Thursday, April 21, 2016

Poetry Problem #2

Rene Char said “A poem is always married to someone.”
Prove this. Or prove it false.

Let the set of married things be called set M. Our task is to either prove or disprove that poems always belong to set M.

If an element is in set M, it is called "married", which entails that there is a mutual relationship. Thus, anything in set M must have exactly one unique (since polygamy is outlawed in the US) counterpart also in set M.
Marriage requires joint decision-making and rationalization, so we conclude that a "married" element is rational.

Now, let us analyze "poem." A poem can be commonly defined as "a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanzaic structure." 

Poems include elements of speech, song, rhythm, and literary devices. Therefore we write

[poem] = [speech]*[song] + [literary devices]

Consider each component of [poem] individually. 

[speech] is an integral part of human society, so we conclude that [speech] is an integer. 

[song] often incorporates speech, so we say [song] is also an integer.

[literary devices] include things like metaphors, similes, hyperboles. Metaphors compare things that aren't related, and hyperboles are exaggerations not meant to be taken seriously. Therefore, some things in [literary devices] are irrational.

Then, [poem] is the product of two integers plus a possibly irrational number, so [poem] can be irrational, meaning it is not true that a poem must belong to set M. We have disproved that a poem is always married.








12 comments:

  1. I love this so much. Very creative, analytical. I really appreciate the mix of math and poetry, seemingly opposites.

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    1. Very true! Also, this post is fun in light of one of the posts from the last round, about the road trip with Math and Poetry. Based on this, I'd say that Sam would have them getting along quite well.

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    2. Very true! Also, this post is fun in light of one of the posts from the last round, about the road trip with Math and Poetry. Based on this, I'd say that Sam would have them getting along quite well.

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  2. OMG this was so good. It actually makes perfect sense which is what makes it so cool. I think your response was really clean and simple but also looks like it took thought and creativity. I like how the connections you made weren't random just to answer the question but really fit in with the rest of the post.

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  3. Wow, you did a good job of reading between the lines and breaking down what it means to be "married". I didn't think poetry could be discussed in such a detail/intricate manner and I applaud you for all the work you put in answering this question.

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  4. Sam I love that you made this a mathematical proof! I think poetry lends itself to logic puzzles in so many ways that math should only logically follow in order to make sense of all of it. I think though that marriages can be irrational. Think about all the people who get married in vegas, or really anywhere where their judgement is impaired. While it may be consensual, sometimes marriages don't make sense. While I think your proof is excellent, indicating that irrational things don't belong in set M, I think your definition of set M is flawed.

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  5. Of course you would bring math into a poetry post Loll
    Nice work, Sam--I like that you combine poetry and math in an innovative, new way.

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  6. I like how you approached this in a math-proof manner. It's very methodical and thorough. Great job!

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  7. Wow this is really creative! It reminds me of the proofs Ms. Boca used to make us prove... oh dear memories. At any rate, I really enjoyed reading this!

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  8. Nice! I'm not sure I agree with all of the propositions about what a poem is like, nor all of your assumptions about marriage, but the style is elegant and direct.

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  9. This post is really similar to my proof post, but you took a much more strictly math-based approach. The way you defined different terms into classes of numbers was an interesting twist, especially your word play with "integral" and "integer". It would have been cool if you had tied in integration with your proof, but overall well done!

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  10. This is definitely an interesting way to interpret the prompt. Very creative. I always thought of the "marriage" as something more personal and emotional is what tied a poem to a person, but this is a very interesting perspective

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