Monday, May 12, 2014

Knowing By Heart~The Dynamics of Memorization


     The writer is almost completely blocked by the podium where she stands, shuffling papers, adjusting her glasses.  She's not sure what to read, and finally settles on what she prefaces as "something I jotted down on the train coming over." She keeps her eyes on the page, throughout, punctuated by on occasional plaintive look up at the audience at the end of a paragraph. Another 26 minutes of this, and the audience members have stopped looking at her, are surreptitiously deleting Emails on their droids, or escaping to the loo. The boyfriend who accompanied student Sally is darting her looks~he will NEVER agree to coming to a reading again.  The writer looks over at the host.  He is sitting in the front row, slightly to her right, a strained encouraging smile lock-jawed onto his face. She asks him, "Do I have time for another story?"  Groan.
     I once saw Philip Dacey come to the podium at a Passaic County Community College Poetry Center reading, with nothing in hand. He started speaking, and we soon realized, to our delight, that he had already launched into his first poem. For the next who-knows-how-long, we rode his poetry with him from joy to grief to nostalgia and back. Unfettered by paper, he had his whole program by heart, constantly engaging us with his eyes, his voice, his movements. We were disappointed when he stopped. When I decided to start doing readings, seven years ago, I vowed that, like Dacey, I would recite my poems~as in "recite: to repeat or utter aloud something rehearsed or memorized, esp. before an audience" (American Heritage College Dictionary).
     There was a time when there were so few books and no standardized tests, so students memorized poems, passages from the Bible, plays, songs, multiplication tables. We all had a mental Rolodex of phone numbers and practiced strategies for remembering names. I have often been delighted when people "of a certain age" will, as Mary Ellen did in an open, hold forth with "The Owl and the Pussycat" or reel off a Dickinson poem to reorganize and energize a conversation.  But with ready internet and speed-dialing, we have all lost our minds~that is, our capacity for memorizing, retaining, and accessing.
     We have a recital at the end of the semester, during which all of my students present something from their semester~enacting a Shakespearean scene, reading their original work, doing a multi-media clip of an Achebe story.  When I suggest that they might memorize their portion, they freak. 
     There are steps between the hermit behind the podium and flying the trapeze without a net.  Yesterday, my student poets were rehearsing for this year's recital.  Each person, in turn, positioned him- or herself at the front of the room. We dispensed with any podium, as it becomes a wall instead of a conduit. After a first reading of a poem, we considered how we might emulate what worked, thus building a repertoire of aspects for everyone to shape: hand gestures, eye contact, body movement; pacing, volume, articulation, use of silence.  At this point, we also noticed what didn't work in a poem, inspiring changes to titles, beginnings and endings, redundancies, and dead zones.     
      Crucially, we noticed the relationship between reader and the paper on which the poem was printed.  First, hands: Hold it down at waist level, and the audience is cut-off.  Hold it up as a mask to your face, and it's even worse. We experimented with holding the page off to the side. That literally provided a heart opening to the audience~a sense of expansiveness and connection, so important to reaching an audience. Many students are adopting that as a mode. 
       Next, eyes: so tethered were some poets to the page, that they read ever word, one at a time, as if they were first-graders new to reading, at all. Of course, there was no way to make or maintain eye contact with the audience, and it was painful to watch. I recommended flashing onto phrases and looking up, in between.  I showed them how I, who don't have their poems memorized, can retain whole lines at a time by this method. This was a revelation and eased the way. In some cases, students plan to relineate and change font sizes in their poems for easier visual groupings.
       As a reciter and performer, I am nourished and inspired by the eyes of audience members. Some, however, get a deer-in-headlights daze. One student recommended this relaxation method: think of the people as sitting on a toilet~then you won't be intimidated.  That was a LOL moment! But if looking into eyes is disorienting, simply looking at foreheads will engage the audience and relax the reader.
      Then, I went after memorizing.  Deanna was pinching her paper so hard that it crackled, and she was reading one word at a time.  
       "Give me the paper," I said.  She did.  I added, "OK. Now recite your poem."  
       "I can't," Deanna said, distressed.
       "I know," I said, "Do it anyway."
And she demurred with more insecurities, and I just kept saying, "I know.  Do it anyway."
And then she did.  A whole stanza, until she got rattled that she could and stopped.  But that stanza was so moving, her connection with us so profound, that we know she will come through for us all.
      There it is.  Drop the paper and remember what you remember.  You will notice, too, what works and what doesn't, as you do.  Many of the students are now memorizing their poems for the recital.
      In the seven years since I first got up to recite, grabbed hold of the podium, and walked it off stage, I have memorized over 150 poems and songs, and created four 90-minute performance sequences with them. I have learned the importance of rehearsing while I'm in different modes of motion~walking, driving, biking, swimming; queuing up; keeping myself awake while others drone on (sometimes at readings), and putting myself to sleep at night; and, of course, stage rehearsals. The more mistakes I make in process, the surer I'll be with a audience.  As I rehearse, I learn more about the poems and have had the best ideas for revision. The parts I have trouble retaining are worth revisiting for excision. Listy structures can be as boring on the page as in recitation. Through this process of memorizing for an audience, I learn how to more fully inhabit the poems and songs~how to embody them more deeply.  The "drop-outs" or "mistakes" I might make in performance are just opportunities to boost the work.  And who's to tell?
      Proviso: NEVER have the paper or a prompter (electronic or human) nearby during a recitation or performance, because it invites the old addiction to reading from the page~it's a crutch. "The medium," wrote Marshall McLuhan, "Is the message." Unmediated by the page, the poet merges with the poem. Remind yourself: I am the message.
      And, how much more exciting, for you and for your audience, when you walk to the front without sheaves in hand.  And everyone realizes, you are flying without a net!
       
© 2014 Susanna Rich





55 comments:

  1. during my class last Friday I assumed that I couldn't remember my poem. Dr. Rich took my paper and I though someone stole my safety net. Like I was falling to the ground and had no parashoot. but through it all she taught me that I new my poem, I knew my work I had self doubt. fear was what was stopping me from expressing my poem "MY DOLLY". fear of telling the truth, speaking out and allow the tears and hurt out. fear of crying in front of people when I really don't like to, fear of knowing the hurt in this poem was real and I haven't fully healed from it. finally I it started to flow and as it flowed it became painful but when it was over I realized that I still have some healing to go through and some work. with that I was free to cry in class and feel happy after words because I was able to let it go. if Dr. Rich didn't do this I wouldn't of been able to come to this realization and I thank her for that. Now I can move forward in life, with God and with Me. If it wasn't for Dr. Rich showing me these thing I don't think I would of truly healed and been able to recite this poem from heart this Thursday! THANK YOU DR. RICH!

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  2. You are such a gracious and inspiring presence, Deanna!

