Duffrin 1

Tyler Duffrin

Austin Van Kirk

HUM 131.01

15 August 2017

Elegance and Ugliness

My Cultural Creation is a poem I created in attempts to contextualize the meeting of

India and Europe. Included in the Cultural Creation are the three ideas that (1) the western part of

the world was/is concerned with money much more than cultural beauty or significance,

especially much more so than the eastern part of the world (2) the Taj Mahal was created out of

respect for the Islamic religion, not for self-serving purposes, which also attributes the eastern

world to caring more about cultural beauty and significance more than money, and (3) the

western part of the world (India in this particular case) welcomed the eastern part of the world

(Europe in this particular case) with open arms and encouraged a diffusion of cultural practices

far before this happened anywhere in the western world, yet this idea is still neglected in the

textbook that we read. In an abstract and far-reaching manner, I attempted to explain these three

ideas in an extremely short poem.

The attraction to this particular idea came because, upon reading about it, I noticed that

the two cultures were highly unusual for having been meshed. I did not even realize that Islamic

India existed before reading the chapter here, or that the Taj Mahal was created as a result of

Islamic leaders reigning in India. It makes sense now. I represented my ideas by using elegant

diction, without having an elegant subject. This causes the reader (me, at least) to feel a little

confused upon reading it. After I finished it and went back and read it, it felt as though I was

reading a poem from someone who didnt know how to write poetry and was trying to use
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extravagant words to make up for the fact (which is true, but that is precisely what I tried to do

writing this poem). I did this to demonstrate the diffusion between the cultures; the

Muslim/Indian culture was very elegant, beautiful, and welcoming, while the European culture

was not, and was only concerned with the profit they would make from such a diffusion. I also

mention in the poem a couple questions that are supposed to be asked from the Muslim/Indian

perspective. Welcoming a foreigner is highly unpopular within the Muslim culture, and for this

leader to welcome so many different cultures and religions astounds me.

Challenges I faced were trying to come up with a poem that was good and bad

simultaneously in the way I wanted to. It was also a challenge just writing the poem because I

have never written one creatively before. Successfully, I learned about the diffusion between the

two cultures, and produced an abstract, robust idea. This Cultural Creation relates to me

idealistically. The poem does not relate to me at all. I hope to be somewhat like the leader of the

Muslim/Indian culture throughout my life. I agree with the idea that many, many perspectives

from different backgrounds, philosophies, and religion constitute the most well-rounded truth. I

did not exceed expectations with this Cultural Creation, rather, I met them.