10-Minute Play Draft Due; The Glass Menagerie

Period 3:

While you enjoy a snack, please use period 3 to complete and prepare your 10-minute play draft.

• Check and fix your play format
• Check and correct your typos and grammar
• Make sure you have followed the advice about playwriting in the posts and lessons below this post (see previous posts for details!)

Period 4:

We will continue reading The Glass Menagerie. Whatever we don't finish, please complete as homework during Winter Break.

HOMEWORK: Complete The Glass Menagerie. There may be a test on the play when you return. Take notes about the play in your journal to prepare for this possibility.

Have a nice winter break!

The Glass Menagerie: Day 2; Coming of Age 10-minute Play Project: Day 3

Sign up for a role/scene in the Glass Menagerie. Together we will start reading The Glass Menagerie.

At about 10:10 or so, we will stop reading and use the rest of the time in class to continue writing our 10-minute Coming of Age play drafts. Completed drafts are due Thursday. 

HOMEWORK: Complete your coming of age plays. Use The Glass Menagerie as a good model. Bring your play scripts back with you to class.

Tips; Advice About Writing Your Scene: Setting the Stage

Every dramatic story is a quest of some kind:

• A character wants something and must get it (goal)

• Protagonists (major characters) have a goal:

• Scene objective (short term goal)
• Story objective (long term goal)
• 3 basic principles of dramatic action:

• What a character wants
• Why the character wants it
• What or who is keeping the character from getting what he/she wants
• Ask:

• Who is your character (protagonist)?
• Where is the story set (setting includes time, place, season…)?
• What is the situation here and now?
• What is the situation outside the scope of the setting (society)?
• How does the character (protagonist) feel about the situation?
• What does the author (you) feel about the situation?
• What are characters thinking about? [try to connect thoughts to actions…]
• What does the character want from another character (or society)?
• Why does the character want that? What is at stake for the character? (motivation)
• What is the problem? (conflict)
• How might the problem be solved? (conflict)
• How will the past influence what’s happening now? How does the outside world impact what is happening now? (backstory)
• What will happen? (plot)

10-Minute Coming of Age Project: Day 2; The Glass Menagerie

It's writing time! Hooray! Use period 3 and some of 4 to write your 10-minute coming-of-age play drafts. Use your notes, previous writing tasks, and your imagination and get to it! Write.

Before writing your play consider/define:

• Use the 4 stages of the coming of age plot. I suggest starting with a confrontation with authority. From there you should quickly establish removal and challenge stages. Your last page should address the reintegration of your protagonist. 
• Your protagonist should struggle to achieve a solution to a problem. Remember to use other characters to develop conflict: person v. person; person v. self; person v. society; person v. nature or God/fate--you can use any of these to help introduce conflict for your protagonist.
• Choose a setting. Keep your play in one setting for now. 
• Think about how your story will express a message. Ex. In order to grow up, we need to accept responsibility, or it's okay to accept one's flaws despite what others think of you; or friends are the only true support we should expect in our lives; or to learn to forgive is the greatest gift you can give yourself, etc. Messages tend to be a statement that the writer believes is important and true. What do you want to say to the world? That's your "message". 
• Remember that plays and acting involve playing a different person than oneself and showing a character's actions (actors act--that's what they like to do!)
• Be creative with familiar material. You know the struggles and conflicts you face growing up because it's happening to you...use your own experiences, but go out on a creative limb and tell us an old story in a new way. 
• Make sure your protagonist wants something that he/she can achieve. Make your protagonist work to achieve this goal with obstacles--often in coming of age stories, obstacles are parents, teachers, relatives, rules, or self-inflicted problems. See what you can do with these ideas.
• It's okay to fail. Do your best. Think outside the box. Give yourself a chance to succeed. You're not an expert at writing plays yet because you have just started doing so. The more you write the better you will get at this. Remember: above all--tell an interesting story. 
• 10-minute plays should be between 7-10 pages in script format. To help give you some advice please spend about 10 minutes reading this article: How to Write a 10-Minute Play and watch this video. See the handout as well for more advice on how to start and what your 10-minute play script can include. 

Write your play.

Period 4ish:

Please return Brighton Beach Memoirs and pick up the play The Glass Menagerie from the library. When you return to class, get into groups of 5-6. With your group assign the 3 parts: Amanda, Laura, & Tom. We'll discuss the play a bit further Tuesday, next week. 

This is another example of a coming-of-age play. It is also a memory play, just like Brighton Beach Memoirs. The character of Tom is loosely based on the playwright Tennessee Williams. He "remembers" the story and therefore controls the "action" and how we "see" the characters. He is not kind to Amanda, his mother, as you will see.

Read The Glass Menagerie until the bell with your small group. 

HOMEWORK: Complete scene 1. We will start together as a class on Scene 2 next time. Feel free to continue writing your coming of age plays. Use The Glass Menagerie as a good model.

Brighton Beach Memoirs: Day 5; Coming of Age 10-minute Use

Please finish analyzing and reading Brighton Beach Memoirs. Complete and turn in the analysis handout of the play.

Use your character sketch for a "coming of age" play. Your character sketch should include:

• The character's name
• A description of your character (both physical and non-physical traits that make this character unique)
• An explanation about what motivates this character
• Identify a weakness or flaw that this character has that causes a problem for him/her
• What conflicts with authority figures (parents, teachers, older siblings or relatives, society, etc.) must this character confront? Consider the types of conflict to help you identify a couple
• You may include a rough drawing or illustration of your character (counts as extra credit for this assignment)

This character sketch should be included/attached to your 10-minute play draft when completed. Before writing your play consider/define:

• Use the 4 stages of the coming of age plot. I suggest starting with a confrontation with authority. From there you should quickly establish removal and challenge stages. Your last page should address the reintegration of your protagonist. 
• Your protagonist should struggle to achieve a solution to a problem. Remember to use other characters to develop conflict: person v. person; person v. self; person v. society; person v. nature or God/fate--you can use any of these to help introduce conflict for your protagonist.
• Choose a setting. Keep your play in one setting for now. 
• Think about how your story will express a message. Ex. In order to grow up, we need to accept responsibility, or it's okay to accept one's flaws despite what others think of you; or friends are the only true support we should expect in our lives; or to learn to forgive is the greatest gift you can give yourself, etc. Messages tend to be a statement that the writer believes is important and true. What do you want to say to the world? That's your "message". 
• Remember that plays and acting involve playing a different person than oneself and showing a character's actions (actors act--that's what they like to do!)
• Be creative with familiar material. You know the struggles and conflicts you face growing up because it's happening to you...use your own experiences, but go out on a creative limb and tell us an old story in a new way. 
• Make sure your protagonist wants something that he/she can achieve. Make your protagonist work to achieve this goal with obstacles--often in coming of age stories, obstacles are parents, teachers, relatives, rules, or self-inflicted problems. See what you can do with these ideas.
• It's okay to fail. Do your best. Think outside the box. Give yourself a chance to succeed. You're not an expert at writing plays yet because you have just started doing so. The more you write the better you will get at this. Remember: above all--tell an interesting story. 
• 10-minute plays should be between 7-10 pages in script format. To help give you some advice please spend about 10 minutes reading this article: How to Write a 10-Minute Play and watch this video. See the handout as well for more advice on how to start and what your 10-minute play script can include. 

HOMEWORK: Continue writing your play script. A draft will be due later next week.

Brighton Beach Memoirs: Day 4

Please continue analyzing and reading Brighton Beach Memoirs. Take notes in your journal! Complete the analysis handout (to be turned in at the conclusion of the play). We will stop occasionally and continue brainstorming ideas for an upcoming assignment. Notes/exercises can go in your journal as well.

HOMEWORK: Create a character sketch for a "coming of age" play. Your character sketch should include:

• The character's name
• A description of your character (both physical and non-physical traits that make this character unique)
• An explanation about what motivates this character
• Identify a weakness or flaw that this character has that causes a problem for him/her
• What conflicts with authority figures (parents, teachers, older siblings or relatives, society, etc.) must this character confront? Consider the types of conflict to help you identify a couple
• You may include a rough drawing or illustration of your character (counts as extra credit for this assignment)

Brighton Beach Memoirs: Day 3

Please continue analyzing and reading Brighton Beach Memoirs. Take notes in your journal! Complete the analysis handout (to be turned in at the conclusion of the play). We will stop occasionally and continue brainstorming ideas for an upcoming assignment. Notes/exercises can go in your journal as well.

HOMEWORK: None.

Brighton Beach Memoirs: Day 2

As you read Brighton Beach Memoirs out loud, practice your oral delivery. 

A few acting tips:

• Effective performances have ENERGY!
• Try to think about how you would react and what you would say were you in this situation.
• Empathize with the character you are playing.
• Match your tone of voice to the tone of the words.
• Speak loudly and clearly.
• Have confidence. If you make a mistake--own it. But keep going...

Those of you who are not reading parts should read along with the play script and take notes in your journal of each assigned element of the play:

The 4 Stages of the Bildungsroman (everyone should take notes/record examples of these in their journals)
The 9 Characteristics of a coming of age story
Stage Directions
Costumes/Props
Lighting/Set
Conflict (person v. person)
Conflict (person v. self)
Conflict (person v. society)

HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

Fences Project Draft; Brighton Beach Memoirs: Day 1

Period 3: Please complete your Fences creative draft:

• Option #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem (or monologue) from that character's perspective. 
• Try a poem starter: "When I..." followed by what that character did and how that affected his/her family. "When I married you, Troy, I swore I'd be true..." or "When I played ball with those white boys, I aimed every ounce of my being toward the fence..." or "When I built that fence..." or "When I blow my horn God will open the clouds of heaven above..." etc.
• Option #2: Fences keep things safe from the outside world or protect a family, but also trap a person from obtaining or getting what they want. Pick an inanimate object like a fence or wall or barrier of some sort that represents a human shortcoming or human flaw or restriction or boundary keeping the speaker from what he/she wishes to get or achieve. A problem with grades or money, for example, can be a barrier. It might also be a broken window or a stalled car or some other object. Use the object to explain how the speaker of the poem interprets their situation--what's keeping them back? Write about this conflict. See the following poems as examples:
• Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Fences by Pat Mora
• Border by Gillian Clarke
• The Boundary by Bei Dao
• Other fence poems
•  Option #3: Choose a character or consider the plot of the play. Choose Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.; write a play scene taking into account the plot or character. You might write a scene that doesn't appear in the play or a scene that happened before or after the events of the play. 

If you did not complete your homework, do it now (in your journal). See the post after this one for details. 

Period 4ish: Brighton Beach Memoirs - reading

As a bildungsroman or coming of age play, note the following occurrences in your journal. divide your page into 4 quadrants. Use the 4 quadrants to take note of the 4 stages of the coming of age story.

The 4 Stages

REALIZATION -- changing, emotional and mental preparation, growing, physical changes

REMOVAL -- change of status quo or familiar environment; separation from support units (family, friends, social institutions), experimentation with "forbidden" issues/activities--testing the limits of support units/social institutions, breaking rules/laws or beliefs, etc.

CHALLENGE --- proving oneself; overcome a major problem or resolve a major conflict (killing the boss monster, growing mature, taking on responsibility, etc.)

REINTEGRATION - protagonist comes back into society; character undergoes a rebirth, new status, or new understanding or epiphany of his/her situation.

Nine Characteristics of a Coming of Age experience or story

1. Usually the protagonist is between the ages of 12-18, but can be younger
2. Adults are either "bad guys" or not important--they represent society or laws or rules--the natural order of things; in some stories a parent is missing, absent, or dead. Authority figures are often antagonists to the protagonist. (see below)
3. Usually involves a journey of some sort (this can by a physical, mental, or spiritual journey)
4. Protagonist must confront his/her fears or weaknesses
5. Conflicts with a parent /guardian/authority figure
6. Protagonist learns something important (usually about him/herself)
7. There are usually a series of tests or challenges that the protagonist must face and overcome
8. The ending may be bittersweet--there is often a loss of innocence as a protagonist matures
9. Scarification (there are often scars left--physical or/and emotional), but these "wounds" mark the protagonist as a hero--he/she has come through the "storm" and is "wiser" for the experience. Sorta like this class...