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  3. I think it took me about a month to memorize The Owl and the Pussycat way back in 7th grade English class. Of course I’ve retained it these 40+ years just so I could recite it for you!

    Nowadays (I’m starting to sound like my grandmother) there seem to be no rote memorization skills taught to our young people. Not so for some of us when we were that age. Everything these young people need is in their hand (or so they think) and available at the touch of a button or two, so why memorize anything? I know people who don’t even know their own phone numbers without looking it up. Really? Have some people gotten that lazy that they can’t remember anything without the Internet or a cell phone?

    Even though I have a cell phone with numbers programmed in for friends and family, I still dial it myself, to keep my brain active. It is rare that I don’t remember someone’s phone number once I’ve dialed it a couple of times. It’s not that difficult to remember.

    I think our media deprivation and sacred space worked very well to draw attention to verbally interact within our classroom. I had some classes where I know that the students weren’t necessarily even paying attention to the professor while they sat with their phones or computers in class. Checking FB and other websites has nothing to do with what is going on in the class. I don’t understand why some professors allow it. It’s a distraction to me, and I’m sure it is to the professor, too.

    I appreciated our media-free classroom. Making new friends and talking to them is one form of rote memorization—I will remember facts about the person I talked to and their name more readily when I frequently use it in speaking with them or to get their attention.

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  4. Thank you, Mary Ellen, for your validation and insights! I will so miss our Friday morning family of poets. You were SO our Mom and Sister~

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  5. I recently recited The Owl and the Pussycat for a couple of children and thought of you. I sent you an email to your Kean address just yesterday with a poem I wrote for the CLMOOC. Hope your summer is going well. Take care. ~ME

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  6. Lola Haskins closed her eyes and recited several poems from memory. No paper. I was very impressed. I've memorized only a few poems (3?) in recent years and they didn't stay memorized, but the process was more than interesting. And informative.
    Thank you!

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  7. Dr. Rich,
    I 100% agree with what you’re preaching! A lot of students today don’t have to memorize any kind of literature for school. If I try to tell a student to memorize something I’d probably get a response like, “Why would I memorize it when I can just look it up online when I need it?” I mean I don’t know about you but there comes a time when memorization becomes a great thing, like knowing my phone number when I forget my ShopRite card to still get the discounts. After this post I’ve realized the beauty that could come from memorizing my own poems. The way I can have my body and pauses while speaking say the words more than having an index card in front of me ever could. I also never thought of reading my poem aloud to see how it sounds off the paper. Lately I’ve been writing and practicing them in my head, which is probably why you can’t feel everything I write, because it’s not in tune with the people around me senses or feelings. I feel that taking my poetry off the paper and out loud could be a new insight on how to create better poetry. I am nervous to recite my poems at the end of the semester, but at the same time I am ready and excited for the challenge.
    -Alessandra Finis

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  8. Dr. Rich,

    I agree that memorization is a tool that all writers should use. I, myself, get hesitant when I have to memorize something. But as you said, it is so much more beautiful to listen to a poet recite without looking back and forth at the page. I listen to quite a few spoken words a day and find myself fascinated by the individual in front of the camera reciting from the heart and mind.

    I find your last paragraph of the blog inspiriting to me, "Remind yourself: I am the message. And, how much more exciting, for you and for your audience, when you walk to the front without sheaves in hand. And everyone realizes, you are flying without a net!" It really does feel as an accomplishment when I can walk onto a stage mighty and proud of my work and the fact that I took the time to read it so many times, I memorized it. -- I also must mention that I had to reedit that last part there. I had been writing using the word, YOU. OH NO!

    Thank you for this insight. It brought me back to thinking about the 5 canons of rhetoric, and how memory is starting to become obsolete. I must mention this blog post to my professor who I was working on my rhetorical analysis with.

    - Paige Bollman

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  9. Dr Rich,

    Memorization is a uselful too; when it comes to writing, phone numbers, and even song lyrics. There is nothing more impactful than standing on your own two feet using memorization to speak something YOU wrote. It's not as impactful when you're behind a sheet of paper. I remember my first audition I had for my high school. I had to remember an entire news dialogue in order to be accepted into the media and film major. I studied that for weeks prior to the audition. I passed and I got into my dream school, but it is stil to this day I remember that dialogue just like I remember song lyrics, phone numbers, and other things I have written myself. Memory is important and it shoudl always be used. You need to force yourself to memorize things every now and then.

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  10. Dr. Rich,
    I feel that memorization plays such a big role in our every day lives. We memorize our daily routines, addresses, places to go, song lyrics, names, brand names, etc. I remember in elementary school with all of our chorus recitals, I had to memorize a bunch of songs and their lyrics. For a youngster, it was quite overwhelming for someone at such a young age to remember these songs. I was always put upfront in recitals, and was always afraid I was going to forget the lyrics and embarrass myself. But it turns out the more I practiced and when the big day came,the minute I heard the tune to the song, all the lyrics just came to me. The same thing goes for all my dance recitals coming up. When I saw how many people were in the crowd, I choked. I was terrified of messing up. In the end, everyone has those moments- just like your one student who took a while to recite her poem.I feel that the more we practice, the more we will remember material more.
    -Valentina Quesada

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  11. Dr. Rich,

    This post on memorization really hit close to home in a different way. I have always struggled with my memory and it bothers me. I think that I also have used devices like my phone as a crutch and have allowed my memory to worsen. In the coming year, I do want to get better at memorization and improve this wonderful skill that can help me in the future. This post also reminded me of when I attended the poetry festival for our class. It was so different to see your work on stage versus the other poets who read off their paper. I was drawn in by your presence on stage and how you commanded your poetry with the audience in mind. When I perform my poetry on stage, I want to be captivating and intriguing to the audience. I don’t want them to get bored of me. If I read off a paper, I will not get the engagement that I look for. It also made me think about how sometimes I struggle with some of my poetry because I feel like it doesn’t flow very well. I think that by reading out loud, I can find ways to make it sound poetic to the ears and change the words or sentences that aren’t working for the poem.

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  12. The iPhone has changed our world upside down. Where we once needed address books, alarm clocks, and to know how to actually spell words, we now have automatic spell check and everyone’s phone numbers all in one hand. We don’t even need to type into it, we could simply say “Hey Siri set my alarm for 10 AM or call dad”, and Siri will do it without you even having to touch your phone. Because of this and the slow laziness of our culture I do not memorize anything anymore…. Or do I?
    YES I DO! Songs, poems that I love, names of the people that matter to me.
    SO maybe memorization comes from putting effort and meaning into something. Well I saw this in this past week’s final class. In which professor Rich spooked a student by taking the physical copy of her poem and having her recite it by heart. BOY WAS IT STRONG! I have noticed the same with music. Music can be recited from a lyrics printout but how much more beautiful does it feel to memorize the words of a song by heart and sing it with all of your might. It is priceless. I know because I do it in my car while I like to think I am this great singer. It comes from the heart.

