Erin Lennon
RE-PURPOSING: From research to poetry
The original: In English 225, a class I found, quite frankly, painful in every sense that a college-level course could be painful, I was told to write a 10-page research paper on any topic relating to American identity — the theme of a class that was aimed at the "art of argumentation." I, being the sports-loving, New York-loving jerk I am, decided to argue for the societal relevance of the New York Yankees' post-9/11 victory and subsequent World Series victory, noting that sports both emodied and restored a specific, winner-take-all patriotism that is unique to the United States.
The purpose of repurposing (attempt numero uno): Writing 220 was asked to pick a piece of writing from our past, to rethink the audience and the setting in which this piece would be read. The topic itself was undoubtedly an ode to myself, the persons affected so traumatically by the events of 9/11, the defiant New Yorkers who called for blood after t hat fateful day. So I chose to write them a poem.
A second try, a re-purposed product: Sometimes, when I watch the West Wing and fancy myself Sam Seaborne for a moment, but the first thing I wanted to do was put myself at the podium in front of the Freedom Tower or behind home plate at Yankee Stadium. Once I was able to nail down my location — the anniversary ceremony at Yankee Stadium — I was able to make my argument more authoritative and less abstract in poetry form.
From re-pruposed to re-mediated: Now imagine the video board in dead center field, the sound filling the stadium and overflowing into the streets of the Bronx. It is an emotional montage, and one that elicits a "U-S-A" as it fades out.