A memoir is a story about a memory. In essence the writer looks back on his/her youth and remembers a specific time period, or personal or historical event. In a MEMORY PLAY--a character does this remembering. He/she often breaks the 4th wall and speaks directly to the audience about what he/she remembers. Plays like this are SUBJECTIVE.

A few acting tips:

• Effective performances have ENERGY!
• Try to think about how you would react and what you would say were you in this situation.
• Empathize with the character you are playing.
• Match your tone of voice to the tone of the words.
• Speak loudly and clearly.
• Have confidence. If you make a mistake--own it. But keep going...

As you read Brighton Beach Memoirs out loud, practice your oral delivery. Those of you who are not reading parts should read along with the play script and take notes in your journal of each assigned element of the play:

Stage Directions
Costumes/Props
Lighting/Set
Conflict (person v. person)
Conflict (person v. self)
Conflict (person v. society)

HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to our next class.

Fences Discussion & Project; Brighton Beach Memoirs (intro)

Fences discussion:

1. Fences is both unique to the plight of African Americans and universal in its depiction of the human condition. What universal human condition(s) does Wilson’s play exhibit?
2. Note the realistic and metaphorical use of the fence in the play. Troy and Cory are building a realistic fence around the house. What is the metaphorical fence being built?
3. The father and son relationship between Troy and Cory is explored as a central part of the drama. Their relationship becomes complicated by strong feelings of pride and independence on both sides. What are some of the primary conflicts between Troy and his sons? Examine the relationship between Troy and his own father. What did Troy admire about his father? What did he despise? How has Troy’s experience as a child affected his relationship with Cory?
4. Troy is not a flawless protagonist, what are Troy’s most obvious flaws?  Is Troy Maxon a tragic hero? How is Troy a morally ambiguous character?
5. What admirable characteristics does Troy possess?
6. How is Troy’s behavior an instrument for others suffering?
7. By the end of Fences, every character except Raynell is institutionalized--Rose in the church, Lyons in the penitentiary, Gabriel in the mental hospital, and Cory in the U.S. Marines. The only free person is Raynell, Troy’s daughter. What might the institutionalization of his family members represent? What might be represented by the fact that Raynell is the sole remaining Maxson to exist outside of an institution?
8. Explore some of the generational differences that exist between Troy and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. What are they and why is it generational?
9. Describe the relationship between Troy and his job/money? How does money create conflict in the play or contribute to the plot or characterization?
10. Discuss how the diction of Wilson’s play adds or detracts from the play as a whole?

Fences Writing Prompt:

• Option #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem (or monologue) from that character's perspective. 
• Try a poem starter: "When I..." followed by what that character did and how that affected his/her family. "When I married you, Troy, I swore I'd be true..." or "When I played ball with those white boys, I aimed every ounce of my being toward the fence..." or "When I built that fence..." or "When I blow my horn God will open the clouds of heaven above..." etc.
• Option #2: Fences keep things safe from the outside world or protect a family, but also trap a person from obtaining or getting what they want. Pick an inanimate object like a fence or wall or barrier of some sort that represents a human shortcoming or human flaw or restriction or boundary keeping the speaker from what he/she wishes to get or achieve. A problem with grades or money, for example, can be a barrier. It might also be a broken window or a stalled car or some other object. Use the object to explain how the speaker of the poem interprets their situation--what's keeping them back? Write about this conflict. See the following poems as examples:
• Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Fences by Pat Mora
• Border by Gillian Clarke
• The Boundary by Bei Dao
• Other fence poems
•  Option #3: Choose a character or consider the plot of the play. Choose Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.; write a play scene taking into account the plot or character. You might write a scene that doesn't appear in the play or a scene that happened before or after the events of the play. 

Before the end of class: please go to the library to pick up the play Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon.

HOMEWORK: Conduct the following research for our first play: Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon. Write your notes in your journal.

Find out:

1. Who is Neil Simon? What is he famous for? What books or plays did he write?
2. Where is Brighton Beach? What did it look like in the 1930's?
3. What was life like for American citizens in the 1930's? 
4. Check out this link and read about what was happening in the U.S. and around the world in 1937.
5. Finally, read about baseball in the 1930's. 

Fences: Discussion; Characterization & Writing Project

Fences:

Please submit your play analysis for Fences to the Google Classroom.

Let's take the first 10-15 minutes of today's class please take a look at these scenes from Fences. In the first clip, we'll see two different versions played first by James Earl Jones and then by Denzel Washington. Compare/contrast the two versions. Note the reaction by the audience as well as the performance.

• Act One, Scene Three (different performances...); film
• Fighting Death (Act One)
• Act Two, Scene One (from the Broadway production)--this is drama...view and evaluate the performance. 
• This is My House! What does film do for a story that plays don't or vice versa? What's special about a theatrical performance?

When an author develops a character, he/she relies on characterization. Characterization is based on four distinct things:

• What a character says or thinks about him/herself
• What another character says or thinks about the character
• What the character does (the actions the character does and the choices he/she makes)
• The details or physical description the author or narrator gives us. In this case, what is revealed in the STAGE DIRECTIONS of the playscript. 

Read out loud: Act 2: Scenes 4-5 (pg. 85-101).

Examine the characterization on these pages. What do we learn about the characters?

