Please continue to work on your Visual Poetry Projects. Make sure you take at least 75 minutes to fool around with your cell-phones, hunt for prom clothes on the internet, watch music videos and otherwise waste your time in the lab.
Required: complete your visual poetry project (make sure you have the following: opening credits depicting your name and the title of the poem; closing credits that indicate music credits, photography, and director information; make sure your video has appropriate photos or film to impact the effectiveness of your words (pay close attention to mood); and include a music score to underscore the effect of the film.
And
Read the article "Imagery" by Mary Oliver. As you read, please answer the following questions to turn in for participation credit:
1. What is imagery? How does it improve a poem?
2. What is figurative language? How does it work?
3. What does Oliver mean regarding "particulars" and "texture" in a poem.
4. Why does the speaker of the poem "The Fish" let the fish go at the end of the poem?
5. What is a simile? How is it used in a poem?
6. What is a metaphor? How is it used in a poem?
7. What is personification? How is it used in a poem?
8. What is allusion? Why would we use this device in a poem?
9 & 10. Write a short ODE (a poem of praise) in which you use at least one of each of the following: allusion, figurative language, simile, metaphor, personification, imagery. To create an ode, you should choose an object or NOUN and praise its worth.
Here's an example from Pablo Neruda: Ode to My Socks. Look for imagery.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Visual Poetry Project
In order to get comfortable with iMovie and its abilities, choose one of your original poems and create a film, whereupon the text and/or voice of the poem is created. Use iMovie to edit and prepare the film. Your film should include a title, ending credits, and a sound track that appropriately sets the mood and tone of your poem. I suggest you use instrumental music (as opposed to lyrics) since this is text based.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Pantoum & Visual Poetry Project
Complete your Pantoum today in class. Send it to your workshop folder.
Finally, choose 1 of your 10 poems (or 1 of however many you completed) to create a film/video of it.
First, take a look at some of the samples in the workshop folder entitled: Sample Poetry Films. Then, create your own short film using iMovie and pictures you select from the internet. If you own your own camera, you can take specific shots to go with your poem.
Finally, choose 1 of your 10 poems (or 1 of however many you completed) to create a film/video of it.
First, take a look at some of the samples in the workshop folder entitled: Sample Poetry Films. Then, create your own short film using iMovie and pictures you select from the internet. If you own your own camera, you can take specific shots to go with your poem.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Political Poem Draft & The Triolet & The Pantoum
Please complete and turn in your political poem draft in your workshop folder. Please make sure the file name includes "political poem" and your name.
After completing your political poem draft started last class, please try another closed form poem:
The Triolet
The Triolet was originally a French medieval poem often used to express humor (similar to the limerick). However, poets have used the form for other reasons (example politically, or spiritually).
The form includes:
8 lines (the poem is only eight lines long)
It uses two rhymes (An "A" and a "B" rhyme -- see scheme below)
5 of the 8 lines are repeated. This is called a REFRAIN.
The first line is repeated as the 4th and 7th line.
The second line is repeated as the 8th line.
Rhyme Scheme:
A
B
A Rhymes with 1st line.
A Identical to 1st line.
A Rhymes with 1st line.
B Rhymes with 2nd line.
A Identical to 1st line.
B Identical to 2nd line.
Some examples:
How Great My Grief
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee!
- Have the slow years not brought to view
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Nor memory shaped old times anew,
Nor loving-kindness helped to show thee
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee?
Untitled
Robert Bridges (1844-1930)
When first we met, we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess
Who could foretell the sore distress,
The inevitable disaster,
When first we met? We did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master.
To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train
Frances Cornford (1886-1960)
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves
And shivering sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
Tips:
1. The repetition reinforces the most important line (and therefore idea). Make sure your repeated line is meaningful and important.
2. You may wish to create a strong couplet. These two lines should be interesting enough to open the poem and close the poem. (They also provide most of the material for the poem itself.)
3. The repetition should feel natural and add something to the poem. Revision should smooth out the rhythm and meter of the lines.
Variations: Alter the punctuation used in the refrains, or use homonyms.
While a refrain line should sound identical to the line it echoes, its meaning does not have to be fixed. Puns and other wordplay may enrich a triolet.
The Pantoum
Similar to the triolet & villanelle, the pantoum uses refrain and repetition, as well as rhyme in a series of quatrains.
