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Do your students have smartphones? Do you, in fact, find it difficult to get their attention away from their phones? Turn a deficit into an asset: Consider having them write and film their own poems. Then have them put up their own website with their videos. Leave the technical details to them, and they will
Something Beyond the Ordinary Read More »
A sonnet is a poem defined by its form 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter= sonnet Iambic pentameter: a line comprised of five iambic feet (PENTAmeter) Iambic foot: one unstressed syllable + one stressed syllable Rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhyme at the ends of the lines In Elizabethan (English) sonnets, the rhyme scheme is
Notes on Sonnet Form Read More »
Write a free verse poem that is a stream of related images. These images do not need to be connected into a single story or scene. They should, however, be concrete and vivid and eventually add up to a dominant impression conveying a definite emotion of some kind. A close style analysis of a 20th
“Is there no context for our lives? No song, no literature, no poem full of vitamins, no history connected to experience that you can pass along to help us start strong? Stop thinking about saving your face. Think of our lives and tell us your particularized world. Make up a story. Narrative is radical, creating
Family Oral History: Narrative Poem Read More »
Finding poetry prompts in the captivating richness of poems: Use the following strategies to start your own poem drafts (notes for poems) in response to favorite poems, playfully finding poetry prompts in the captivating richness of poems by reading, reading, reading poems: *Quick write all that comes to mind initially after first reading the poem
1. Things I’m afraid to tell myself 2. Ways of Oregon rain 3. I’m from a place where 4. Things Momma don’t allow 5. Things I’ve learned lately 6. Nerudian questions like––What truly sleeps in a riverbed? Why is everything more beautiful underwater? Why do rivers journey? How far can you travel downriver? Who is
Some Playful, Aggravating & Reusable Poetry Prompts Read More »
When asking “What Next?” of a first draft, remember grandfather, Peter Elbow’s maxim: Our first draft is often only half there. Revision is the opportunity to grow and discover the missing half––often the half that makes our work fully present, complete and publishable. 1. Leave your work to cool for a couple days when possible
Re-Seeing What We Write Read More »
