Thank you to everyone that presented today. As we discussed in class, I would like you to write three poems over break. Please have a draft of the following:
1. Senryu
2. Villanelle
3. Sonnet
Please also make sure that you post your presentations on the blog so that we can use the information as a resource. I do not assign much homework, so it would mean a whole lot if you could come to class prepared on January 7th! If you have questions, please e-mail me or write a response to this post. I hope you have a restful and enjoyable holiday! I am truly thankful to have each and every one of you as a student. Remember what Mr. Vargas said: Stay out of trouble... and out of jail over break... We will discuss sestinas more when we return. I love you guys! ~Ms. Perez
Friday, December 20, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Workshop and Mini Projects!
Happy Monday!
Please spend the first 20 minutes or so of class writing, workshopping, making sure you are caught up, etc. FYI: Odes were graded... I would also like your elegy by the end of class today!
Poetry Form Mini Lessons
Once you are done with that please choose a partner and a poetry form. Each pair will teach the class how to write in that form. Here are some guidelines:
1. Presentations should be short and to the point.
2. You should have some visual for the class. For example, a handout and/or a short PowerPoint presentation.
3. You should present the class with an example of this form.
4. This is meant to be fun! Enjoy it :)
*If there is a form you want to teach, please request it! Here are some forms to choose from:
villanelle
sestina
Side Note: Since our class falls on a Friday this week, please consider bringing in a holiday treat. We can have a festive love circle and/or present our mini-lessons.
Please spend the first 20 minutes or so of class writing, workshopping, making sure you are caught up, etc. FYI: Odes were graded... I would also like your elegy by the end of class today!
Poetry Form Mini Lessons
Once you are done with that please choose a partner and a poetry form. Each pair will teach the class how to write in that form. Here are some guidelines:
1. Presentations should be short and to the point.
2. You should have some visual for the class. For example, a handout and/or a short PowerPoint presentation.
3. You should present the class with an example of this form.
4. This is meant to be fun! Enjoy it :)
*If there is a form you want to teach, please request it! Here are some forms to choose from:
villanelle
sestina
pantoum
sonnet
haiku
senryu
Side Note: Since our class falls on a Friday this week, please consider bringing in a holiday treat. We can have a festive love circle and/or present our mini-lessons.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
The Elegy and/or Prompts for Death and Grief
Today we discussed the elegy. An elegy is a poem that is sad and thoughtful, and often said in lament of a person who has died.
If you don't feel like going there, you can always write about the loss of something lighter. For example, I could easily lament about the loss of coffee... or doughnuts on Fridays...
Here are some ideas:
1. Write about the first experience with death/loss that you can remember, whether it involved a person or an animal (or coffee...) Then write about your most recent experience with death/loss. Combine the two in a poem.
2. Write a poem in which you speak after your own death. Imagine what death looks and feels like, what your emotions are. What advice can you give to the living?
3. Write a letter to someone who is dead. In it, make a confession.
4. In "Death, the Last Visit," Howe used the metaphor of a lover. Invent your own metaphor for death, and write a poem about what dying might feel like.
http://properlylost.blogspot.com/2008/07/death-last-visit-by-marie-howe.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7RiCb8Kidg
5. Who are your dead? Have them meet in a poem, even if they never met in life, and describe how they interact.
6. Read the newspaper and, when you find an account of a stranger's death that moves you, write an elegy for that person. Find a way that your life and that person's death are related, and talk about it in the poem.
7. Write a first-person poem in the voice of a public figure who is dead.
8. What can the dead do: go through walls, see the future, move objects? What are their powers and limitations? What are their desires, fears, pleasures? Describe them in a poem. See Susan Mitchell's "The Dead". http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/140.html
9. If you own some object that used to belong to someone who is no longer alive, describe it in detail, along with your memories imaginings about how that person used it. You might also talk about how it is used in the present.
10. Write a poem about a ritual that accompanies death. It might be about a traditional funeral, a wake, or some more private or individual observance. If you find an occasion for joy or beauty in the midst of mourning, include it. (Do this last part only if it feels true to your experience.)
If you don't feel like going there, you can always write about the loss of something lighter. For example, I could easily lament about the loss of coffee... or doughnuts on Fridays...
Here are some ideas:
1. Write about the first experience with death/loss that you can remember, whether it involved a person or an animal (or coffee...) Then write about your most recent experience with death/loss. Combine the two in a poem.
2. Write a poem in which you speak after your own death. Imagine what death looks and feels like, what your emotions are. What advice can you give to the living?
3. Write a letter to someone who is dead. In it, make a confession.
4. In "Death, the Last Visit," Howe used the metaphor of a lover. Invent your own metaphor for death, and write a poem about what dying might feel like.
http://properlylost.blogspot.com/2008/07/death-last-visit-by-marie-howe.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7RiCb8Kidg
5. Who are your dead? Have them meet in a poem, even if they never met in life, and describe how they interact.
6. Read the newspaper and, when you find an account of a stranger's death that moves you, write an elegy for that person. Find a way that your life and that person's death are related, and talk about it in the poem.
