Poetry Writing Workshop

Jane Belton

Syllabus May 2011

Monday 5/16

In Class: Exercise 9 due. Workshop Day IV

Assignment: Revise the piece you workshopped, incorporating feedback you received. Read and annotate assigned poems in handout: Tim Seibles’s “Natasha in a Mellow Mood”, James Tate’s “The Lost Pilot”, William Carlos Williams’s “This is just to say”, Adrienne Rich’s “Phantasia for Elvira Shatayev”. When annotating the poems, focus on the details that convey the “I” (or “we”) and “you” of the poem. What are the lines that help build a sense of character/identity, and the relationship between the speaker and the addressed? What is the perspective of the speaker? Close? Distant?  Begin work on Exercise 10: Write a letter poem or direct address poem inspired by one of the assigned poems. You don’t need to write from your perspective, but you need to have a clear idea of who the “I” and “you” are in the poem. Consider who you want to address–a stranger, a fictional character, a historical figure, someone you know. Make a list before you start writing. Make sure to ground your poem in the specifics. Bring in a draft of Exercise 10 to class on Wednesday.

Tuesday 5/17 – No Class

Wednesday 5/18

In Class: Exercise 10 draft due. Discuss assigned poems; define “voice”; discuss how voice, character, and perspective can be communicated. Continue work on Exercise 10 based on discussion today.

Assignment: 1) Revise Exercise 10 (you will turn this exercise in on Thursday, typed). 2) Begin Exercise 11 (due Friday 5/20): Find a news article of interest to you.  Write a poem from the perspective of someone in the article, or a character related to the event in some way.  Start by making a list of different voices you could write from.  If you pick a dramatic car accident, for example, there are the direct voices of the victims or those responsible for the accident, but also witnesses, the police or EMT’s who arrive on the scene, relatives of someone involved, and so on, each leading to a different poem.  Think about how to step into the life of another person and speak with their voice.  Bring in 12 copies of the poem you want to workshop to class tomorrow.

Thursday 5/19

In Class: Exercise 10 due (typed). Workshop Day 1

Assignment: 1) Focused revision work on Exercise 11 (Freewrite 6). Please type Exercise 11. Read assigned poems for workshop.

Friday 5/20

In Class: Exercise 11 due (typed). Workshop Day 2

Assignment: 1) Work on revising your exercises/workshopped pieces according to feedback. 2) Read and annotate poems for workshop

Monday 5/23

In Class: Workshop Day 3

Assignment: Work on revising your exercises/workshopped pieces according to feedback. Prepare materials for Portfolio II (see checklist).

Tuesday 5/24 – No Class

Wednesday 5/25

In Class: Workshop Day 4

Assignment: Work on revising your exercises/workshopped pieces according to feedback. Prepare materials for Portfolio II (see checklist).

Thursday 5/26

In Class: Work period/conferencing

Assignment: 1) Complete Portfolio II, due Friday by 8:30 in my office.  2) Complete Focused Freewrite # 7 due Wednesday 6/1: 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 Wednesday 6/1.

Friday 5/27  — No Class — Portfolio II due by 8:30 am in my office

Monday 5/30 – No Class

Tuesday 5/31 – No Class

Wednesday 6/1

In Class: Freewrite 7 due.  Work period/conferencing

Assignment: Work on organizing and revising work for Portfolio III. Work on introduction to your final portfolio (see checklist for details). Prepare to read a selection of your work (5-7 minutes) at our scheduled exam time.

Thursday 6/2

In Class: Work period/ conferencing

Assignment: Complete final portfolio. See checklist for details.

Friday 6/3 – Reading Day: Schedule an appointment with me in advance!

Your final portfolio is due at our scheduled exam slot

Friday 5/13

In Class: Workshop — Day III;

Assignment: 1) Work on revising your poems according to feedback from workshop. 2) Complete Exercise # 10: Select one of your outside reading poems to respond to in a poem of your own creation. You might write to the poem itself or to the poet, but you must write from the voice/perspective of someone different from you–an archaeologist, a small child, the poet’s neighbor, a friend, a loved one, a dying man/woman, someone desperately searching for answers, etc.  Choose a perspective that interests you most and go with it. Attach a copy of the poem you are responding to onto your draft.

The packet of readings I gave you did not include one of the required poems.  Click here to download  “in Just-” by e. e. cummings.

Please read and annotate this, along with the rest of the packet, for Wednesday.

Listen to Anis Mojgani’s “For Those Who Can Still Ride in Airplanes”

Listen to Tim Seebles’ “The Ballad of Sadie LaBabe“