Tracer Workshop: The Smithian "It"
Welcome to the first Tracer Workshop! In these workshops, you will learn about specific techniques, stylistic choices, poetic decisions, etc. that Tracy K. Smith frequently uses and makes throughout her several books of poetry. I have “traced” such techniques across all of the collections that I have read thus far and will be sharing my findings, observations, and commentary with you via these workshops. This first workshop deals with the infamous Smithian “It,” which refers to Smith’s ambiguous use of the word “it” as a means by which to convey a singular idea across one individual poem, or to convey a larger, deeper, and more complex and metaphorical concept across several poems in a collection in order to reveal a greater truth. In Symposium class, this Smithian “It” has been a great source of friendly, intellectual debate, with peers and I going back and forth on what we think the “it” in a certain circumstance represents: Is it the universe? Is it some existential being that is b