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  13. Even thought smartphones and accessible internet have their privileges, I believe that you got the point across Dr. Rich. I also remember those no smartphones days, though I was ever so lucky to experience the last decade of this great media-free period. I'm also from a small island with limited resources, so having of your tasks done manually had it's challenges, but as you mentioned, the interactions were more engaging and meaningful.
    I, myself am most of the time consumed by this zombie world. However, I feel bad for children, nowadays, who are born to this technology driven world, and who are not able to appreciate the smell of a good old library book. When I think about how engaging our used to be, you start putting things into perspective and appreciate the past ( reason why I love history so much). I love this post, and I am ever more grateful for your media-free Shakespeare survey course.

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  14. Technology and social media are definitely an obstacle we all face in the year 2017 about to be 2018, and it’s only going to get worse. What really opened my eyes to this was your classroom policy about no technology. Since not being able to use technology in your class, I have used this in other classes as well as at home when I’m trying to write. I’ve realized that I can’t write as well when I have my phone right next to me or the tv on in front of me. Mainly because this causes me to stop what I’m writing to look at the television screen, or to stop and look at a text or an email. This causes me to lose my idea and thought about what I was writing. Like it makes me think if I would have done it sooner, who knows what kind of writing I could have been capable of if I just simply turned off my phone or the television during those times? Makes me pretty mad actually. But I’m going to leave the past in the past and worry about the future. From now on when I’m writing I can’t have any technology around to distract me from writing my next book, because it could be a best seller. I don’t ever want to deprive myself of that. With reading this blog post I’ve also been trying to memorize simple things, such as a grocery list or even my boyfriends phone number. The only ones I’ve memorized since I was a child were my parents and home telephone number. This was a challenge for me, but I’m getting back to it. This all falls back to commitment, not just with writing but with anything we do.

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  15. Well I wish I had the ability to retain as much information as you do (remembering that many poems?). I’ll be the first one to admit that technology has ruined me to a good extent. I often wonder what kind of a different person I would be if I never got swept up in the cultural habit of immersing myself in technology. It’s one of the many, but one of the prominent, things that makes me disgust the uncertainty of change in the world and what might come net to potentially corrupt us. I agree with your statement regarding the podium being synonymous with a wall and a means of stifling someone because the paper that is on that podium, if there is one, tempts people to look away for a sense of security and can make the speaker uneasy as well. When it comes to public speaking, depending on the content, how much I own the content and how deep it strikes me, I can retain the material quite well, whereas in the opposite situation I might feel the need to rely on outside source to get my mouth moving. In the end, sure, if you’re a good enough speaker you can improvise, but don’t think you sound better than you would actually knowing the content. One’s crowd isn’t as easy to please as one might hope and to think and operate in such a way can be an insult.

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  16. As I’ve expressed previously, I love poetry. This being said I understand the importance of memorization when it comes to performing your poetry in front of an audience. The first time I performed a spoken word piece, I knew it was vital to my work to have it memorized in order to invoke the emotion I felt while writing it in the hearts of the audience. I used a similar method to when I study for exams, I wrote it out by hand multiple times until I memorized it. I believe writing things by hand is the most effective way to memorize anything, you can feel the power of each word seep from your veins through the pen and into the page and that is a feeling that I could never forget. It’s like you give life to the words as you write them down. Then I sit back and read it over and repeat the process.

    Back in the old days rhetors had to memorize their speeches bc some couldn’t afford pen and papyrus. I feel as though we struggle with memorization more than ever now in the age of technology because your phones are literally our brains and third limbs. I only remember a hand full of phone number by heart and that is only because I didn’t have a cell phone until 8th grade and the numbers haven’t changed. I’m guilty of utilizing memory stifling tools and apps like the notepad app and reminders/ alarms.

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  17. Dr. Rich,
    The first time you told us in Shakespeare Survey that we had to memorize lines from a play I thought you were out of your mind. I've tried memorizing things before but I've never been successful with it because I always found myself looking down at the paper. I practiced for days to recite my lines but when the day came, I was beyond nervous and knew I would forget. When we began to recite them you told us we couldn't have our books open, we were all doubting ourselves. I was surprised to see how well we all recited the lines when it was our turn to go. By not having our books we were forced to go back in our memories to recite something we all worked so hard to remember. This gave me a new form of confidence because I accomplished something I never thought I could do before.
    I've never thought about how boring it is to watch someone read right from the page. Reciting from memory gives the piece a sense of life and it allows for the audience to be engaged. I hate being in a class where we are forced to sit there and read a page of something we've written. Like you pointed out, everyone ends up on their phones, not paying attention. I never realized how disengaging reading off of a piece of paper can be.

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  18. Dr. Rich,

    I am so glad I found this post now. As it is getting closer to the end of the semester, we are beginning to talk about the recital that is going to take place in a couple of weeks. While I am excited about it, I know some of my classmates are definitely not looking forward to it. Some classmates have expressed that they have stage fright and that they would not like to read their work aloud to a big crowd. Many others have been frightened by the idea of having to memorize their work. Memorizing writing and performing it aloud to an audience can be a very rewarding task. Having the writing memorized makes the delivery that much more powerful than if it were to be read from a script; the mere fact of committing the writing to memory creates a different kind of energy when it is being performed. When memorized, the writing seems as if it is coming directly from the heart of the writer, and the audience members can tell the difference in energy when the writing is memorized and when the writing is read from the script.

    I have taken courses in theater that have helped me to not only get rid of stage fright but to practice memorizing written work and performing it to a live audience. Therefore, I have an appreciation for the art of memorizing writing and reading it aloud, but I also understand how daunting this could be for some writers. It seems that many writers do not understand just how much of their writing they have already memorized and committed to memory without even realizing. I find that because writing comes from the heart, it becomes much easier to commit to memory. With that being said, I look forward to the recital that will take place in two weeks, and I will attempt to memorize the first page of my manuscript.

    Nada Amer

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  19. Dear Dr. Rich,
    When it comes to me and memorizing things, I am pretty bad at it. I see myself as a visual learner, I memorize thins best when I see it physically in front of me. Hearing something is always much harder to learn. When it comes to memorizing words or phrases I just blank out. It has always been difficult for me to remember things since I was a child, sure I could learn concepts for tests or quizzes, but memorizing lines or people’s names has always been a challenge for me. When we had to memorize Shakespeare sonnets I freaked out. I wasn’t sure how I could remember even just one line, especially with how complex some of them were. I sat down and read it over and over, trying to memorize as much as I could. When the morning came I felt anxious and afraid, writing it over and over into my notebook in hope that it would sink it. And yet when I had to read it I felt nervous, forgetting some lines, tempted to read what was in front of me. But when you told me to put away the paper and read without it distracting me, I found myself able to do it. It was a fun experience, and I’m happy I was able to memorize it.
    Stephen Corrales

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  20. My mom has told me, I remember things I want to remember, and she's absolutely right! When I was younger I used to memorize everything around me so I could recite it when I needed to. My mom would sit me down and ask people's phone numbers so I could recite it, or if she was talking with a friend and forgot what she was talking about, she would ask me what the last thing she said so I can pick their conversation back up. My memory now is still good because I always have to use it at work. But, if I don't prioritize it, it won't stick in my head at all.


