Freeverse (draft #2) & Natural Metaphor poem (draft #1)

Using your first draft of your poem written from last class (see blog entry below this one), revise your draft by completing the following steps:

1. Free verse is free of form, but natural breaks, the use of enjambment and stanza form still occur frequently in free verse poetry. Break your poem into distinct stanzas. A new stanza should be started every time you start a new idea (just like a paragraph in prose).

2. Look at your line length. A long line that sticks out emphasizes that line, brings attention to it. This is not always what we mean to do. In general, the longer the line the slower the pace. Short lines read quickly, creating a fast tempo. But fast is not always the best choice for a more melancholy poem. Find your longest lines and cut them to affect the tempo or speed of the poem.

3. Poetry requires the concise use of language. Lazy verbs or vague nouns are the anathema of a poem. Examine your nouns and verbs. Make nouns stronger by being more specific. If you have more than one adjective describing a noun, it means you are being vague. As for verbs, make these stronger by making your verbs active. Always choose the more appropriate and interesting word. Go back over your poem and make better word choices.

4. Remove repetition. If you overuse a line, remove it for now. See how the poem reads without all that junk. Try to shorten your poem by 10-15 words or lines. (You may shorten the poem by more or less, if you like).

5. Pick your most important line. Remove it from the poem and make it your title.

6. Make use of enjambment. Feel free to use a caesura (a pause) by putting periods or end punctuation within the line as opposed to always ending a line with an full stop.

7. Spell check and check your grammar. Remove fragments or run-ons and make the poem easier to read for your reader.

After completing these steps, save your poem draft as DRAFT #2. Send this draft to the WORKSHOP folder with your name on it. We will workshop your poems next class.

Then:

Go on to read and complete the assignment: A Natural Metaphor.

You should be familiar with the following terms:
Free Verse
Meter
Scansion
blank verse
foot: monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, hexameter, heptameter, octameter
trochee, anapest, dactyl, spondee, pyrrhic, iamb.

By the end of class today, you should have draft #1 of your Natural Metaphor poem completed. If not, finish for homework and prepare the draft #1 for class on Thursday.