Professor Harry Miller taught creative...
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Professor Harry Miller taught creative writing classes at Central Michigan University when I registered as a freshman. One of his goals was to help us understand the differences between "casual speech" used in ordinary conversations, "formal speech" used in a structured relationship, and "poetic speech" used by visionaries and people who ponder the depths of life. Professor Miller said that he would illustrate some differences by describing how to get from Broadway down to the campus. He gave examples. "Casual speech: From Broadway, go south; it's maybe ten or so blocks; takes ten or 15 minutes to walk it. Just head south and keep comin'. An' when you get to campus, there right ahead of you, you'll see our big Ad Building. It's one of our best, a fine lookin' building." Then he illustrated formal speech. He said that the Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce, in promoting this fair city, would use formal speech in their brochures. "If one stands at the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue, one could look south and see, in the far distance, the beginning edge of the campus. "If you then walk straight south on College Avenue, you would find that ten or 15 minutes would be sufficient, taking you along a typically beautiful street. "Upon arriving at campus, look straight ahead and see the Administration Building. There you would find a warm welcome to our beautifully appointed and growing campus." "Now," Prof. Miller said, "I'll show you poetry." We were a bit surprised when he departed from his pattern of walking from Broadway down to the campus. Instead, he pulled out a copy of the Alma Mater, stepped forward and sang it solo. He then asked for our written response to this question, "What does a poetic piece contain, or do, which is other than the first two types of speech?" From those 35 freshmen, more than 20 responses included the words, "vision," "hope," "quest," "dedication." A line from one student's answer was read to all of us, "Poetry produces ever new ideas; the more you read it, the more you want to think about it." -- Hoornstra
