Learning Target: We can identify the elements that affect the pacing of poems
Today we start poetry week. For some this will be a relief. For others, a seeming burden. But the burden will be light as prose and poetry do a lot of fooling around underneath the covers.
Much of what we've discussed thus far applies to poetry as well and so my focus this week is introducing you to the elements that are more strictly poetic: sound, rhythm, and form.
It's pretty easy to get overwhelmed in techno jargon about language and syllables and accents. This stuff becomes more interesting once you are actually trying to get a certain effect in your own writing. That's how we're going to roll this week.
First, though I’m going to give you time to work on Journal Entry # 6: In revising your story, what aspect of your writing do you want to focus on (e.g. character, plot, point of view, description, etc.) If you just have a vague feeling that you want the story to be “more this way” or “less that way,” write about that. What questions about creative writing and storytelling did this story generate for you?
The first poetry topic we’re going to learn about is pacing, that is how fast or slow you want someone to read your poem. There are specific things you can do to control the pace of the poem. Some poems benefit from a quick read because they have a certain rhythm that works best at speed. Others benefit from a slow, contemplative mulling of the words and images.
You’ll first divide into two groups and think about themes that would benefit from a fast or slow pace. I’ll then pass out some poems that are fast and slow and we’ll read them out loud. Can you identify what makes them slow or fast?
Then I’ll pass out the poetry assignment and the rubric and answer any questions you have. All the poems you write need to address a single question that you want to answer. There is a reason for this. Good poetry comes from deep engagement with a subject. Writing to a single question allows you to look at a subject from different angles. You’ll also find enough room to write very different poems but still have them connected. Connecting the poems together also gives you additional artistic choices to make and so makes for a richer and more engaging assignment.
There should be some time left at the end of the class that you will use to do a powerwrite and see if you can discover the question that you absolutely need to answer with your poems.
Homework for Tuesday, October 20th
Choose a theme for your poems and start writing.
Today we start poetry week. For some this will be a relief. For others, a seeming burden. But the burden will be light as prose and poetry do a lot of fooling around underneath the covers.
Much of what we've discussed thus far applies to poetry as well and so my focus this week is introducing you to the elements that are more strictly poetic: sound, rhythm, and form.
It's pretty easy to get overwhelmed in techno jargon about language and syllables and accents. This stuff becomes more interesting once you are actually trying to get a certain effect in your own writing. That's how we're going to roll this week.
First, though I’m going to give you time to work on Journal Entry # 6: In revising your story, what aspect of your writing do you want to focus on (e.g. character, plot, point of view, description, etc.) If you just have a vague feeling that you want the story to be “more this way” or “less that way,” write about that. What questions about creative writing and storytelling did this story generate for you?
The first poetry topic we’re going to learn about is pacing, that is how fast or slow you want someone to read your poem. There are specific things you can do to control the pace of the poem. Some poems benefit from a quick read because they have a certain rhythm that works best at speed. Others benefit from a slow, contemplative mulling of the words and images.
You’ll first divide into two groups and think about themes that would benefit from a fast or slow pace. I’ll then pass out some poems that are fast and slow and we’ll read them out loud. Can you identify what makes them slow or fast?
Then I’ll pass out the poetry assignment and the rubric and answer any questions you have. All the poems you write need to address a single question that you want to answer. There is a reason for this. Good poetry comes from deep engagement with a subject. Writing to a single question allows you to look at a subject from different angles. You’ll also find enough room to write very different poems but still have them connected. Connecting the poems together also gives you additional artistic choices to make and so makes for a richer and more engaging assignment.
There should be some time left at the end of the class that you will use to do a powerwrite and see if you can discover the question that you absolutely need to answer with your poems.
Homework for Tuesday, October 20th
Choose a theme for your poems and start writing.