Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus April 2011

Monday 4/18

In Class: Discuss the form of the sestina. Begin freewriting for sestina exercise: Freewrite about a significant scene or memory from your childhood involving a) an important childhood toy; b) a memorable family meal; c) a significant journey or trip. In your freewrite, try to recall and tap into the details of place, interactions, tastes, sights, sounds, etc. Be as specific and thorough in your memory as possible.

Assignment: Work on Exercise 5: Write a sestina based on a specific memory of a significant scene or moment from your childhood.  Take the time to select and hone the six end words you’ll be using (these end words may emerge out of your freewrite).  Bring in a draft of your sestina to class on Wednesday. Continue revising the exercises for which you have received feedback.

Tuesday 4/19 – No Class

Wednesday 4/20

In Class: Draft of sestina due. Continue discussion of the poems and how the poets use the sestina form: shifts/movement/progression in the poem, creative use of end words, enjambment. Focused revision workshop on sestinas.

Assignment: Work on revising Exercises 1-5 according to feedback and focused revision prompts. You will turn in both your first and second drafts of your sestina, as well as your “process/revision work” with Portfolio I. Bring in 12 copies (total) of the poem you would like to workshop on Thursday. Make these copies BEFORE class!

Thursday 4/21

In Class: Workshop Day 1

Assignment: Revise your piece according to feedback you received during workshop.

Friday 4/22 – No Class

Monday 4/25

In Class: Workshop Day 2

Assignment: Revise your piece according to feedback you received during workshop.

Tuesday 4/26 – No Class

Wednesday 4/27

In Class: Workshop Day 3

Assignment: Work on revising your workshopped poem based on the feedback you received. Complete Focused Freewrite # 3: What have you heard during workshops of your peers’ poems that can help you with your own work? Be specific (refer to specific comments and discussions). 1 ½ – 2 pages, handwritten.  Continue revising your work for the portfolio.

Thursday 4/28

In Class: Workshop Day 4

Assignment: Work on revising your workshopped poem based on the feedback you received. Complete Focused freewrite # 4: Select 1-2 poems in the collection of poetry you have chosen as outside reading for the class. What techniques do you see the poet using in the poem(s)? How are they effective (or not) in your opinion? How do these approaches fit in with or aspects of poetry writing we have discussed in class thus far? What ideas and strategies do you see emerging in their work that you’d like to emulate or experiment with in your own poetry? Please refer to specific textual evidence (quote specific moments in the poem) in your response. Use correct parenthetical citation when you quote: eg. “On the table, two fragile/glasses of black wine” (“Reunion” lines 5-6). Please indicate the title of the poem(s) (placed in quotation marks) and the name of the poet at the top of the freewrite. Bring in 4 copies of the poem for your peers and be prepared to share your thoughts about the poem.

Friday 4/29

In Class: Share outside reading poems in small groups

Assignment: Complete Portfolio I for Monday May 2.

Sestina Builder

Note: Once you have generated your template,  copy and paste it into a word document so you can save your final poem.

Sestina Elizabeth Bishop

Alberto Rios – Nani

Sestina for the Q Train

Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus April 2011

Monday 4/11

In Class: Exercise 2 (My mother’s /father’s/ grandparent’s kitchen) due. Share.  Discuss choices made: details, language, form, approach. Discuss assigned poems.

Assignment: Read and annotate the assigned poems: Carolyn Forché’s “Memory of Elena,” Yusef Komunyakaa’s “My Father’s Love Letters,” Audre Lorde’s “Hanging Fire” and Li-Young Lee’s “The Hour and What is Dead.”

Tuesday 4/12 – No Class

Wednesday 4/13

In Class: Discuss poems: Accessing memory, working from specificity to create larger meaning; how images build meaning; structures: circular, linear, etc.

Assignment: Complete Exercise 3: “5 Easy Pieces”: Think of a person who is important or significant to you on some level. Jot down images, sensory details, interactions, snippets of dialogue, and places that come to mind and are most vivid for you in association with this person. Inspired by this initial work, write a poem about this person using the following structure: 1) Describe the person’s hands. 2) Describe something he/she is doing with his/her hands. 3) Use a metaphor to say something about the place/setting. 4) Mention what you would want to ask this person (or what you do, in fact, ask). 5) The person looks up or toward you, sees you there, gives an answer that suggests he or she only understands part of what you asked. The main goal of this exercise is to try to create a clear picture or story through specific fragments and details. Feel free to play with or add to the provided structure to make it your own.

Thursday 4/14

In Class: Exercise 3 due. Read and discuss haiku. Juxtapositions, what is said/not said.  Write your own haiku inspired by images/photographs (This is Exercise 4a)

Homework: Complete Exercise 4b: Find a photograph or image that evokes a memory of a particular place, person, or moment in time. Write at least two haiku inspired by the image. Work on revising exercises 1 & 2 according to feedback you have received.