After examining the characterization from these scenes, let's hold a discussion about the play:

1. Fences is both unique to the plight of African Americans and universal in its depiction of the human condition. What universal human condition(s) does Wilson’s play exhibit?
2. Note the realistic and metaphorical use of the fence in the play. Troy and Cory are building a realistic fence around the house. What is the metaphorical fence being built?
3. The father and son relationship between Troy and Cory is explored as a central part of the drama. Their relationship becomes complicated by strong feelings of pride and independence on both sides. What are some of the primary conflicts between Troy and his sons? Examine the relationship between Troy and his own father. What did Troy admire about his father? What did he despise? How has Troy’s experience as a child affected his relationship with Cory?
4. Troy is not a flawless protagonist, what are Troy’s most obvious flaws?  Is Troy Maxon a tragic hero? How is Troy a morally ambiguous character?
5. What admirable characteristics does Troy possess?
6. How is Troy’s behavior an instrument for others suffering?
7. By the end of Fences, every character except Raynell is institutionalized--Rose in the church, Lyons in the penitentiary, Gabriel in the mental hospital, and Cory in the U.S. Marines. The only free person is Raynell, Troy’s daughter. What might the institutionalization of his family members represent? What might be represented by the fact that Raynell is the sole remaining Maxson to exist outside of an institution?
8. Explore some of the generational differences that exist between Troy and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. What are they and why is it generational?
9. Describe the relationship between Troy and his job/money? How does money create conflict in the play or contribute to the plot or characterization?
10. Discuss how the diction of Wilson’s play adds or detracts from the play as a whole?

Fences Writing Prompt:

• Option #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem (or monologue) from that character's perspective. 
• Try a poem starter: "When I..." followed by what that character did and how that affected his/her family. "When I married you, Troy, I swore I'd be true..." or "When I played ball with those white boys, I aimed every ounce of my being toward the fence..." or "When I built that fence..." or "When I blow my horn God will open the clouds of heaven above..." etc.
• Option #2: Fences keep things safe from the outside world or protect a family, but also trap a person from obtaining or getting what they want. Pick an inanimate object like a fence or wall or barrier of some sort that represents a human shortcoming or human flaw or restriction or boundary keeping the speaker from what he/she wishes to get or achieve. A problem with grades or money, for example, can be a barrier. It might also be a broken window or a stalled car or some other object. Use the object to explain how the speaker of the poem interprets their situation--what's keeping them back? Write about this conflict. See the following poems as examples:
• Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Fences by Pat Mora
• Border by Gillian Clarke
• The Boundary by Bei Dao
• Other fence poems
•  Option #3: Choose a character or consider the plot of the play. Choose Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.; write a play scene taking into account the plot or character. You might write a scene that doesn't appear in the play or a scene that happened before or after the events of the play. 

HOMEWORK: Work on your writing project. 

Sketch Workshop; Fences

Please get into the following groups and read/comment about each other's original sketches.

Group 1: Linden, Simone, Pia, David, Ariel, Amir, Thalia

Group 2: Harrison, Hannah, Giovanni, Aryonna, Andrew, Kelly, Sarah


Your comments should include:

• Read the scripts OUT LOUD. Practice reading parts and dialogue out loud to hear it come alive! Share parts. The writer should not play his/her own character roles. Choose roles within your groups. Everyone should help read out loud!
• Notice errors in formatting, spelling, or grammar for each script. 
• Comment on the effectiveness of each script--did you think the sketch was funny: why or why not. Aim to give constructive criticism. What could the playwright have done to improve the scene? What did the playwright do that worked?

When both groups have finished reading and discussing the plays that were turned in, we will go to the library to pick up our next play: Fences by August Wilson.

If you missed it last class, or did not do your homework--here it is again:

Please research and take notes in your journal to find information about:

1. August Wilson is a famous playwright. Find out about him at this link.
2. In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about it here.
3. The Negro League (What was it? What happened to it? Why was it created? etc.)
4. Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige (who are these ballplayers?)
5. The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help prepare you (feel free to take notes on the following):

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

HOMEWORK: Read the rest of the play. Complete a play analysis for the play. Due Monday, Nov. 26.

Sketch Writing Project

Write your sketch. Use the time given to you in class today to write your sketch draft. Your draft should be at least 3 full pages (but can be longer). The typical sketch is about 5-6 pages in length.

See the handout regarding play script format. Once you complete your draft, please proofread, correct your grammar and format, and upload to the Google classroom.

If you finish early:

Option A:

• Write a second sketch of your choice. Your sketch will count for your writing portfolio (final) and count as extra credit.

Option B:

• Watch sample "famous" sketches from a variety of TV shows/performances (some may not be suitable due to language or situations, watch at your own risk):
• The Dentist (Tim Conway from the Carol Burnett show)
• Pink Tights & Plenty of Props (Rowan Atkinson)
• Roll Call (Rowan Atkinson)
• Substitute Teacher (Key & Peele)
• Nazi Sketch (Mitchell & Webb)
• Mister Robinson's Neighborhood (SNL)
• Homey D. Clown (In Living Color)
• Lie Detector 
• Evil Boss (SNL)

Option C:

• Complete your homework (see below).

HOMEWORK: Our next play will be Fences by August Wilson. It deals with Troy Maxson and his family in Pittsburgh, 1957.

Please research and take notes in your journal to find information about:

1. August Wilson is a famous playwright. Find out about him at this link.
2. In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about it here.
3. The Negro League (What was it? What happened to it? Why was it created? etc.)
4. Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige (who are these ballplayers?)
5. The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help prepare you (feel free to take notes on the following):

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

Sketch Writing

Look here for samples of fine sketch writing:

• Marty Feldman: The Bookseller Sketch
• The Cheese Shop Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• The Dead Parrot Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Self Defense Against Fruit Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Italian Lesson: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• The Headmaster Sketch: Rowan Atkinson

Sketch Writing:

1) Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups. Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
2) If you're trying to sell your material [or enter a contest], don't put in anything expensive like a helicopter [or car]. Most TV shows [or theaters] are on a tight budget.
3) Three [or four] characters is more than enough for a short sketch. Don't write for a big cast. Avoid crowd scenes where the actors do not speak.
4) Think about what is happening visually as well as the words you use to communicate an idea. Be specific! A speckled trout wearing a fake mustache is funnier or more vivid in the audience's mind than a fish.