    This problem happened in my writing about literature class. The class had to recite a poem of our choice. I chose a poem that I didn't really care about and found it impossible to memorize it. It would be there for one second, but that's about it. I knew if it didn't stick I would fail. So instead of trying to force it onto my brain, I knew how my brain worked. So I opened up my poetry book and started going through all the poems, reading all the first lines until one stuck. I must have went through 50 poems until I stopped at 'Because I Couldn't Stop for Death' by Emily Dickinson. That poem stuck instantly and I rehearsed it for about 10 minutes until I had to poem down packed. To this day I can still recite it

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  21. Memorization is helpful because it allows you to be flexible. Coming into rehearsals with majority of a piece memorized gives you an advantage to really play around with circumstance and decisions. It is harder for me to memorize anything else but songs,so when we had to remember the sonnets I freaked out and blanked. Sometimes we have to retain so much information at one time for different courses, it is hard not to mix up the information or just completely forget. But as the semester ends, I am excited to see what everyone is going to prepare for the recital Thursday, and who will be grouping up with who. I already have an idea of what I want to do for the recital, now that all my huge assignments are done, I hope to be able to memorize my piece.

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  22. Dr. Rich,

    Memory is a wonderful thing. I would like to think I have a good memory. I still know my sixth grade best friend's cell phone number like the back of my hand. I'm like a sponge when it comes to remembering numbers or facts, even if I only encounter them once. Although I am hoping to be an English teacher, I have found that reciting literary ideas is a little harder for me to do off memory.

    I see memorizing as being robotic when it comes to my presentations. As terrible and scary as it may be for some, I do not rehearse at all. When I used to cram and attempt to memorize every line for something, I would often appear stressed in front of my audience, stumbling over every other word as I stood with stage fright. I would be so nervous to forget something that I had prepared so hard and long for. Eventually, I gave up that practice. I can understand that for a poet or someone heavily involved in theater, memorization is the only way to go in most instances. But I tend to do better by doing the research, remembering key facts, not rehearsing, and letting my mind wander in all the ideas as they come to me when I am presenting or performing. I can relish in the excitement of new ideas in the moment and sharing them with others at the same time in which they are coming to me.

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  23. Dr. Rich,
    I completely agree with your sentiments on this post! It reminds me of a time when I wish I would have memorized, and how I learned from that experience. Seven years ago, I was the matron of honor for my sister’s wedding. This meant that I was required to give a speech. I worked so hard and put a tremendous amount of thought and heart into my words. I was so pleased with how it turned out - my mom even got teary eyed the first time I read it to her. I typed it out on a piece of paper, practiced reading it a few times, and I was ready to go. But then the moment came where I had to get up in front of 200 people and recite those words. With a microphone in one hand, and my paper in the other, I began reading my speech. I was so nervous that my hand was shaking and I could barely read the words on the paper!! I made it through, and my sister loved my speech, but I do think something was lost because I kept looking down at that paper in my trembling hand. Well, two years ago my other sister got married, and once again I had to step into the matron of honor role. This time though, I decided to memorize my speech. I would recite it in the shower, while driving, or before bed. I came to feel so comfortable and confident with it, that when I got up to give the speech, it seemed so natural and genuine. I was able to direct my words at my sister, and look at her when I spoke, instead of looking at a paper in my hand. Memorizing allowed me to put more effort into the emotion and feeling behind my words, as opposed to just reading them. And you are right, it was much more exciting to walk to the front without a paper in hand!!

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  24. Memorization is a great tool, I just wish I wasn’t so shy about presentations or performances around people. I always had been very introvert, very shy and quiet. I like to listen instead of talking that is why I chose psychology as major, because I feel is a better fit for me, and I can enjoy doing it for the rest of my life. I participated in some plays in church and school, I joined the choir since middle school, did two or three solos and duets in church too, but I never overcame the nervousness of doing things in public. I don’t think it will never go away. I sweat everywhere in my hands, in my armpits, between my legs, you name it all over the body, my mouth gets very dry, the excruciating urge to go the bathroom right before the event, it is very agonizing for me to do. On each presentation that I do in school is an experience to me, which memorization comes in handy, and how is a tool that helps me function through it. I also learn what not to do next time, that is how I learn to grow as an individual. Even though memorization can be robotic to some people, it helps a shy person like me function better than no memorization at all. I might be wrong but only people who loves to give presentations or perform affront a people are able to truly entertain the viewers.

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  25. Public speaking scares many people it locks them in place and it's a shame. When I was a student I saw firsthand how some teachers would demand students to go up to the front and speak. They were just trying to break students of their fear of public speaking but it seemed they were merciless. Are they wrong for embarrassing them or do they have the right idea? I always loved public speaking, as an elective I chose a debate class that grew to be one of my favorites. Speaking in front of a crowd is one thing but memorizing a speech is another and that was hard for me. In class we got note cards to reference when we were in our debates but were discouraged from staring at our papers. I believe all students should have to take a debate class to teach good public speaking skills and be aware of social issues. Students who thought it would be impossible to get in front of a class and speak through memorization can achieve that. They will gain confidence in crowds of people it might not be easy for everyone but with the right teacher guiding them can be monumental. This is a skill that can help them throughout life.

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  26. I haven’t had to memorize poetry since I was in high school but I have had to give many presentations. Memorization has been beneficial to me but just understanding what I am talking about helps me more. It isn’t always feasible to memorize every word of a presentation. However, partial memorization has helped me mess up my words less and use filler words less. I am more confident when I have my presentations memorized because I know exactly what I have to say. Memorizing presentations is not that difficult after reciting it a few times. The information is already there in the mind, now it’s all about communicating it to the class. Memorization even makes the speaker look more presentable. I feel like I am able to concentrate more when the speaker is talking to me and not their paper. I also get bored when speakers read right out of their presentation or their index card because I can read for myself.
    I have noticed that people don’t memorize a lot anymore. Personally, it isn’t something I am strong in. I even have trouble memorizing song lyrics even though music is something that I love. In presentations I tend to memorize though.
    Priya Jhaveri

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  27. Memorizing became a huge part of my life ever since I was in elementary school. When the kids would write down right their homework on their agendas while I was writing everything down mentally. What makes it funny is that I would never forget a single homework because I would store it mentally and the teacher would be concerned as to why I’m not writing anything down. Even my mom was surprised because she knew i would never write it down and still hand in everything the teacher was asking for. So in a way I guess when you have passion for something memorizing just becomes obsolete. All I did was stare at the wall for about 4 seconds and that's all it took. The reason why I’m telling this story is perhaps that memorizing is just a instrument of what really happens when you truly love the subject. When it comes to this aspect I am very strong in and it’s hard for me to lose it while it’s already in my head. You can even tell when someone is memorizing something just to pass a assignment compared to someone who you can tell that when they are speaking they have love for the subject and won’t break or have a pause unlike someone who memorizes.

