Poetry Directions for Multigenre Project

Creative Writing

(On Thursday June 11, 2009 you will pass in three poems that are proofread, typed, and adhere to the directions.)

1. Metaphor Poem (begin in class on Monday, June 8)

· Start with your topic. Brainstorm aspects of the topic (for example, Fitz Henry Lane=schooners, house atop Harbor Loop, oil paint, scrutches, apple-peru, etc.) as well as feelings and concepts associated with the topic (for example, Fitz Henry Lane=luminism, beauty, realism, observation, etc.)

· Then create metaphors for items in either list. (From the F.H. Lane list of concepts: Luminism is a painting with a light bulb inside. Or, a bit more vivid: The sky in the painting swallowed a light bulb. From the F.H. Lane list of objects: Scrutches are legs Lane shed to sit and paint.

· String the metaphors together. Edit them. Revise them. Expand them. Contract them. Use your ear, your mind’s eye, and your sense of the language of images to guide your revision.

· Your poem should include at least seven (7) metaphors.

2. Spontaneous Poem (begin in class on Tuesday, June 9)

To activate your subconscious mind, do the following:

· Free write about your topic for five minutes. (This is stream of consciousness writing.)

· Pick ten vivid, interesting, revealing words from your stream of consciousness free-write.

· In five minutes write a ten-line poem in which each line contains at least one of the ten words and in which each of the ten words is used at least once.

· Make a title using a phrase from your stream of consciousness free-write.

· The point of this poem is to emphasize spontaneity, whimsy, seeming randomness, linguistic daring, absurdity, surreality, etc.

3. Formal Ekphrastic Poem (begin in class on Wednesday, June 10)

· Choose an object or work of art (a photograph, statue, song, film, poem, story, painting, etc.) related to your topic.

· Choose a form (tanka, haiku, acrostic, mesostic, double acrostic, sonnet, villanelle, limerick, sestina, etc.) and revise the rules so there are at least three constraints* (rules), or invent a form of your own with at least three constraints (rules).

· Use the constraints to write a poem in response to the object or work of art.

· In the title of the poem let the reader know what object or work of art you are responding to.

· In a note below the poem write down the three rules.

* Constraints can refer to rhythm and sound: rhyme scheme, alliteration, syllable count, stressed syllable count, etc. Constraints can refer to words and concepts: a particular word has to be in each line or stanza, a particular word cannot be used, a particular type of word (a color, a season, a name, etc.) must be used, etc. Other constraints: no words with the letter “e” or every line must have one word than the line previous or the words on the page must be arranged to look like the object being described.