Types of Sketches

To help you get going, here's a few tried and tested comedy formats for sketches.

1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger, ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty Python. (You can find all the Python sketches at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man (opposites): This format speaks for itself, but don't go for obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on a flight deck of aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble"; Names can be funny if you want people to think of your work as comedy or humorous. Some names are just funny: Aloysious Butterbean is a funnier name than Tom Johnson or man.
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Abraham Lincoln using a cigarette lighter shaped like a handgun. Benjamin Franklin inventing the fidget spinner, Alexander the Great using a cell phone, Jesus dining at the Cheesecake Factory, etc.
7) Big and Small. Getting humor from large differences in scale. For example, a pig trying to make love to an elephant (South Park).

All plays and sketches start with characters in a setting. Once you have an idea for these, try one of the types of sketches. Go ahead and try. Use the format you find in "The Zoo Story".

Write your sketch.

HOMEWORK: Continue writing your short sketch.

Zoo Story Quiz; Rehearsal - Coffeehouse

We'll take our quiz on The Zoo Story.

Then, it's off to the Ensemble Theater to rehearse. Please bring the selections you are planning to read with you to the theater.

Consider: Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?

1. Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your speech or story?
2. Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
3. Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? Are you following the advice I gave you?
4. Are you practicing? 
5. Memorize your titles and the first and last lines of your stories/poems. 

Period 4: (with time remaining...)

Look here for samples of fine sketch writing:

• Marty Feldman: The Bookseller Sketch
• The Cheese Shop Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• The Dead Parrot Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Self Defense Against Fruit Sketch: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Italian Lesson: Monty Python's Flying Circus
• The Headmaster Sketch: Rowan Atkinson

Sketch Writing:

1) Choose a setting. Avoid common set-ups. Think original. Only set the sketch in one location.
2) If you're trying to sell your material [or enter a contest], don't put in anything expensive like a helicopter [or car]. Most TV shows [or theaters] are on a tight budget.
3) Three [or four] characters is more than enough for a short sketch. Don't write for a big cast. Avoid crowd scenes where the actors do not speak.
4) Think about what is happening visually as well as the words you use to communicate an idea. Be specific! A speckled trout wearing a fake mustache is funnier or more vivid in the audience's mind than a fish.

Types of Sketches

To help you get going, here's a few tried and tested comedy formats for sketches.

1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger, ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty Python. (You can find all the Python sketches at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man (opposites): This format speaks for itself, but don't go for obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on a flight deck of aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble"; Names can be funny if you want people to think of your work as comedy or humorous. Some names are just funny: Aloysious Butterbean is a funnier name than Tom Johnson or man.
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Abraham Lincoln using a cigarette lighter shaped like a handgun. Benjamin Franklin inventing the fidget spinner, Alexander the Great using a cell phone, Jesus dining at the Cheesecake Factory, etc.
7) Big and Small. Getting humor from large differences in scale. For example, a pig trying to make love to an elephant (South Park).

HOMEWORK: None. Please arrive at the theater by 6:30-6:45. We start at 7:00. The show will last about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Good luck!

Coffeehouse Rehearsal; The Zoo Story

Select 2-3 poems, 1 non-fiction essay or speech + 1 poem (or 1 short story); 1 short story + 1 poem, or 1 short story + 2 poems; or 1 longer short story. Select your BEST work. After attendance, let's go to the ensemble theater to practice. We will go in alphabetical order (just like during the coffeehouse!)

Rehearse.

Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?

1. Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your speech or story?
2. Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
3. Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? Are you following the advice I gave you?
4. Practice. 
5. Memorize your titles and the first and last lines of your stories/poems. 

Period 4: 

1. Go the library and check out the play: The Zoo Story by Edward Albee.

2. Get together in reading groups of 2 or 3. These groups are only for a day, so please work with someone you know you can trust to focus on the assignment. If you are in a group of 4, I will split you into two groups of 2. I prefer no one work alone, as it is important for you to practice reading out loud.

3. Read The Zoo Story together in your groups today. Assign parts as follows:

a. 3 students: one play Jerry, one play Peter, one read the stage directions where appropriate (only the longer directions).
b. 2 students: one play Jerry, the other play Peter, read the stage directions silently.
c. If you have been stubborn and must work alone, you may either join a group of two, or read alone, but realize you are missing part of your practice and cheating yourself out of more effective performance skills.

4. AS YOU ARE READING THE PLAY: In your group discuss how the author uses conflict in his play. Plays are based on conflict. Conflict can come in 4 “flavors” or types:

• i. Person vs. Person

• ii. Person vs. Self

• iii. Person vs. Nature

• iv. Person vs. Society or God

5. Be able to answer how each type of conflict is used in the play. Also, consider what the title means, as a signpost pointing to the play's theme and message.

HOMEWORK: If you did not finish reading The Zoo Story, please complete the play on your own time by yourself. There will be a quiz next class on the play and we will continue rehearsing Wednesday (Gamzon) & Thursday (Craddock) for our upcoming coffeehouse performance on Thursday, Nov. 8 (7:00 in the Ensemble Theater).l  

Story Draft #3 Due; Preparing Your Portfolio/Coffeehouse Preparation

Period 3:

Complete your draft of your short story. Submit a copy of your story in Google classroom by the end of period 3.

• "A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon" (pg. 83-85); Write a short story using only interrogative pronouns (who, what, where, when, how, why or other interrogative stems like "could you, would you, will you, or do you..."); Address your questionnaire to a specific person.
• "Class Notes" (pg. 122-125); Write class notes for your Class of 2022. Tell us in a newsletter style story what happened to all your classmates 30 years from graduation. Make sure you CHANGE the names of your peers before submitting your assignment.
• "Gerald's Song" (186-189): choose a song (google lyrics for example) and use lines from the song between scenes of your story. Lyrics might reflect or comment on the plot or contrast/contribute to character development or theme...

Honor writing time!

Period 4:

Print out and prepare your portfolio. Once you've done that, select 2-3 poems, 1 non-fiction essay or speech + 1 poem or 1 short story; 1 short story + 1 poem, or 1 short story + 2 poems. Select your BEST work. Then, let's go to the ensemble theater to practice.