The effect of the pantoum with its repeated lines and back-and-forth motion may suggest a topic. People describe its effect as hypnotic, doom-laden, dreamy, or wading in treacle. According to writer Joyce Carol Oates, it is a form which communicates “extreme states of mind: mania, paranoia, delusion.” Additionally, the poem’s repeating lines may suggest something that recurs as a subject (“Calendar” is a pantoum about the cycling of seasons):
Example: Violet Nesdoly's Calendar
Essence of spring drifts from the sticky buds,
Robin's lively lilt now wakes me early.
Under the clouds, crocuses clutch a tight bouquet.
Humming lawnmowers are summer's elevator music.
Robin's lively lilt now wakes me early,
The smell of sunscreen seeps through all my clothes.
Humming lawnmowers are summer's elevator music.
Fruit stand has berries and apples by the box!
The smell of sunscreen seeps through all my clothes;
Your fun is over, mocks the drenching rain.
Fruit stand has pears and apples by the box:
Houses don sequins and tuxedos.
Your fun is over, mocks the drenching rain.
We laugh and push each other's cars through mounds of snow.
Houses doff sequins and tuxedos:
Naked trees stand pensive in the cold.
We laugh and push each other's cars through mounds of snow
Under the clouds, crocuses clutch a tight bouquet.
Naked trees stand pensive in the cold;
Essence of spring drifts from the sticky buds.
The form looks like this:
1. Lines are grouped into quatrains (4-line stanzas).
2. The last line is the same as the first line.
3. The poem can have ANY number of quatrains (try at least 3).
4. Lines may be of any length, but count syllables and keep your meter/rhythm fluid.
5. The Pantoum has a rhyme scheme of ABAB in each quatrain--lines rhyme alternately.
6. For all quatrains (except the first), the first line of the current quatrain repeats the second line in the following quatrain; and the third line of the current quatrain repeats the fourth line of the next quatrain. (See below)
7. In addition, for the last and final quatrain, its second line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) third line in the first quatrain; and its last line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) first line of the first quatrain.
The pattern of line-repetition looks like this--where the lines of the first quatrain are represented by the numbers "1 2 3 4":
1 2 3 4 - Lines in first quatrain.
2 5 4 6 - Lines in second quatrain. The second line of the first stanza is the first line in the second quatrain. The last line of the first quatrain is the THIRD line of the second quatrain, etc.
5 7 6 8 - Lines in third quatrain.
7 9 8 10 - Lines in fourth quatrain.
9 3 10 1 - Lines in fifth and final quatrain.
This is an example for 5 quatrains. You could have more or fewer. REMEMBER: The last line of the poem is the 1st line of the poem.
Further examples:
Parent's Pantoum by Carolyn Kizer
Another Lullaby for Insomniacs by A.E. Stallings
Please complete this poem (the Pantoum - first draft for next class). The Triolet is due at the end of today's class and should be turned in with ALL the poem drafts you have completed this marking period. By the way, today is the last day of the marking period. Period. No late work will be accepted after 8th period today.
After completing your political poem draft started last class, please try another closed form poem:
The Triolet
The Triolet was originally a French medieval poem often used to express humor (similar to the limerick). However, poets have used the form for other reasons (example politically, or spiritually).
The form includes:
8 lines (the poem is only eight lines long)
It uses two rhymes (An "A" and a "B" rhyme -- see scheme below)
5 of the 8 lines are repeated. This is called a REFRAIN.
The first line is repeated as the 4th and 7th line.
The second line is repeated as the 8th line.
Rhyme Scheme:
A
B
A Rhymes with 1st line.
A Identical to 1st line.
A Rhymes with 1st line.
B Rhymes with 2nd line.
A Identical to 1st line.
B Identical to 2nd line.
Some examples:
How Great My Grief
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee!
- Have the slow years not brought to view
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Nor memory shaped old times anew,
Nor loving-kindness helped to show thee
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee?
Untitled
Robert Bridges (1844-1930)
When first we met, we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess
Who could foretell the sore distress,
The inevitable disaster,
When first we met? We did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master.
To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train
Frances Cornford (1886-1960)
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves
And shivering sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
Tips:
1. The repetition reinforces the most important line (and therefore idea). Make sure your repeated line is meaningful and important.
2. You may wish to create a strong couplet. These two lines should be interesting enough to open the poem and close the poem. (They also provide most of the material for the poem itself.)
3. The repetition should feel natural and add something to the poem. Revision should smooth out the rhythm and meter of the lines.
Variations: Alter the punctuation used in the refrains, or use homonyms.
While a refrain line should sound identical to the line it echoes, its meaning does not have to be fixed. Puns and other wordplay may enrich a triolet.