Friday 4/15

In Class: Share haiku.  Begin reading Elizabeth Bishop’s “Sestina,” Alberto Rios’s “Nani” and “Sestina for the Q Train”.

Assignment: Continue reading and annotating Elizabeth Bishop’s “Sestina,” Alberto Rios’s “Nani” and “Sestina for the Q Train”. Select a poem or moment(s) in one of the poems that speaks to you on some level. In a 1-2 page focused freewrite (Focused freewrite # 2), respond to that moment: What pulled you in or intrigued you most? What are the moments of “luminosity,” as Linda Gregg calls it in her essay “The Art of Finding”? What are the details that “have a special energy and vibrancy”? What aspects of form, technique, or style are most interesting to you? Why?

Memory of Elena

Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus April 2011

Monday 4/4

In Class: Private writing; discuss “The Art of Finding” and sources of inspiration. Exercise 1: The White-Out exercise. Introduce first unit: memory

Assignment: Read and annotate Carolyn Forché’s “Reunion” and Charles Simic’s “Prodigy”. Complete Exercise 2: My mother’s /father’s/ grandparent’s kitchen (inspired by an exercise by the poet Rita Dove): Write a poem about your mother’s/father’s/grandparent’s kitchen. The only requirements are that you: place an object in it, use a color, and mention something dead or something that has come to life (literally or metaphorically). We will share these on Monday April 11.

Tuesday 4/5 – No Class

Wednesday 4/6 – College Trip

Thursday 4/7 – College Trip

Friday 4/8 – No School, Professional Day

The Art of Finding – Linda Gregg

Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus March 2011

Monday 3/14

In Class: Introduction to course. Overview; defining poetry and course goals; discuss workshop process.

Assignment: 1) Finish reading and annotating the packet of poems. 2) Complete focused freewrite # 1: Please answer all of the following questions thoughtfully and thoroughly: What have been your experiences with reading and writing poetry? Consider your experiences both in and out of school, as well as a young child. What poets have you read? Are there poets/songwriters you love? Hate? Which ones and why? What aspects of reading or writing poetry interest you most?  (2 pages, handwritten, or the equivalent typed). You will all share and turn this in on Thursday).

Tuesday 3/15 – No Class

Wednesday 3/16 – No Class (11^th Grade Field Trip)

Thursday 3/17

In Class: Freewrite # 1 due.  Share. Review procedures/policies and continue to define the term “poetry”. Discuss outside poetry text requirement and possibilities.

Assignment: 1) Read and annotate Linda Gregg’s “The Art of Finding.” Please bring this essay to class on Monday, April 4. 2) Find an outside poetry text and begin reading it over Spring Break.

Friday 3/18 – No Class

Final Portfolio Requirements and Checklist

Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus May – June 2010

Monday 5/24

In Class: Exercise 12 due. Workshop Day II

Assignment: Work on revising your poem according to feedback. Read remainder of poems to be workshopped. Prepare materials for Portfolio II (see checklist).

Tuesday 5/25

In Class: Workshop Day III

Assignment: Revise your writing for portfolio II according to feedback. Prepare materials for Portfolio II (see checklist)

*For first five minutes of class on Wednesday: Bring in a song/poem you want to share with the class to inspire our private writing (Hannah)

Wednesday 5/26

In Class: Workshop Day IV, if necessary; work period for Portfolio II.

Thursday 5/27 – Friday Schedule

In Class: Portfolio II due. Discuss final portfolio and checklist.

Assignment: Complete Focused Freewrite # 7: Part I: Examine closely the outside poetry collection you’ve chosen for the trimester.  What do you notice about how the book of poetry is organized? Are there clearly defined sections (defined by the poet with section titles, for instance)? What are the arcs, transitions, movements, shifts within the collection as a whole?  Is there a clear journey the collection follows, a clear story it tells (a beginning, middle, and end), a clear “thread”? Part II: Now, look back at all of your own writing this trimester. What do you want to showcase in your final portfolio.  What kinds of poems and range do you want to highlight? How might you organize this work? What journey/story/thread do you want your reader to take or follow in reading your final “collection” of poems? How do you want your final portfolio to begin and end? What additional poems do you need to write now to fit into this final portfolio collection and help complete this “journey”? Then: Write at least one of those additional poems for Tuesday 6/1.

Friday 5/28 – No Class

Monday 5/31 – No Class

Tuesday 6/1

In Class: Freewrite 7 due. Guest poet visits.

Assignment: Work on organizing and revising work for Portfolio III. Work on introduction to your final portfolio (see checklist for details).

Wednesday 6/2

In Class: TBD

Assignment: Complete Portfolio III. Prepare to read a selection of your work (5-7 minutes) at our scheduled exam time.

Thursday 6/3 — No Class

Friday 6/4 – Reading Day

Monday 6/7 — Wednesday 6/9: Exams