Poetry Writing Syllabus May 5-14, 2010
Poetry Writing Workshop
Jane Belton
Syllabus May 2010
Wednesday 5/5
In Class: Portfolio I Due. Share one poem each from your portfolio. Discuss the form and conventions of the sonnet. “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed…” by Edna St. Vincent Millay and “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare.
Assignment: Read and annotate the remaining sonnets in the packet (“the sonnet-ballad” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Remember” by Christina Georgina Rossetti). Then write your own sonnet (Exercise 7) using the form of one of the poems in the packet as a model. You will turn in the exercise on Monday. Here are some ideas for inspiration: Write a sonnet dedicated to or about 1) an inanimate object – a favorite childhood toy, a stapler, etc; 2) your favorite food; 3) your least favorite subject in school; 4) a season –baseball season, spring, March Madness, Oscar season, etc. 4) a person in your life
*For first five minutes of class on Monday 5/10: Bring in a song/poem you want to share with the class to inspire our private writing (DAMIEN)
Thursday 5/6 – No Class
Friday 5/7 – No Class
Monday 5/10
In Class: Exercise 7 due. Read and discuss haiku. Juxtapositions, what is said/not said. Write your own haiku inspired by images/photographs/ “cut up” exercise.
Homework: Complete Exercise 8: Write at least 3 haiku inspired by the images in class.
*For first five minutes of class tomorrow: Bring in a song/poem you want to share with the class to inspire our private writing (EILEEN)
Tuesday 5/11
In Class: Share favorite haiku from exercise 8. Discuss litany poems- the term “litany” refers to poems that use repetition of a specific line, or form of a line, in a powerful and central way. Read “Waiting for Icarus” (Muriel Rukeyser) and “Answers” (Mark Strand). How do these poems use repetition to establish rhythm? What do they do to become more than “just” a list? Is there a progression and if so, what is the nature of that progression? Begin exercise 9.
Assignment: Read and annotate “Save Us From” by Roo Borson. Complete Exercise 9: Write a litany poem, using a repetitive phrase or line, inspired by an image, line, or idea (question and answer, “he said…”) that strikes you most in one of the published poems. Think about how strongly/frequently you want to use the line/refrain (ie. every line, just at the beginning of stanzas, or irregularly)
Pick one of the exercises you have completed to workshop next. Bring in 8 copies of your poem for workshop tomorrow.
* For first five minutes of class tomorrow: Bring in a song/poem you want to share with the class to inspire our private writing (GRACEN).
Wednesday 5/12
In Class: Exercise 9 due. Workshop — Day I
Assignment: Read your peers’ poems for workshop.
Thursday 5/13 – No Class
Friday 5/14
In Class: Workshop — Day II
Assignment: Work on revising your poems according to feedback from workshop.