Creative Writing Assignments for Week Four
By the conclusion of Week Five, in two weeks and by Sunday, September 25, you will complete a poetry project in Three Parts to be published as you please--that is to say, post what appeals to you--on Discussion Thread Three over the next two weeks--and sent to me AS ONE DOCUMENT at the appropriate link.
Again, urn in the material at the appropriate link. Submit the entire project in one Word document--do not cut and paste into the assignment link.
And, of course, you can turn in the work at an earlier time; however, after looking over the poetry you have worked with these past two weeks, you might want to revise what you first write for the project, so take your time.
I will use the next two weeks to catch up with the other assignments as we approach the middle of the term (Already!).
You will also find examples of work done for this class, to which I will add material over the coming weeks, on the class web page.
Part One:
Over the past weeks, you have experimented with both Haiku and with Images.
For this section of the Poetry Project, complete either A or B, providing the read a brief introduction to your creations:
A. Write a series of five haiku. You can base them on photographs provided previously or on places of your own, using your surroundings for the subject matter. And you can send photographs if need be.
Try to vary the locations a bit as well as the time of day or the season, paying attention, for example, to how the places or even objects change depending on the time of day or the season. Concentrate on the different moods the images and places evoke in you. (See page 124 of your text.)
Put to use the suggestions you get back over the next two weeks as I catch up on the assignments--remember to put to use the rhetorical tools discussed over the past weeks, from metaphor to alliteration, tools with which the various assignments ask you to experiment.
Try to compose all the Haiku without either the passive voice or the verb "to be" in its various manifestations: is, are, were, was. Make the prose strong, the images emphatic, using punctuation for emphasis and clarity.
B. Write four poems that you consider "imagist": short--one image that addresses one feeling or tone.
Your subject matter can be anything, but the exercise works better if you show something tangible: bread baking in the oven, shorn sheep on a winter's day, the department store on Christmas Eve.
Once you have four images related in some fashion, connect them into a larger poem. You may add transitional words to connect the images. Play with the order of placement of the images as well. Do not fear the bizarre.
Think in terms of the word/paint poem you wrote in imitation of William Carlos Williams.
Again, remember all the tools you have worked with these past weeks, including the use of figural language, sound devices, and the inclusion of senses other than sight.
Bring the images and objects to life.
Part Two:
The chapter you look at this week talks about poetic forms.
The first part of the chapter discusses FREE VERSE. And as you have come to realize, nothing is free, for a poem must have FORM.
To fulfill this part of the project, write a Free Verse or Prose Poem, and provide an introduction to your poem:
A. Free Verse: Write a Free Verse poem of your choice. In this poem, make use of the poetic devices we have discussed, including metaphor and/or simile, personification, metonymy, etc.; and put into effect sophisticated use of sound as well.
Include a paragraph about the inspiration for this poem and the techniques with which you experimented.
This poem should be 8-10 lines.
B. Prose Poem: Our text does not discuss prose poems, but our notes do.
As this web page underscores, you will find a wonderful array of possibilities, none longer than a page, most around as long as Charles Fort's in the anthology.
Include a paragraph about the inspiration for this poem and the techniques with which you experimented.
See class notes for a longer discussion.
A prose poem makes extensive use of the poetic tools with which you continue to experiment; make considered use of poetry's condensed language.
Part Three:
The better part of this chapter is devoted to formal forms of poetry, from Villanelle to Sonnet. Read over the various forms discussed in the chapter and use one of the following formats for a poem of your choice:
Sonnet
Sestina
Villanelle
*Tanka (Three Haiku that can be related in theme; see note.)
Your text offers examples of all but the final choice; the class notes discuss writing a Tanka. In the rhymed and metered poetic forms, put to use techniques for muting rhyme, from slant rhyme to enjambment.
Include a paragraph about the inspiration for this poem and the techniques with which you experimented.
Enjoy this experience, putting your imagination to work and putting into place all we have discussed these past weeks. And write with out fear, taking chances and experimenting with all the tools with which you practice.
*You can write a Tanka only if you did not choose Haiku for the first part.
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