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  28. Dear Dr. Rich,

    I used to be able to memorize poems, songs, well.. anything I read. But for some time now I have no longer made it my business to memorize things. I do remember my husband, kids and my own phone number, I memorized my mother’s number. I know my Kean student id, and even other important numbers. I memorized recipes, lists of things, dates (like birthdays and anniversaries), but I cannot recite a poem from memory. Well that is wrong, it is not that I cannot memorize it, it is that I am out of shape and practice. We had to present a play for your class and I had the power point ready, I also had everything I had to say on paper, but I realized that I didn’t even look at the paper while presenting. I had it next to me, but the class is so engaging and I knew the play by heart. I was so excited (and nervous) about standing in front of my classmates and you! Lol with my fake mustache and my yellow pants, but then something happened; I noticed I knew the play. I really knew it and was able to talk about it with no “nets”. It is important to keep your brain working, your memory is after all where you keep your experiences. So lets keep working on learning and memorizing things by heart, it is like Zumba for your mind.

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  29. I've been having difficulty memorizing my own pieces and work since taking your class. Recently I've realized how much easier it is for me to memorize other people'e work, words and especially songs. For me it has to do with associating value with my work. When I gained confidence in what I've written (whether its the 3rd,4th or 16th draft), its easier for me to memorize, not necessarily because I've seen it a million times by then, but because I'm gaining more clarity for my vision and satisfaction for my work.

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  30. Nicole Diefenbacher
    Dr. Rich
    ENG 3000*01

    Knowing by Heart

    As someone who spent most of their childhood memorizing scripts for musicals, I am no newcomer when it comes to memorization. When your director says you need to be off book by this day, you better be. But the trick with memorizing scripts, for me anyway, was to rely on my scene partners for the cues.

    I haven’t been in a show since my junior year of high school. That was six years ago. I tried to memorize the prayer for my grandpa’s funeral this past July, but my family said they would rather me have the paper “just in case”. When I went up to read, I felt tethered to the paper. I couldn’t look up at my family because I didn’t have it memorized and what if I lost my place?

    My old middle school music director used to say that the saying “practice makes perfect” was wrong. “Only perfect practice makes perfect performance”, he used to say. Which is why I am taking this memorizing for the recital so seriously. In order for me to memorize it, I have to practice it perfectly. I feel that if we had the opportunity to have it in front of us, it would also lose personal value. If my eyes are glued to the piece of paper, then what I am saying won’t be said with the same feeling as when I can look into someone’s eyes and say it.

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  31. Nadia Radwan
    I definitely prefer to memorize my speeches. When I know exactly what I need to say and when to say it I just feel more confident and I am definitely less nervous. Even if I don't memorize my speech I much rather have read it through a few times. I can wing it of course, but I will be terribly nervous throughout and definitely mess up. I try my best to also practice out any ums, uhs, or likes because I know when i’m listening to other people's speeches and I hear 40 ums it's the worst. In casual conversation no one cares but if we are talking about a group of people who are giving an ear to your ideas, you better be prepared. I use my moment in front of people to deliver my speech as a personal paid ad. Whatever I am talking about, I want you to be interested in. How can I do this if my speech had more uhs than actual content? That's why I think it should be mandatory when your in elementary school to memorize your speeches or presentations. Now it might be annoying at first, but if kids get used to it at a young age then by the time they are in highschool it will only feel natural to memorize their presentations.

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  32. When Dr.Rich told us that we were going to have to memorize our poems for the end of the year recital, she is right, I did freak. But I realized that I had been doing this for almost all my presentations. I wrote down what I wanted to say and memorized it and that helped me present my content quite well. I do not have a planner like most college students because first, I cannot keep a planner and it is way easier for me to jot it now in my head. I guess my childhood also plays a part because we had to memorize the timetables and recite in school.

    When our class did the first batch of rehearsals, the poems we had been work-shopping for the semester came alive because the poets presented in the way they wanted us to see. I made eye contact with these poets which took me on their journey.
    I have never performed my poetry in front of anybody before, so I am quite nervous, but I know that all will go well with the support of the class and also the power of memorization.
    Priscilla B.





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  33. I am so very glad that our senior seminar class does not have to memorize our manuscripts for our recital, however, I do believe that memorizing makes the performance so much better. Having the author stand up at the podium so straight and confident, just shows that they are ready to begin. Looking down at the page, or taking time out to figure out where they left off, is distracting to the audience. It almost makes the audience think that whoever is giving the speech, was not prepared at all.
    Memorizing is not easy, either. It takes time and practice in order to really memorize a speech or poem, then have to recite it without looking down at that page. Whenever I have to memorize, I constantly repeat what I have to say, or make a song out of it. I know that before I read my manuscript, I will not remember it word for word, but I will practice so many times that it flows nicely, and I won’t have to forget where I left off when reading.
    I know that whoever is going to have to memorize and recite their poems will feel pressure and nervous, but they shouldn’t be. It takes hard work to do that, then have to recite it in front of many people. Whoever is reading this that is memorizing a poem just know that everyone is here for you, everyone understands the hardwork and dedication you must put in to pull this off. It is an accomplishment worth while, when having to do that! Good Luck!

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  34. Seanette Martin
    April 7, 2019
    Eng 4817
    Prof Rich
    Knowing By Heart~The Dynamics of Memorization
    I am very thankful that the end of the year assignment that has to be read for English Seminar is one that I am allowed to read from my paper. I already feel extremely overwhelmed this semester and I know that would just add onto everything. Some classes depending on the assignment I don’t mind just going with the flow. What I have come to realize is that when I am presenting and I have no paper in front of me I feel I do so much better. When I do have a paper in front of me I begin to stutter and lose confidence in myself. That has made me realize that certain assignments I need to just memorize and freestyle because while I’m in front of my audience I can give them my undivided attention and make eye contact.
    Memorizing however has always been something that I struggled with especially when it comes to taking test. I can study for days and once that day comes and the test is placed in front of me I go completely blank. I feel the internet plays a huge role in my skills to memorize many things because Google is so accessible and has all the answers that I need. One thing I know for sure is that when someone goes in front of me and presents their work if they’re reading from slides that I can read from myself I automatically get bored because they sound like a robot. So I take pointers from others and notice that isn’t something I want to do because who wants to bore their audience. When professor read straight from the slides they lose their audience and that’s when electronics and people falling asleep becomes evident. So memorization tends to be the best case scenario in certain cases.

