme is just the general topic of the poem and the way the poet goes about addressing it. meter is the rhythm and rhyme pattern; it's the way it sounds when you read it aloud and the way that sound hits your ear. form is the way it looks, the way it reads, how that affects the way you say it and the way the words are perceived. and finally let's talk about intention. how is she choosing her words, how is she placing them in an order that is interesting, and how is she using literary devices to aid her story?

(if you want to see these categories done well, then it will have to be a whole different post because this could take awhile.)

so let's talk about rupi kaur's poetry in these four categories starting with this 2 LINE POEM that doesn't have a title.

"and here you are living despite it all"

-rupi kaur

wow. inspirational. 2 lines, with no punctuation whatsoever. this isn't even a sentence. we're off to a great start.

so theme. this poem is about overcoming something difficult. what difficulty? i could not tell you. there is no more information. at least she has an idea. the "you" is likely addressing the readers, thus suggesting that the purpose of the line being so general is to appeal to everyone (this is another issue i'll get into some other time).

let's talk about meter now. there's really nothing to say, there is none. there is no rhythm, no rhyme scheme, no nothing. and i'm not saying every poem has to have these things, it's just to say that if she doesn't have this, her poem needs to be interesting in other ways (which spoiler alert it isn't).

now let's talk about form. she breaks this "not sentence" into two lines. this enjambment is random and without thought. there is nothing interesting about separating this sentence other than for aesthetic purposes. nothing about the shape of this poem is interesting and nothing about it has meaning.

and finally, let's talk about intention. she uses "you" to appeal to a wider audience which suggests that this poem is more likely written to be relatable than to be sincere. is the "you" talking about a friend? a lover? a sibling? a friend/lover that's a sibling? (im just kidding) like come one. give us nothing. the ambiguity of "all" has a similar connotation. what is she overcoming? a cold? the death of a loved one? spilled milk? what is it? i shouldn't have to give meaning to the poem FOR HER. THIS IS HER POEM.

so if we're grading this out of 4 points, we'll give her a point for theme (because at least i know what she's talking about), no points for meter, no points for form, and certainly no points for intention.

this poem is a 1/4 or a 25%. congratulations rupi!

if this is the standard at which we are holding one of the most POPULAR poets of our generation because her poetry is accessible, easy to read, and relatable, then we are in a bit of trouble.

taking time to understand why the words are put in a certain order is what makes poetry so beautiful and if we can't even stop to sniff the roses sometime, what are we even doing? nothing in life is easy, and we are slowly diluting everything difficult into something that is meaningless. part of the beauty is in the time you put into understanding its message. rupi kaur is a perfect example of someone marketing off of our short attention spans and our need for instant gratification.

what i'm getting at here is not that a poet i dont like is extremely popular but rather we're letting people profit off of mediocrity while also losing the essence of what that thing really is. we're letting it become easy and accessible and "relatable" when part of the beauty is often what makes it different. it's not that rupi kaur is the problem but rather an example of the ongoing issue.

thank you for coming to my ted talk.

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lexiandliterature · 16 days

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sam cortland broke my heart.

i just finished assasin's blade and i don't think i can love rowan as much as i love sam right now. like i physically don't think it's possible. i know i'm not even that far into the series, but what is going on.

sam loved her. FOR SO LONG. and maybe their romance may have felt a bit rushed, but the fact that the one thing he asked arobynn for in return for his forgiveness was making sure aelin was never hurt WAS GOLDEN. their interactions had me screaming.

AND sam and aelin had all these plans to move away but of course arobynn with his controlling little self had to meddle. that man is on my hit list now i swear, if he doesn't get killed off soon im going to be very upset.

rowan better be the best to aelin, because im not sure i'm ever getting over sam. i need reassurance that this gets better because i actually started crying.

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