Rehearse. Practice reading your work out loud. Give each other some feedback:

1. Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?
2. Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your speech or story?
3. Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
4. Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? Are you following the advice I just gave you?

HOMEWORK: Complete "Sudden Fiction" (pp. 190-223)

Extra Credit Option for MP1 (due Friday, end of class period): For extra credit, complete a 4th or 5th draft of a short story or a new draft of a poem (new poem) that you haven't written yet. NOTE: extra credit does not replace a writing assignment. It is the icing on the cake. It is not the cake itself, figuratively.

Short Story #3; Preparing Your MP1 Portfolio; Journals Due!

Sudden Fiction: "Gerald's Song" pp. 186-189

Period 3: (Short Story #3)

• "A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon" (pg. 83-85); Write a short story using only interrogative pronouns (who, what, where, when, how, why or other interrogative stems like "could you, would you, will you, or do you..."); Address your questionnaire to a specific person.
• "Class Notes" (pg. 122-125); Write class notes for your Class of 2022. Tell us in a newsletter style story what happened to all your classmates 30 years from graduation. Make sure you CHANGE the names of your peers before submitting your assignment.
• "Gerald's Song" (186-189): choose a song (google lyrics for example) and use lines from the song between scenes of your story. Lyrics might reflect or comment on the plot or contrast/contribute to character development or theme...

Write another story draft. This one is #3 if you're counting: 500-word short story, hit-man/popular mechanics based story idea, and...this one. 

Honor writing time!

Turn in your journal today.

At the end of period 4 (roughly about 10:15) we'll go to the lab to print out drafts of your poetry, speeches, non-fiction, fiction that you have written this marking period.

HOMEWORK: Complete your draft of your third short story. Choose a short story, 2-3 poems, a speech (expository speech, etc.) or your baseline essay (nonfiction) from your writing. Complete "Sudden Fiction" (pp. 190-223)

Extra Credit Option for MP1 (due Friday, end of class period): For extra credit, complete a 4th or 5th draft of a short story or a new draft of a poem (new poem) that you haven't written yet. NOTE: extra credit does not replace a writing assignment. It is the icing on the cake. It is not the cake itself, figuratively.

More Fiction; More Sudden Fiction

Period 3:

8-Point Story Arc (video)

Please use 3rd period to complete a draft of your short story. When you have completed it, please upload to our Google classroom site.

• "Popular Mechanics" (retell in a new way an old story from the Bible, mythology, or fairy tales...)
• "The Hit Man" (use chapter titles in a similar manner as T.C. Boyle in his short story; write mini-chapters that make up a larger story involving a protagonist)

If you finish early (before 4th period), please work on your homework by reading some of the short stories in the collection.

Period 4: (Short Story #3)

Let's read a few short stories from the Sudden Fiction collection. As we read, in your journal complete the writing prompts I give you in during class. We will have a couple options to develop during our writing time in class. Use the following stories as writing prompts:

• "A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon" (pg. 83-85); Write a short story using only interrogative pronouns (who, what, where, when, how, why or other interrogative stems like "could you, would you, will you, or do you..."); Address your questionnaire to a specific person.
• "Class Notes" (pg. 122-125); Write class notes for your Class of 2022. Tell us in a newsletter style story what happened to all your classmates 30 years from graduation. Make sure you CHANGE the names of your peers before submitting your assignment.

Write another story draft. 

Honor writing time!

HOMEWORK: Sudden Fiction - pg. 135-185. Read these stories. In your journal summarize or identify the premise of each story you read. If you are inspired to try your own model of a story, write your draft in your journal. Journals will be collected on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The marking period ends next Friday, Nov. 2.

Sudden Fiction Prompts; Writing Short Stories

Let's read a few short stories from the Sudden Fiction collection. As we read, in your journal complete the writing prompts I give you in during class. We will have a couple options to develop during our writing time in class.

• "Popular Mechanics" (retell in a new way an old story from the Bible, mythology, or fairy tales...)
• "The Hit Man" (use chapter titles in a similar manner as T.C. Boyle in his short story; write mini-chapters that make up a larger story involving a protagonist)

Write that story draft. 

Honor writing time!

HOMEWORK: Sudden Fiction - pg. 126-134; 112-121. Read these stories. In your journal summarize or identify the premise of each story you read. If you are inspired to try your own model of a story, write your draft in your journal. Journals will be collected on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The marking period ends next Friday, Nov. 2.

Short Stories: Day 3

Period 3:

Writing Time:

• In one sentence (a premise) what would you like to write about? [Write your idea in your journal].

Watch at least 3 500-word stories (see link below) and summarize each story in 1 sentence. Write your 1-sentence premise (summary) in your journals. Then, add to this list with some of your own 1-sentence premises. 

• Please watch and listen to at least 3 500-word stories from this site.  You can find the 2017 winners at this link and the 2018 winners at this link too.
• Write a 500-word story. 
• Come up with a short story that should be exactly 500 words in length.
• Subject and genre are completely up to you!
• Use the handout advice to get you started.
• Use the advice from the videos on the web as well.
• Write. Drafts of your stories will be due at the end of class. We'll take a break during period 4 (see below).  

When you have completed your 500-word short story, proofread, print and submit your draft to our Google classroom. If you finish before the 500-word short story is due, write another one in a different style or genre. The possibilities are endless!

Period 4: Sudden Fiction 

Let's take a break and read a few short stories from the Sudden Fiction collection. As we read, in your journal identify:

• POV (1st, 2nd, or 3rd person POV)
• Identify the speaker/protagonist
• Identify the conflict/antagonist
• Identify the setting
• Identify the theme or message of the story. We might also call this the premise. What is the story about?
• How does the title help make meaning or help focus the reader's attention?

HOMEWORK: Sudden Fiction - pg. 91-107.

