Poetry Drafting: A Day of Inspiration

We are going to write many drafts of poems in our journal today. Let's start with an exercise:

A poem is...

In your journal write what a poem is in a poetic way. Use specific nouns and active verbs to get at the "feeling" or "meaning" or "sense of" poetry and what it means to YOU. Take 3 minutes and write your draft in your journal.

For example: "Poetry is..." by Emilio Villa

Literally, or denotatively, a poem is a piece of writing, often having figurative language and lines, that suggest rhythm and image. We use figurative language when our writing goes beyond the "actual meanings of words (denotation) so that the reader gains new insights into the objects or subjects" in our draft.

Poems should utilize imagery (an appeal to the senses by using metaphor, simile, assonance/consonance, alliteration, symbol, personification, onomatopoeia, specific nouns/active verbs, figurative language); they do not need to rhyme. They should create a specific picture or image in the mind of the reader or listener. 

All poem drafts should have a meaning, a theme. There are 4 themes found in poems (sometimes more than one of these 4 themes is found in a single poem!)

Poems are always about:

• Human life
• Death
• Nature
• Love

Make a list of subject matter that you might write a poem about in your journal...Take 3 minutes.

Now let's take a look at Shmoop's explanation of what a poem is all about.

Get it? Questions? 

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 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.
• 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 journal. 

Take 10 minutes to do this.

Return to the lab. Use the "poem starter" lists to write as many drafts of poems as you can for the rest of class. When you finish one prompt, try a new subject or topic and write another draft. You can write in your journal, or type up your work. Either works.

Options from last class:

•  #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem 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

HOMEWORK: Complete Fences and review the plot, story, characters, symbols, themes, etc. There will be a quiz on this play next class. Keep writing your poem drafts. The more you write, the more you'll practice writing something truly unique and creative.

To that end, please read the handout and complete exercises in your journal (or type them up for your portfolio...) Pg. 8, 20, 22, & 30 have exercises you should complete in your journal.

Journals are due Wednesday, next week.