Noah Hutton and Patricia Smith Symposium Reflection: Blog #8

I went to the Symposium on Wildness and I attended Hutton’s documentary on oil drilling in North Dakota and Smith’s poetry reading. I honestly picked Hutton’s documentary because it was right before Smith’s reading and fit with my schedule. I had no previous knowledge of oil drilling, no interest, and no real desire to go to that particular event other than for class. And being completely honest, I love it. I found his documentary extremely engaging. I appreciated his style so much. I don’t think I’ve seen a documentary that was more honest or objective. The way he just filmed people and what they had to say was so honest. I didn’t feel like there was a specific argument that he was trying to sway his audience towards, and I really liked that. As for Smith’s reading, it was good. I thought it was great. Her poetry is really meant to be an oral art. I thought it was great how she read her poem that had the greatest impact on me, 34. I hadn’t realized that it was the first poem she had written for this book. I wouldn’t even say that I liked that poem, but it definitely was the one that I remember clearest and it was really special to hear her read it.