The Pantoum
Similar to the triolet & villanelle, the pantoum uses refrain and repetition, as well as rhyme in a series of quatrains.
The effect of the pantoum with its repeated lines and back-and-forth motion may suggest a topic. People describe its effect as hypnotic, doom-laden, dreamy, or wading in treacle. According to writer Joyce Carol Oates, it is a form which communicates “extreme states of mind: mania, paranoia, delusion.” Additionally, the poem’s repeating lines may suggest something that recurs as a subject (“Calendar” is a pantoum about the cycling of seasons):
Example: Violet Nesdoly's Calendar
Essence of spring drifts from the sticky buds,
Robin's lively lilt now wakes me early.
Under the clouds, crocuses clutch a tight bouquet.
Humming lawnmowers are summer's elevator music.
Robin's lively lilt now wakes me early,
The smell of sunscreen seeps through all my clothes.
Humming lawnmowers are summer's elevator music.
Fruit stand has berries and apples by the box!
The smell of sunscreen seeps through all my clothes;
Your fun is over, mocks the drenching rain.
Fruit stand has pears and apples by the box:
Houses don sequins and tuxedos.
Your fun is over, mocks the drenching rain.
We laugh and push each other's cars through mounds of snow.
Houses doff sequins and tuxedos:
Naked trees stand pensive in the cold.
We laugh and push each other's cars through mounds of snow
Under the clouds, crocuses clutch a tight bouquet.
Naked trees stand pensive in the cold;
Essence of spring drifts from the sticky buds.
The form looks like this:
1. Lines are grouped into quatrains (4-line stanzas).
2. The last line is the same as the first line.
3. The poem can have ANY number of quatrains (try at least 3).
4. Lines may be of any length, but count syllables and keep your meter/rhythm fluid.
5. The Pantoum has a rhyme scheme of ABAB in each quatrain--lines rhyme alternately.
6. For all quatrains (except the first), the first line of the current quatrain repeats the second line in the following quatrain; and the third line of the current quatrain repeats the fourth line of the next quatrain. (See below)
7. In addition, for the last and final quatrain, its second line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) third line in the first quatrain; and its last line repeats the (so-far unrepeated) first line of the first quatrain.
The pattern of line-repetition looks like this--where the lines of the first quatrain are represented by the numbers "1 2 3 4":
1 2 3 4 - Lines in first quatrain.
2 5 4 6 - Lines in second quatrain. The second line of the first stanza is the first line in the second quatrain. The last line of the first quatrain is the THIRD line of the second quatrain, etc.
5 7 6 8 - Lines in third quatrain.
7 9 8 10 - Lines in fourth quatrain.
9 3 10 1 - Lines in fifth and final quatrain.
This is an example for 5 quatrains. You could have more or fewer. REMEMBER: The last line of the poem is the 1st line of the poem.
Further examples:
Parent's Pantoum by Carolyn Kizer
Another Lullaby for Insomniacs by A.E. Stallings
Please complete this poem (the Pantoum - first draft for next class). The Triolet is due at the end of today's class and should be turned in with ALL the poem drafts you have completed this marking period. By the way, today is the last day of the marking period. Period. No late work will be accepted after 8th period today.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Political Poem
Much slam poetry and performance poetry tends to be political. The tradition of writing politically can be found in many poets' work. We'll go through some of these poems together in class.
Here's a few great ones:
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Theme for English B
Wilfred Owen
Anthem for a Doomed Youth
Maya Angelou
Caged Bird
Allen Ginsberg
Howl (text)
Howl
Johnny Depp on Allen Ginsberg
Andy Warhol on Allen Ginsberg
After reading these samples, choose your own political point and write a political diatribe. Give it a title and call it draft one. If you usually use long lines, try short ones. If you usually write in short lines, try longer ones. Expand your technique.
Political ideas: freedom (or lack thereof), war (pro), war (anti), life of the under privileged, economic issues (poor), gender issues, religion, etc.
Here's a few great ones:
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Theme for English B
Wilfred Owen
Anthem for a Doomed Youth
Maya Angelou
Caged Bird
Allen Ginsberg
Howl (text)
Howl
Johnny Depp on Allen Ginsberg
Andy Warhol on Allen Ginsberg
After reading these samples, choose your own political point and write a political diatribe. Give it a title and call it draft one. If you usually use long lines, try short ones. If you usually write in short lines, try longer ones. Expand your technique.