7. Write a first-person poem in the voice of a public figure who is dead.
8. What can the dead do: go through walls, see the future, move objects? What are their powers and limitations? What are their desires, fears, pleasures? Describe them in a poem. See Susan Mitchell's "The Dead". http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/140.html
9. If you own some object that used to belong to someone who is no longer alive, describe it in detail, along with your memories imaginings about how that person used it. You might also talk about how it is used in the present.
10. Write a poem about a ritual that accompanies death. It might be about a traditional funeral, a wake, or some more private or individual observance. If you find an occasion for joy or beauty in the midst of mourning, include it. (Do this last part only if it feels true to your experience.)
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Poetry Forms
Here are some forms we will look at over the next couple of weeks. When you finish your post begin research. Start to think about what you already know and what you WANT to know. Take notes!
ode
ode
elegy
villanelle
sestina
pantoum
sonnet
haiku
senryu
HOMEWORK: Write a first draft of an ode. Make sure that you wrote something new and do some research when you get stuck. Remember: it doesn't have to be perfect. All you have to do is try!
Useful Links
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5784
http://www.powerpoetry.org/content/tips-writing-ode-poem
HOMEWORK: Write a first draft of an ode. Make sure that you wrote something new and do some research when you get stuck. Remember: it doesn't have to be perfect. All you have to do is try!
Useful Links
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5784
http://www.powerpoetry.org/content/tips-writing-ode-poem
Find the OPPOSITE of what you hate!
Today you will receive your portfolios back. Many of you stated reasons why you hated/disliked certain assignments, etc. I am okay with that, but today you are responsible for finding the opposite of what you hate.
Here is what I would like you to do:
1. Choose one thing you hated about anything last marking period. For example, if you hated a poem or a poet for a certain reason, state what that reason is.
2. Then find a contemporary poet who does the exact OPPOSITE of what it is you hate. Challenge yourself to find a new poet.
3. Respond to this post with a link to a poem by the new poet that demonstrates the OPPOSITE of what you hate.
4. Make sure to tell us exactly what you hated last marking period and how your new poet does it better.
5. ASK QUESTIONS if you are unclear on anything.
Here is what I would like you to do:
1. Choose one thing you hated about anything last marking period. For example, if you hated a poem or a poet for a certain reason, state what that reason is.
2. Then find a contemporary poet who does the exact OPPOSITE of what it is you hate. Challenge yourself to find a new poet.
3. Respond to this post with a link to a poem by the new poet that demonstrates the OPPOSITE of what you hate.
4. Make sure to tell us exactly what you hated last marking period and how your new poet does it better.
5. ASK QUESTIONS if you are unclear on anything.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Writing Day!
I am going to give you some choices today. If you don't like the choices, you may come up with your own task, just post a response so I know what you are doing.
Option One: Response Poetry
Choose a new contemporary poem and explore his/her work.
Find three poems and write your own poems in response. There are many ways to write response poetry. It can be conversational or it can be your own take on the author's subject/topic.
Option Two: Poetry Cycle
Consider some characters in your own life, imagined characters, or actual historical characters. Imagine the significant chronological dates in their lives--high points and low points. consider how to construct a series of poems that tell a story (narrative poetry) and explore these key moments and occasions.
Poems can, of course, be narrative or lyric, but remember that the overall cycle is a narrative and must tell a story of a life or lives although we only see "fragments" or moments/snapshots.
Option Three: Memory Writing
Make a list of the most memorable events in your life. Some of them will be large- a death, a breakup, some goal you finally accomplished. But list the small things, too, things you've always remembered as particularly special and important in some way.
When you're finished, you should have a list of subjects for poems that could take you years to write.
Write a couple of poems about one or more of the events you listed.
My goal is for each of you to write a series of poems that you are invested in. Try to find something that will give you a spark and motivate you. I would like you to have 2-3 new poems for class on Friday. This is the first homework assignment for the new marking period.
Option One: Response Poetry
Choose a new contemporary poem and explore his/her work.
Find three poems and write your own poems in response. There are many ways to write response poetry. It can be conversational or it can be your own take on the author's subject/topic.
Option Two: Poetry Cycle
Consider some characters in your own life, imagined characters, or actual historical characters. Imagine the significant chronological dates in their lives--high points and low points. consider how to construct a series of poems that tell a story (narrative poetry) and explore these key moments and occasions.
Poems can, of course, be narrative or lyric, but remember that the overall cycle is a narrative and must tell a story of a life or lives although we only see "fragments" or moments/snapshots.
Option Three: Memory Writing
Make a list of the most memorable events in your life. Some of them will be large- a death, a breakup, some goal you finally accomplished. But list the small things, too, things you've always remembered as particularly special and important in some way.
When you're finished, you should have a list of subjects for poems that could take you years to write.
Write a couple of poems about one or more of the events you listed.
My goal is for each of you to write a series of poems that you are invested in. Try to find something that will give you a spark and motivate you. I would like you to have 2-3 new poems for class on Friday. This is the first homework assignment for the new marking period.
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