Young Writers Society

Everyone says poetry is an art, and it is. Or is it?

Here are some reasons for why it is like a sci experiment:

1. It's good to have a purpose in mind, a reason why you wrote it, i.e. an 'Aim.' Although, admittedly, this might change since a lot of poems start off with one aim, and then totally change direction.

2. It's bucket chemistry. You don't know which chemicals/images might work, in which proportions, so it's trial and error till you get it right.

3. Sci fair experiments and poems have to be original. They might be totally new, or might explore/investigate something in a different way.

4. For sci fair as well as poems, there is the 'audience' to think about - judges and readers respectively.

5. It helps, when being interviewed about your sci project, if you come across as really enthusiastic about what you've done. So...there's an element of emotion in both.

6. Imagination helps in both - albeit to different extents - since in sci fair, if you stuff something up, then you've got to creatively fix it.

7. In both, the 'discussion' part allows for interpretation of the poem/science results in various ways, with many contributing factors. So, a final conclusion is rarely reached - rather, probable conclusions are tossed around.


Some reasons why poetry is not like a sci fair experiment:

1. You can write as much as you want in the sci discussion to shove the message down the examiners' throats, to explore every facet of the experiment. In a poem, you need an element of control with the intended theme.

2. Having a method helps in repeating a sci fair experiment, but is utterly useless in repeating a poetry-writing session.

3. The experiment is generally only concerned with facts. Poetry deals with both intellect and emotion.

4. You use the left side of your brain to write poetry, and generally the right side to do science. (Correct me if I've got them mixed up).

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So, that's about all I can come up with. Science is winning 7 to 4 right now - not that that takes into account the weight of each reason.

Now it's YOUR TURN! What do you think?

I've never actually done a science fair experiment (gasp!) but I can vouch that poetry is very much like technical writing. Concise, tight writing in both fields is desired, always. Every word must matter.

And I'm not quite sure why you said that it doesn't deal with intellect and emotion? During a class presentation where I was discussing about the potentials of cellulosic ethanol as a possible biofuel, we had to deal with the experimental parts (what had been found) and the science behind all that had been found. When Q&A time rolled around, the first question that was asked was an emotionally-driven sociological question that dealt with the science of ethanol as a fuel. Sooooo... maybe that's not like a science fair experiment (more like what you would typically find in real science) but science can be pretty emotional as well.

Concise, tight writing in both fields is desired, always. Every word must matter.

I wholeheartedly agree with Snoink on that. However! Just because it should matter, doesn't mean it does. Exhibit A,B,C,(to infinity): The use of the word "utilize" in every scientific context instead of "use." Painful!

Any additions I can think of at the moment?
Pro:
8. Everything builds off the fundamentals from years ago. The laws of math, thermodynamics, and physics influence every experiment today. Likewise, Homer, Shakespeare, Whitman, and others laid the foundations for storytelling, rhyme schemes, and free verse.

Con:
5. It's okay to manipulate your data in poetry. You won't be barred from performing poetry just because the person that you said died did not actually die. You will be barred from performing science if the person that you said lived actually died. You will be barred HARD.

I make it my mission in life to change every "utilize" into "use" as far as scientific writing goes.

Haha, just thought of another difference between poetry and science fair experiments.

In the sci exp's, you've got to make it look like you've done a lot of hard work, show off as much as you can with the depth, the detail, the level of analysis and thinking.

In poetry, it's got to seem effortless.