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  35. In elementary school, we memorized all the prepositional phrases. To this day I can sing them all to you. Other than that, there really is no memorizing anymore. It’s a shame. Being able to memorize something is such a proud moment in a child’s life, it sticks with you forever. Now with all of this technology, they don’t need to memorize anything. You can just google the answers and call it a day. One memory I can remember vividly, was memorizing the times tables. We were given 3 minutes to answer as many multiplication problems as we could. As long as you memorized the times table, you could do the math unthinkable fast. This helps students out tremendously, because they’re able to think quick because of memorizing. Kids today walk around with their calculator in their pockets (their phones) so there's no need to memorize any type of math. Its really sad what our society has turned into. Memorizing is good for the soul!

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  36. Dr. Rich,

    This post comes in handy especially during this time. Between final exams, final projects, grocery lists, and daily routines, it is understandable to assume that there is no time for anything else. However, if you are passionate about something - there will be nothing that stands in your way to relish in that passion. We, as human beings, do not praise ourselves enough. We need moments to relish and enjoy what we love. We are so deep in our workaholic lives that we do not give ourselves time to breathe. Memorizing something passionate should be pleasurable, not torture. This is also healthy for our brains, and our souls as well. Some Shakespearean language is difficult to digest let alone memorize, yes. However, the approach has a lot to do with it. If you force a child to eat, they will hate dinner time. If you encourage the child to eat and try new foods,they will most likely want to try new things and be more ambitious when it comes to eating. Heck, they might even become a chef! As a future educator, I believe we need to influence young students to be more academically interested. Such as, interested and looking forward to memorizing their favorite bedtime story, or a plot in their favorite TV show. This sharpens their brains into optimistic school survival mode. That is just it - students should not be in survival mode - they should want to go to school and be successful students - due to their teacher's instruction. The best kind of teacher is always remembered by their students.

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  37. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  38. Standing in front of a classroom or audience and speaking has always given me anxiety (or enhanced the anxiety I already have). I feel eyes on me, burning into me. I feel judgement. I don’t enjoy it but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a little better at it. When you know a friendly face or two in the audience, it helps to maintain eye contact with them so you’re less aware that there are others watching you. Last semester, each student had to get up in front of the class and read one of our works, anything we wanted. Rather than standing in front, we were able to sit in a chair at a table. I don’t know why but this helped me relax. I knew eyes were on me but I wasn’t as anxious and didn’t feel as much on display. My go-to tactic is usually to find a face I know and talk/present to them. This has helped me in the past. But I do always have my paper in front of me and find myself trying to navigate between reading the paper and looking at others. Maybe one day I’ll try memorization and see how that turns out. Maybe.

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  39. I did not realize how important it is to know your material by heart. Memorizing my poems is something that I have never really considered. But reading this post really opened my eyes to how important it is to connect with your audience. Being able to connect with your audience can make all the difference when presenting or reading something. If there is no eye contact, the audience feels disconnected from the presenter. It can also give off the feeling that the presenter may not actually know what he or she is talking about too. It may be different than performing, but even when other classmates give presentations you can tell the difference between who knows their information and who is reading directly off the slides. And the difference is everything, one is extremely engaging and helpful while the other is very boring. In order to keep your audience engaged with your work, you have to show that you know it and that you care about it. Otherwise, they will not care about it. If the audience does not care, they will get bored very quickly and stop listening to what you are trying to share with them. After reading this post, I will start to memorize all of my writings that will be read aloud to an audience. I believe all writers should try their best to do this, even if the writing loses a little bit of quality through your words, the audience will still feel more connected with the speaker, and that is most important.

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  40. Memorizing and knowing pieces of work or simply just numbers is difficult for me, as a person who has anxiety and goes into total freak out mode when I don’t have my crutch with me. My anxiety is so bad that I couldn’t even present to the class my senior seminar presentation (it was on PowerPoint by the way) because I was shaking and trembling, heart beating fast, with cold clammy hands and a throat that was closing up on me, making it incredibly hard to breathe.

    But I did grow up at the tail end of an era where most people would memorize phone numbers and names so I believe that I have some of those skills within me.

    To me, memorization is hard because I always mix things up with each other. And with a talkative and active brain, I try not to let it get the best of me. However lovely this post is, I do not want to memorize. I think it is better to understand and know the whole poem or script as a whole to understand the concept and then learn the lines from there. Memorizing leads me to think about standardized testing or just testing in general. Many students memorize for a test and then simply forget about the information to make room for the next test. I took AP classes and I cannot, for the life of me, remember anything from what I have learned. Wait, no, I’m sorry. I know the picture association for the word “angiosperms.” Thanks, AP Bio! I could not give you a definition if I tried.

    This is why I want memorizing or reciting poems to be different. Poetry, in itself, is a piece of the poet. It’s what they think, felt, or had in mind for that particular moment. It is more emotional and soul saving than hard facts about plants or the Louisiana Purchase.

    Recite the poem with your chest! With the emotions that conjure up when you, as the reader, reads the poem. I want memorizing or reciting poems to be second nature. I want to let it flow easily from the soul as opposed to memorizing the lines and giving a deadpan performance.

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  41. Memorization is beneficial when it comes to live performances or presentations. I agree that If the performer or speaker knows their information, it gives them more confidence to engage the audience. Unfortunately, I alike so many other people have anxiety and panic when it comes to getting up in front of an audience. I find that as soon as the attention is aimed at me my mind goes blank. I freeze up, and I forget all the confident self- talk I gave myself before getting up in front of an audience. I become terrified of making a mistake or saying things wrong. Or I am afraid of the judgements people in the crowd have of me.

    Prior to reading this writing, I never took the time to memorize my presentations. Just thinking about my presentations causes me to become anxious. But, I do think if I was able to memorize my work it might help me feel more confident. If I memorized my words I could focus more on the way I said them. I could put more emphasis on certain words that hold more meaning. And this in turn will give me the confidence to not put so much pressure on myself to be right or say things how I want people to perceive it.

    If I didn’t memorize my words I would be constantly looking down at my paper and rushing. This really gives the audience more time and opportunity to judge because I am not being as engaging. So, for future presentations I will do my best to memorize my work and engage the audience more.

