More Meeting #1

Quotation from Meeting #1 Minutes:

"Jerry pointed out that it disrupts the flow of the rest of the poem by drawing the reader's mind to a song in which these lines are used at the ending."

Actually, not a song. It's from the poem "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot, though Project 86 alludes to it in the song "Hollow Again."

Allusion seemed to be the topic of the day. The main question was: When does allusion cease to be effective and become plagiarism?

In a way all allusion is plagiarism, but it is also a form of respect. For a poet to effectively use allusion as a poetic device the poet must have a thorough understanding of the text being alluded to, and the allusion itself must be appropriate. A forced allusion shows a shallow understanding of the source text as well as immaturity as a writer.

We all go through this stage, and I'm sure in six months I'll blush reading my current work.

Next week I intend to discuss Eliot's "The Hollow Men" since it became a point of interest.

Prepare to have your work thoroughly edited. Ideally, bring a typed manuscript of your work so we can peer review.