Craig Conroy Assignment 0

Craig Conroy

Assignment Zero

Biography time, I guess. As stated above, my name is Craig Conroy and I am an English major with a focus on creative writing. I enjoy writing, perhaps I revere it a little, so it seemed like a natural choice for me to make my secret dalliance public with a formal declaration of interest. Why do I enjoy it? Its an art form. I like to think of myself as an artist (lame, I know), but that’s just the way I am right now. For me, writing is one of the most complete expressions of thought, feeling, and just about anything else a human being can conjure up inside our little heads.

I am from Massachusetts, a town called Sharon, located to the south of Boston. As far as what it is like there, I don’t know if there are many drastic differences between the area and Canton, NY. Sure, the area is definitely more crowded; there is a major city nearby, so it is a bit more developed. But there are similarities; the climate is generally similar, perhaps a little warmer, but not too much so that I can’t complain about the cold constantly.

Aside from writing my main hobby is acting and participating in the theatre program here at school. Acting is sort of my first love. Before I ever became a “writer” I was an actor first and foremost. I think I was first drawn into writing because of its close relationship with all things dramatic. Writing serves to stoke theatrical fires, to inspire great words to be performed. The shift in my priorities seemed a simple choice, and one I have not regretted.

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t have many relevant influences, as far as poetry goes. My favorite poem of all time is John Milton’s Paradise Lost. It’s long, epically long in fact, but when I read it I felt a great connection. It’s the kind of work that you look at and just feel, “this is what poetry should be.”

For me, good poetry resembles the style adopted by Milton. It is a sublime expression. Poetry should be an expression created through our most prodigious attempts at mastering language. It should be lyrical, mesmerizing even, and is always to be considered a “beautiful” thing. Beauty, as lame as it sounds, is probably the most important aspect of poetry for me. Every poem should just be beautiful.

I am taking this class so that I might be able to improve my prose style. I have become a little bored with my own techniques, so I want to expand it by adopting the lyrical styles found in poetry.