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  42. There are so many things that come into play when performing a piece of writing, especially one that I've written myself. I drive myself mad with questions like, "Is my writing good enough? Will my audience be engaged? How do I look? Is there anything odd on my face? Will I speak loud enough?" and these are only a few. Fear of not being able to memorize my writing has always been present ever since the first time I spoke in front of an audience, especially with a poem I'd written. After the second time I read my poetry in a contest I had won second place in, I started to grow confident and even more so when a woman from the audience told me she loved my poem and that I should have won first place myself. If that didn't boost my confidence, I don't know what did! Experiences like that move me forward and inspire me to be a better performer for my audience and for the sake of my writing, which deserves the vocal emotion that went into writing it.
    I believe a speaker is much more impactful when they trust what they are saying. When I get up in front of class to present, I know it’s extremely difficult to capture my audiences’ attention because most of them don’t want to be there. This is when I bring humor into what I’m saying to lift the tension and bring my audience down to a comfortable level of somewhat listening. I’ve always avoided poetry readings because I don’t trust my work, and it would show. However, I’ve been growing in my journey of trust and feel able to do things I couldn’t before, especially reciting my poetry.

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  43. Dear Dr. Rich,

    I recall occasions where I was the audience to speakers who were so nervous that they looked down at their notes the entire time, spoke in a whisper, repeated umm’s every other sentence, and bored us near to death. Although I felt terrible for this speaker, I could not help but criticize. I realized that although public speaking does not come easy for everyone, preparation and memorizations will go a long way! There were times that I tried “winging it” for class presentations but I did not perform nearly as well as when I studied and practiced my lines days prior to my presentation.
    I think that technology has made people of my generation very lazy. I can confess that I NEED my cell phone because I write everything down since I tend to easily forget appointments, birthdays, phone numbers, events and more. It is refreshing to see the incredible minds of older people like my grandma who did not grow up with the memory killing technology we have now. My grandmother stores everything in her mind, she remembers over 100 birthday dates of family and friends, she recites phone numbers and recipes by heart, and she even memorized a 7 minute poem at fifteen years old that she still repeats word by word now, 70 years later. And now i truly see why people are so attracted and in awe when they listen to her speak -because she "knows by the heart" as you titled this post.
    “I am the message” and “flying without a net” WOW what a powerful set of words that I will memorize and remember for the next time I am the speaker/host of an audience.

    Marilyn H.

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  44. I’ve seen two seperate memorized performances of Ozymandias by Percy Shelley. The first one being an unprepared man with flash cards giving a monotone monologue to a bored audience. The second? I really believed she met a traveler from an antique land for a minute there. That was due to her memorization of the poem. There is a content message, and there is a relational message in any communication. McLuhans reminder that when I speak, I am the vessel for both of those messages comes in handy. In high school I had to give a memorized twelve minute speech and while daunting for a seventeen year old, getting at least 75% of the written words into spoken ones verbatim let me be more confident, enunciate more, and be casual when I had* to be improvisational. Memorizing a speech or poem or other performance piece to allow it to be natural means I will be too.

    When I watch a movie, I have a well-defined medium to intake. The mise-en-scène frames how I experience a film, but when someone is speaking, they are not a well defined product. The dynamics of silver screen to person vs person to person shows. Watching Citizen Kane I am manipulated with every shot. Watching a screening of Rocky Horror everyone knows when to throw the toast at the screen, but it’s up to the audience to decide when tomatoes should start hitting bad stand up comedians. With memorization a speech can be well defined, and with skill a person be a good vessel for intended messages relational or contextual. If I am monotone, unconfident, have nothing memorized, I can’t properly frame the message I want to get across. Being cool calm and collected with memorized lines can allow me to have more control and be well-defined.

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  45. Memorizing really has to do with memory and re-membering. When you think about it, we, as people, remember what is significant, meaningful, and moving in our lives. Our own poems represent our own thoughts, and our own assigning of meaning. Why not, therefore, dedicate them as part of our memory? Why not at least partially memorize them? I suggest this because it helps us as writers and as thinkers. In addition, memorization is good for communicating one's poems and thoughts to others, good for presenting and sharing.
    I do not think that we have to memorize everything, and certainly, we do not need to do so all at once. In truth, in our lives we combine some memorization, with some reading and record keeping. We will no doubt commit to our memories certain ideas and pieces of information, sooner than other pieces of info. This is natural. However, if we can memorize even one third of one of our own poems, this can make for a greater presentation of the poem! Knowing the poem by heart, helps us to articulate our ideas, with emotion and eye contact!
    It's really about knowing yourself and your experiences- as, your poem Is your life experience, is your ideas, is your heart. Do not be afraid to know and articulate your ideas and emotions. I know it takes confidence to present and read a poem to an audience. But writing a poem in one's notebook takes confidence as well. Why let the confidence stop with the writing? Extend the confidence to communicating and sharing with others! The better a person knows who she or he is, the better she or he can share. Likewise, the better she or he knows his or her ideas (poems are ideas) the better she or he can impart them on others. Know by heart, remember by heart, and share by heart.
    Personally, it is encouraging to me to know that the creative process is all related. As the skills of thinking and writing can be developed, so can we go a little further to develop the skills of memory and communication with others. The fact that we can sometimes remember experiences from so many years ago, is testimony that memory is integral to living. We are simply applying the power of memory to our own writing and ideas.
    -Michael Loberfeld

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  46. THIS IS SO TRUE. As an actress, I am very familiar with memorization. When preparing for a production, I run into this problem of letting the script become a barrier to true relationship with fellow actors and with the audience. In the first few weeks of rehearsal, we carry our scripts in hand. The characters we play feel "put on" and undiscovered. They feel incomplete. Their words have not inhabited our bodies. It is only when we memorize our lines (without plans of how we will deliver them!) that the characters truly take form within us. With the words memorized, we begin to analyze their meanings, we assess the character's psychological state and motivation. That is when we find who they are, and that is when the words come to life. I imagine it is no different with poetry and for this reason, I am now moved to begin memorizing the poems that have affected me deeply.

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  47. I can see memorization being difficult in turning into another person in order for those words to sound like our own. Most people today do not even memorize phone numbers. I still do because it shows the era I came from and I am proud of it. I find it easier to memorize the things I care about like my grandpa's famous phrases, with him gone i find it harder and harder to recall them so I force myself to talk like him so I keep his phrases alive. Similar to remembering poems I have always memorized the ones that i connect with.

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  48. I related this on a whole different level. As a writer, I use the excuse that my voice carries so well on the page that speaking would not do my thoughts justice. I was also 100% gravitated towards writing in general because it meant that I would not have to speak publicly, or not that often, so I thought. Coming into college I was actually a business major, but I immediately switched once I realized the amount of public speaking I would have to do, but in the end I think things worked out. I remember my freshman year taking the GE required Communications class and dreading making presentations every other week. I would use my powerpoint as a crutch, furiously twisting my head to the screen then back to my class regurgitating what I had written in my slide. I did this for all my presentations for the entire semester, even my group presentations. I didn’t learn how to properly stand up in front of a crowd and speak until my junior year. It was a final presentation that I had spent days reviewing because I refused to rely on the powerpoint slides and have them dictate what I would say to the class. So I spent time in front of my mirror rehearsing the presentation from memory and removed parts that didn’t flow with my speech. I even practiced in a public restroom once a girl volunteered to listen to my presentation to help ease my nerves. Fast forward to the day of my presentation and safe to say it was the best performance I could have hoped for. I was “flying without a net” and I felt like I could stay up there and talk for hours.