Political ideas: freedom (or lack thereof), war (pro), war (anti), life of the under privileged, economic issues (poor), gender issues, religion, etc.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Poetry Rubric
To judge your poetry & skill, each 2nd/3rd and subsequent draft will be scored as follows:
9-10: Exemplary
These poems are effective, exemplary examples of the poetic form. Use of literary devices and vocabulary is effective, skillful, and evokes meaning. Almost every word is useful and carefully chosen to strengthen the overall piece. Few, if any, grammar/punctuation errors. A creative voice, speaker, setting, audience is established effectively. Work was turned in on time.
8: Outstanding/Exemplary late
These poems are outstanding. They are good examples of poetic form. They use literary devices and vocabulary that is mostly effective, with much skill, and occasionally evoke a meaning, but the poem has gaps overall. Many words are useful, but words or lines may be vague, abstract, ineffective that weaken the overall piece. There are some grammar/punctuation errors, but nothing that gets in the way of comprehending or appreciating the piece. A voice, speaker, setting, audience is hinted at or attempted, but piece may have some minor gaps.
7: Average/Outstanding late
These poems satisfy the required draft. They dutifully complete the assignment, but perhaps without as much skill as those above. Poems have meaning, but also have gaps or are inconsistent. Language may be vague or ineffective overall. Common errors make reading the poem difficult. Theme, character, setting, plot, etc. may also be vague or undeveloped. A voice is developing, but requires additional drafts to correct errors, or weaknesses of the overall piece.
6: Below average/Average late
These poems are written largely below grade level, perhaps too hastily or without consideration of the audience. They tend to be vague, uninteresting or not creative. They lack effective use of literary devices and are in general weak, needing several major revisions.
5: Missing/Below average late
1-4: Not possible.
9-10: Exemplary
These poems are effective, exemplary examples of the poetic form. Use of literary devices and vocabulary is effective, skillful, and evokes meaning. Almost every word is useful and carefully chosen to strengthen the overall piece. Few, if any, grammar/punctuation errors. A creative voice, speaker, setting, audience is established effectively. Work was turned in on time.
8: Outstanding/Exemplary late
These poems are outstanding. They are good examples of poetic form. They use literary devices and vocabulary that is mostly effective, with much skill, and occasionally evoke a meaning, but the poem has gaps overall. Many words are useful, but words or lines may be vague, abstract, ineffective that weaken the overall piece. There are some grammar/punctuation errors, but nothing that gets in the way of comprehending or appreciating the piece. A voice, speaker, setting, audience is hinted at or attempted, but piece may have some minor gaps.
7: Average/Outstanding late
These poems satisfy the required draft. They dutifully complete the assignment, but perhaps without as much skill as those above. Poems have meaning, but also have gaps or are inconsistent. Language may be vague or ineffective overall. Common errors make reading the poem difficult. Theme, character, setting, plot, etc. may also be vague or undeveloped. A voice is developing, but requires additional drafts to correct errors, or weaknesses of the overall piece.
6: Below average/Average late
These poems are written largely below grade level, perhaps too hastily or without consideration of the audience. They tend to be vague, uninteresting or not creative. They lack effective use of literary devices and are in general weak, needing several major revisions.
5: Missing/Below average late
1-4: Not possible.
The Villanelle - A Step into Closed Form
The Villanelle is a closed poem form consisting of the following pattern:
5 Tercets (3-line stanzas) and a quatrain (4-line stanza).
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 19 lines. All Villanelles are 19 lines long.
There is a Rhyme Scheme: ABA. The ending word rhymes in the first and third line. This is consistent all the way through the poem until the ending quatrain.
1. The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the second and the fourth stanzas, and as the second-to-last line in the concluding quatrain.
2. The third line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the third and the fifth stanzas, and as the last line in the concluding quatrain.
Dylan Thomas:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Click here for examples and advice on how to write one.
Now, write one. Use the time in lab to complete your villanelle draft. Complete and turn in (to your workshop folder) any other poem draft you have made. Make sure your file includes your name and names the exercise/assignment.
5 Tercets (3-line stanzas) and a quatrain (4-line stanza).
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 19 lines. All Villanelles are 19 lines long.
There is a Rhyme Scheme: ABA. The ending word rhymes in the first and third line. This is consistent all the way through the poem until the ending quatrain.
1. The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the second and the fourth stanzas, and as the second-to-last line in the concluding quatrain.
2. The third line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the third and the fifth stanzas, and as the last line in the concluding quatrain.
Dylan Thomas:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Click here for examples and advice on how to write one.
Now, write one. Use the time in lab to complete your villanelle draft. Complete and turn in (to your workshop folder) any other poem draft you have made. Make sure your file includes your name and names the exercise/assignment.
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