Monday, April 27, 2015

Poetry: Week 1 (Spotlight on Emily Dickenson & Robert Frost)

Today's readings include the introductions for each poet, and the poems on the following pages: 463-475 (Dickenson) and 534-554 (Frost).

Some of this we will read together as a class, some in small groups or pairs, and some alone.

Key ideas/literary techniques referenced:

  • Prose versus Poetry or verse
  • Iambic tetrameter
  • Iambic trimeter
  • Iambic pentameter
  • Hymn
  • Ode
  • Sonnet (both Shakespearean & Petrarchan) 
  • Diction
  • Tone
  • Symbol
  • Metaphor/simile
  • Imagery
  • Elliptical syntax
  • Connotation versus denotation
  • Grammar in poetry: particularly the em-dash, but also capitalization, sentence length, enjambment, etc.
LAB: Now it's your turn. After reading/examining these poets, go to the lab and write a poem. Choose either Dickenson or Frost as a "mentor" and try a hymn about death, or a sonnet about nature, use em-dashes, or couplets, or any other idea listed in the bullet list above, etc. 

Create and complete a draft. Put it in your portfolio for safe keeping. We'll come back to it!

No comments:

About this course!

This course stresses understanding the characteristics & techniques in the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. This course will continue to build on students’ reading and writing skills begun in previous creative writing classes. Readings and discussions of works by major writers in the field will be examined as inspiration and models of fine writing. This educational blog is designed for the use of the students at the School of the Arts in Rochester, NY.