    Yessenia D.

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  49. I never thought about how the podium acts as a barrier but I completely understand it. When allowed to read off a paper, I could look down at it and not at the audience, as a way to make myself pretend they are not there and I am reading it out loud to myself. I feel that it is a boring presentation, but I do it to calm my own fears. However, when I am told to memorize I do, and I deliver the lines with confidence and I know it shows. I feel more empowered when, despite fear, I could speak in front of an audience and maintain direct eye contact. I feel my words carry more meaning and the audience believes it when I believe in myself. I've participated in plays before and I can't imagine what it would be like if all the actors delivered lines with pages in front of their faces. It would feel so impersonal and leave the audience unable to lose themselves in the story.

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  50. I now for a fact that I would find it very difficult to memorize a poem, especially if its a poem that I don't deem to be a favorite. So maybe one day when I do write a poem that I like, I would be able to memorize. I always relate to the songs that I have made in the past years when commenting on your blogs.. I find it easy to recite my music because of melody and also sharing with others. Once the words are out there the words come back to the mind and stay naturally. Another interesting point that was made in this, was feeling the words. Emotions that are conveyed when reciting a poem out loud is another poem in itself. I recall someone recite their poems about their life orny. It was a letter to their mom. Although I don't remember the words, the emotions they conveyed when reciting their poem is what made it memorable to me! I was so moved that I had to tell friends and family about it, which I don't find myself doing a lot.the overall idea of memorization can be very difficult but inspiring. I hope that one day if i find myself reciting poetry, I will be able to move others in the process as well.

    -racquel f

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  51. Memorization is not my forte. Today everything I need is literally at my fingertips. However, I find it interesting that I can memorize a new song I heard on the radio 3 times, but not a speech that I rehearsed for months and spent hours writing and revising. Memorizing has always been a subject of like vs dislike. I memorize what I find interesting, appealing like a new song or daily routine. I do not memorize something that might not really benefit me in the long run, which is eerie to say because you never really know what you made need. The purpose of school is to “teach” and I put that in quotes because that is not what they are doing. It wasn’t until I got to college, deprived of a necessary tool, that I realized the importance of memorization. There is beauty, and grace and a form of intimacy in listening to a poet recite without constantly looking back and forth between the book and the audience. You notice all the subtle movements, facial expressions and tone change that makes the poem a different feeling. Much like, home economics and woodshop, memorization is a skill we need to bring back into our school system.

    Donika H.

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  52. I agree with the idea that media has left us not feeling the need to memorize certain things or certain poems because of the easy access. However I don’t think it’s that we don’t want to remember I just think it’s that we don’t make the time to go back the average person especially if they’re like me has far more screenshots on their phone then they do selfies or videos because there are simply things that we want to remember or look back on and the screenshot allows us to remember. The only issue is the fact that we don’t ever get the chance to look back and reflect on the again. I just deleted a lot of the extra photos and videos from my phone knowing that I’m about to get a better phone that will allow me to do even more. While I deleted I recalled this quote from Beyoncé about being a boss and taking days off to recuperate however I didn’t look at it again after I saved it because I focused my energy somewhere else instead of back on the moment I was trying to save. I think that media and the chance to save thigs makes us take the idea of trying to remember for granted because we always think that it’ll be there later so we can reflect so what’s the rush. However nothing is worst then forgetting to go back and then later on checking and seeing you didn’t remember it in time.

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  53. Although I am only 22 years old, I remember a time where memorization was a huge part of my life. I remember having to memorize my best friends phone numbers so that I could call them during commercial breaks of American idol to speak about the performances. This was before I had a cell phone of course! I also had to memorize many family member phone calls in case of emergencies or if I wanted to chat. When I was in 6th grade it was the first time I was gifted a cell phone. I thought it was the best thing in the entire world! (Especially because it had its own keyboard and I was able to type on it rather than press buttons massive amounts of time to form words). Little did I know, that progressively over time I would forget how to memorize people’s phone numbers.. I can count on one hand how many numbers I have memorized...and most of them are ones that I have known for years! It actually saddens me that I have lost this sense of memorization throughout the years without even realizing it. When it applies to memorizing things for class, it also becomes very difficult. People become freaked out at the thought of having to memorize their work...As do I. As I am nearing the end of my college career, after many presentations, I can honestly say that the best ones I have given were the ones I have memorized and practiced on multiple occasions. Its extremely true when they say “practice makes perfect”! You can tell when your audience is engaged in your topic if you become the master of the topic you are sharing. In the near future, I am challenging myself to memorize more phone numbers!

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  54. I remember taking a public speaking class at Middlesex College. My teacher was a sweet soft-spoken old lady but when she told the class that we each had to present a 10-20 minute speech, it's amazing how quick we thought her cuteness went away. The thought of having to do something that we each struggled with and to have to be graded, was so damn stressful. She allowed us to choose our own topic, which I thought would be easier but it wasn't. It took me two weeks, possibly more to figure out what I felt most comfortable with.

    I don't remember what topic I chose but I do remember my class was having a great time. I think I made it into a fun workshop where my audience had to participate. Even my teacher joined the fun. Afterwards I had classmates asking me for tips which was unusual. I did write my speech on paper as a reference but not one time did I use it. The moment felt really good.

    Now, I do get nervous talking about particular topics but when reading my poems, it comes almost naturally. If I had to memorize it to perform, I don't know if I have the guts but if presented with that challenge then I can do something. I cannot guarantee it will turn out the way I would like but I will say it may be unforgettable.

    Meagan AWP 5000

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  55. Memorization, my biggest fear in freshman year college. Public speaking, I disliked the class so much the professor attitude or how he approached himself didn’t make it any better. Now when it was time to talk for 10-15 mins and memorize the speech. My heart skipped a beat, I didn’t not like one bit of it. when it was my turn to talk. My hands were shaking and remember hiding behind the small podium or that day I had a scarf on and I would play with the strings hanging at the end of the scarf. Then I started to sweat, forget the order of my speech. In shorter words, I was a complete mess. To a point the professor cut my out and said, Thank you Jessica. Now I felt like I had my speech memorized just the nervousness left me blank and scrabbling in the files of my brain. It was bad. Now whenever I need to speak/ present in front of class I take a deep breath and not look at their faces and look at the back wall or the side walls and try to stay relax as possible. If I get lost ill look away and take a deep breath and get back to the topic and have something in my hand to entertain my fingers. To that has helped for me so far. A fear I had to overcome somehow.

    Jessica M.
    AWP4000

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