Allusion

So what's all this learnin' for?

Why does a poet or writer need to read the work of so damn many old, dead writers?

The answer: Allusion.

Allusion is a type of figurative language, similar to a symbol. Like a symbol it allows the writer to infuse a word or phrase with additional meaning to avoid TELLING, rather than showing.

An allusion is "a reference to something that belongs properly to a world beyond the sphere of the poem. Often the reference comes from an historical or a cultural context, but not necessarily. Its use is to deepen the definition or to extend the quality of something in the poem." (Mary Oliver)

Look for ALLUSION in William Carlos Williams' poems: "January Morning", "The Sparrow", and FROM: "Paterson, Book II: Sunday in the Park". Find and explain at least 10 allusions in these three poems. Textual render these 3 poems and turn in your 10 definitions of the allusions for next class.

In Lab:

After reading pages 60-62 in 101 Great American Poems and reading the William Carlos Williams poems from class, write a poem in the style of William Carlos Williams. Use any of these prompts to get you started:

1. Describe a private act your speaker of the poem might perform in detail.
2. Similar to 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, choose a time or setting and divide that moment or time into parts. Write about all the fragmentary images that you see (or perhaps their meaning).
3. Compare a loved one (or someone you know well) with an ordinary object. Extend your metaphor.
4. Write a poem for your father.
5. Use white space creatively, but with significance in one of your poems that you write now, or as a different draft of a poem you have already written.
6. Combine prose with poetry.

Throughout all these prompts, remember to use the following poetic tools:
Sound imagery (cacophony, euphony: alliteration, consonance, assonance, onamatopoeia, internal ryhme)
Imagery: allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, symbol
Line: create a pattern or break a pattern to create an effect; use long or short or combination of line breaks; use enjambment; use stanzas and white space to create an effect
Meter: choose a metrical rhythm for your poem; pay attention to beats and syllables

Stuck? Remember the following:
1. All poems should have a character or speaker
2. The speaker should BE somewhere: give your poem a definite setting (even if you don't refer to it)
3. The speaker should have a reason to speak
4. The speaker should speak to someone or something
5. Give your speaker a distinct voice or attitude (tone)

Without these answers clearly formed in your mind, your poem may fail. Use your journal to sketch ideas before you begin.