Short Stories: Day 2

Let's read a couple short stories this morning. As we read, notice the format and how each author uses dialogue, setting, description, language, sentences, a hook, plot elements, and conclusions. For each short story identify:

• POV (1st, 2nd, or 3rd person POV)
• Identify the speaker/protagonist
• Identify the conflict/antagonist
• Identify the setting
• Identify the theme or message of the story. We might also call this the premise. What is the story about?
• How does the title help make meaning or help focus the reader's attention?

Writing Time:

Watch at least 3 500-word stories (see link below) and summarize each story in 1 sentence. Write your 1-sentence premise (summary) in your journals. Then, add to this list with some of your own 1-sentence premises. 

• Please watch and listen to at least 3 500-word stories from this site.  You can find the 2017 winners at this link and the 2018 winners at this link too.
• Write a 500-word story. 
• Come up with a short story that should be exactly 500 words in length.
• Subject and genre are completely up to you!
• Use the handout advice to get you started.
• Use the advice from the videos on the web as well.
• Write. Drafts of your stories will be due next class most probably. 

When you have completed your 500-word short story, proofread, print and submit your draft to our Google classroom. If you finish before the 500-word short story is due, write another one in a different style or genre. The possibilities are endless!

HOMEWORK: Sudden Fiction - pg. 3-15

Short Stories: Day 1

Short stories:

Take a look at our introduction to short stories from Shmoop and How to Read Short Stories. Note any vocabulary that seems important concerning the short story.

Students often ask: "How long should my story be?" instead of realizing that any story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. This sort of open-ended question really has no answer. How long should a story be? Well, traditionally, short stories are shorter than novels. That's a good place to begin.

Short stories are shorter than novels and are usually not as complex or involved. Short stories were originally meant to be read in one sitting. As our culture has sped ahead, and we don't have much free time, short stories have become as short as a sentence or two and as long as the traditional short stories, fewer than 20,000 words. A short novel is about 50,000 words. Most publishers want novels that are anywhere from 75,000 to 100,000 words or more.

Usually, a short story focuses on only one event or incident. It usually has a single plot, a single setting, a small number of characters, and covers a short period of time. Most writing students start off writing short stories because they are manageable. But the form is tricky and hard to perfect. Many authors spend their whole lives learning the craft of writing short fiction.

Longer short stories usually contain elements of dramatic structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation and main characters); complication (the event that introduces the conflict); rising action (development of the conflict), crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and her commitment to a course of action); climax (the point of highest tension and the point the protagonist faces her antagonist); resolution (the point when the conflict is resolved); and a sense of enlightenment, epiphany, or moral.

Short stories may or may not follow this pattern. Some do not follow patterns at all. Modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition. An abrupt beginning, with the story starting in the middle of the action (in media res) is more standard or typical.

Usually, all short stories have a turning point and climax, but endings may be sudden or what is called "open"--leaving the story incomplete. As with all art forms, short stories will vary by author.

Let's read a couple short stories this morning. As we read, notice the format and how each author uses dialogue, setting, description, language, sentences, a hook, plot elements, and conclusions. For each short story identify:

• POV (1st, 2nd, or 3rd person POV)
• Identify the speaker/protagonist
• Identify the conflict/antagonist
• Identify the setting
• Identify the theme or message of the story. We might also call this the premise. What is the story about?
• How does the title help make meaning or help focus the reader's attention?

Writing Time:

Watch at least 3 500-word stories (see link below) and summarize each story in 1 sentence. Write your 1-sentence premise (summary) in your journals. Then, add to this list with some of your own 1-sentence premises. 

• Please watch and listen to at least 3 500-word stories from this site.  You can find the 2017 winners at this link and the 2018 winners at this link too.
• Write a 500-word story. 
• Come up with a short story that should be exactly 500 words in length.
• Subject and genre are completely up to you!
• Use the handout advice to get you started.
• Use the advice from the videos on the web as well.
• Write. Drafts of your stories will be due soon. 

When you have completed your 500-word short story, proofread, print and submit your draft to our Google classroom. If you finish before the 500-word short story is due, write another one in a different style or genre. The possibilities are endless!

HOMEWORK: Sudden Fiction - pg. 17-63. Summarize each story in 1 or 2 sentences for each story you read. Keep these summaries in your journal. I will be checking your journal in two weeks.

Performance Poetry; Practice & Recital; Sudden Fiction

Returning to the tradition of performance--all poetry was meant to be sung or performed, let's take a look at some contemporary examples that sort of cross the genres a bit. As you watch/listen to the performance, note in your journal what you noticed about the performance and how the poet grabbed your attention. How, for example, was the performance effective in your opinion?

Derrick Brown

• "A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me"
• "Meat Loaf"
• "Cotton in the Air"

What's your reaction? Let's discuss.

Now it's your turn to perform. Take a look at all the poem drafts you've written this past week. Hopefully, you have a few options. If you only wrote 1 poem, you're stuck with it. Otherwise, pick a poem you wrote that you would like to "perform" for the class. Go next door to print out a copy of your selected poem to use as a "script" for your rehearsal and performance.

Additionally, please submit your Google file with your poem drafts (as many as you have from the last two weeks) into Google Classroom (see assignment instructions there...)

1. Read and rehearse your poem with a partner. Every student should work with another person/peer.
2. Give suggestions and help each other perform better. Consider the tips we talked about with our speeches. Give each other some feedback:

• Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?
• Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your poem?
• Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
• Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? 

When time is called, please deliver your poem to the whole class.

Remember: Good speakers...

• Make eye contact
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Use gestures
• Have energy
• Change tone
• Perform with sincerity

At the end of class, please pick up the short story collection: Sudden Fiction (see homework).

HOMEWORK: Please read the short stories on pages: 3-32. Type up and submit to me any poem drafts you did not submit in class today.

Come join us for the closing night of the Creative Writing Department's production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore tonight, Friday at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. Creative writing students attend free, but we'd like to challenge you to bring a friend or family member. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. This is a fundraiser for the department. Extra credit for those who attend.

