Week of 11/27/12

11/29/12

Goal: Learn some more traditional poetic structures:

First step: 

Solar System: How small are you really? Calculations and a demonstration.

Note: Scientists estimate that there are between 100 and 500 billion galaxies in the universe. So, the number of people on earth times about 36 (if there are 250 billion galaxies).

Writing time: You are one of 7 billion people (we passed that number sometime last year) crammed on a tiny speck. What's your next move?

Haiku day. Background and practice.

Haiku structure: 
line 1 has 5 syllables, 
line 2 has 7 syllables, 
line 3 has 5 syllables.

Haiku themes: Usually natural themes, lots of imagery.

Shift: Usually the last line reveals something new about the poem.

Syllabics: 

In My Craft or Sullen Art (by Dylan Thomas)

In my craft or sullen art

Exercised in the still night

When only the moon rages

And the lovers lie abed

With all their griefs in their arms,

I labour by singing light

Not for ambition or bread

Or the strut and trade of charms

On the ivory stages

But for the common wages

Of their most secret heart.

Example (From “Brooklyn Ghazal” by Elizabeth Willse)

Hungry for a kiss, take the train to Brooklyn,

Speeding under the river to your arms in Brooklyn.

Sunset paints the sky through the Manhattan Bridge,

Train stalls. The sky stretches between me and Brooklyn.

Crimson leaves underfoot, the incense of woodsmoke

Rises through the burnished brass air of Brooklyn.

HW for Tuesday: 

1. Write a Ghazal (if you didn't already). A minimum of five couplets--no more than fifteen--that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally linked in some way.

Possible angle (or DYT): Alternate couplets between how people see you on the surface (your "mask") and what's going on inside your mind, heart, psyche, etc. The title should tie things together.

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11/27/12

"Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down." --Robert Frost, 1935.

Goal: Begin to think about how the semester will wrap up. Read some poetry!

First Step: A look at the final: 

(Final Portfolio Document Attached here)

Reading Poetry: Guidelines

1. Select a book. Don't worry too much about the choice. You can always put it back and get another one

2. Check out the cover, the back pages, the copyright date, and anything about the poet.

3. Begin reading. You might want to select individual poem titles, and you might want to begin at the beginning. Up to you.

4. Find three powerful poems or passages.

5. On a sheet of paper, write down the powerful passages. Reflect on each. Why are they powerful, confusing, reminiscent of an experience, though-provoking, etc? Writing and drawing are both fine--just be thoughtful.

6. Turn the reflection page in at the end of the reading period.

Enter The Dragon by John Murillo (example)

Share some powerful passages.

Homework for Thursday: Write a Ghazal. A minimum of five couplets--no more than fifteen--that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally linked in some way

Possible angle (or DYT): Alternate couplets between how people see you on the surface (your "mask") and what's going on inside your mind, heart, psyche, etc. The title should tie things together.

Example (From “Brooklyn Ghazal” by Elizabeth Willse)

Hungry for a kiss, take the train to Brooklyn,

Speeding under the river to your arms in Brooklyn.

Sunset paints the sky through the Manhattan Bridge,

Train stalls. The sky stretches between me and Brooklyn.

Crimson leaves underfoot, the incense of woodsmoke

Rises through the burnished brass air of Brooklyn.