Poetry: Billy Collins; Lucille Clifton; Derrick Brown

We will continue to read and work on poetry exercises drawn from our reading of Billy Collins and Lucille Clifton.

Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is one of the oldest art forms in history. Poetry is human language used for its aesthetic (or beautiful) qualities in addition to, or instead of, its content. In other words: poetry, like art, should inspire, move, motivate, or make the reader/viewer or listener feel something. 

Sometimes this happens. Sometimes it doesn't. Welcome to the fickle world of Art. Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but in the meantime, write. Everything you write creatively is practice. Practice will help you gain the skills you need to be successful.

Poetry consists largely of oral (spoken) or literary (written) works in which language is used creatively or artistically to evoke or create an emotion, idea, or feeling.

Poems frequently rely on imagery, word association, structure, and the musical qualities of our language. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what makes poetry.

Poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuanced meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitiveinterpretation. This often frustrates a reader--particularly a person who needs a definite answer to the question: what does this mean? 

Poetry is different from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a clearer and less abstract way (often through story telling). Prose frequently uses more complete logical or narrative structures than poetry does. This does not necessarily imply that poetry is illogical or does not tell a story or narrative, but rather that poetry is often created from the need to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and human emotions in a tight, condensed manner. Poetry looks different from prose on the page as well. Poetry is traditionally written using line breaks. 

What is generally accepted as "great" poetry is debatable in many cases. "Great" poetry usually follows the characteristics listed above, but it is also set apart by its complexity and sophistication. For some of you, the material presented in this unit is sophisticated, often abstract, and difficult. Try. That's all we can do. The more you try, the better you will learn, and the more skilled and comfortable you will become when approaching the art of poetry or abstract concepts in music, art, dance, and theater.

"Great" poetry, by the way, generally captures images vividly and in an original, refreshing way, while weaving together poetic or literary elements like theme, conflict, characterization, diction, complex human emotion, and profound reflective thought. 

Before we move on, let's define and classify poetry a bit. Definitions will help you understand (and hopefully appreciate) what options you have in writing poetry. Originally, poetry was meant to be spoken out loud and performed, often accompanied to the music of a lyre (or 3 stringed harp). In "songs" called dithyrambs, poetry was sung for an audience. These poets were the first rock stars! Here are the 4 types of poetry classifications or broad genres (and the kinds of poems associated with that type):

Lyric: Brief, often emotional poems that focus on the musicality or sound of words, and rhythm. Kinds of lyrical poems include:

• Songs
• Rap or hip hop
• Ode or panegyric
• Elegy or lament
• Paean
• Pastoral (idyll, bucolic, georgic, or eclogue)
• Ekphrasis
• Parody
• Occasional verse (epithalamia, etc.)
• Riddle
• Concrete
• Sonnet
• Villanelle
• Sestina
• Haiku
• Free verse

Narrative: a longer poem that often tells a story or includes fictional literary elements, such as dialogue, development of character, or plot:

• Allegory
• Ballad
• Fable
• Epistle
• Light verse
• Romance
• Satire

Dramatic: a poem meant to be read aloud or staged; a play written in verse:

• Monologue
• Masque
• Soliloquy
• Slam or spoken word
• Tragedy
• Comedy

Epic: a long narrative poem that celebrates heroic or historic deeds and events. Because of their length and complexity, we will not be writing epics, but you might come across them in your English classes:

• Heroic epic
• Mock epic

Returning to the tradition of performance--all poetry was meant to be sung or performed, let's take a look at some contemporary examples that sort of cross the genres a bit. As you watch/listen to the performance, note in your journal what you noticed about the performance and how the poet grabbed your attention. How, for example, was the performance effective in your opinion?

Derrick Brown

• "A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me"
• "Meat Loaf"
• "Cotton in the Air"

Now it's your turn to perform. Take a look at all the poem drafts you've written this past week. Hopefully, you have a few options. If you only wrote 1 poem, you're stuck with it. Otherwise, pick a poem you wrote that you would like to "perform" for the class.

1. Read and rehearse your poem with a partner. Every student should work with another person/peer.
2. Give suggestions and help each other perform better. Consider the tips we talked about with our speeches. Give each other some feedback:

• Are you pleasing your audience? Can we hear you? Can we understand you? Are you holding our attention? Are you too unfocused and confusing? Have you put energy into your performance or delivery? Are you boring? Are you making occasional eye-contact with your audience?
• Are you matching your TONE of voice to the TONE of your poem?
• Are you sincerely trying? [Avoid just going through the motions--an audience can tell that a performer just doesn't care or would rather be doing anything other than speaking...why should we listen to a person like this?]
• Are you reaching the goals you set out for yourself? 

When time is called, please deliver your poem to the whole class.

Remember: Good speakers...

• Make eye contact
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Use gestures
• Have energy
• Change tone
• Perform with sincerity

HOMEWORK: Prepare your poem if you did not perform today. Be ready to perform your chosen poem draft for the class!

Poetry: Day 3

Let's take a look at Shmoop's explanation of what a poem is all about. And we'll read a couple.

Get it? Questions? 

Let's break it down. Poems should have a structure. They look different sitting on a page. They are not written like prose is written. They are special. However, they should be written using punctuation. Paragraphs in poems are called stanzas. When we change the topic or scene, we can start a new stanza. 

Poems are written using line breaks. Line breaks are important--because they mean something in a poem. A long line slows the pace of your poem. A short line speeds up the pace of your poem.

Structure: Dice poem exercise... Get ready to write. Follow these rules:

• Select a subject from your journal list. Or, since you're going to use dice, choose one of these themes: chance or fate, gambling, randomness, games, probability, etc.
• Select 2 dice from the pile.
• Roll both dice to determine the # of lines for your poem.
• As you write each line, roll both dice to determine the number of words in each line of the poem.
• Write that poem in your Google drive. 

Take 10 minutes to do this.

Poetry Reading & exercises. 

As we read, we'll stop occasionally and write poetry drafts. By the end of today, you will have enough drafts to choose a poem to perform for the class.

HOMEWORK: Write and revise poetry.