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fandomhigh2005-10-26 02:20 pm
geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2005-10-26 02:20 pm
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Creative Writing: Poetry, Lesson One
Wednesday, October 26, 7:00PM FST
Welcome to your poetry writing class. Find a place to sit where you're comfortable, although I'll ask that you keep toward the front of the room.
We'll begin with introductions: tell everyone your name and why you signed up for the class.
[Following introductions, the class is treated to a brief lecture.] Let's first talk a little about how poetry is defined.
The word poetry is derived from the Greek word 'poeio', meaning "I create". It is a written art form in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to -- or sometimes instead of -- its semantic content. The emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the deliberate use of elements such as repetition, meter and rhyme, distinguish poetry from prose. Poetry is generally considered its own literary genre, but it can also occur within other genres. Plays, for example may be prosaic, poetic or a combination of the two.
In order to write poetry, you'll need to have an understanding of the various elements used in verse. We'll begin today with three of the most basic: rhyme, meter, and figures of speech.
Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words.
Meter refers to the linguistic sound patterns of verse.
Figures of speech: There are numerous examples of this element, but let's begin with the most common.
Personification occurs when an object, animal or abstract term is given human qualities.
Apostrophe is a manner of addressing someone or something that is invisible or not ordinarily spoken to.
Hyperbole, often referred to as 'overstatement', is the use of exaggeration for effect. Its opposite, understatement, occurs when more is implied than is stated.
Metonymy is the substitution of the name of a thing with that of an object or concept that is closely related. A form of metonymy is Synecdoche, where a part of a thing is used to stand in for the whole, or vice versa. Transferred epithet, another form of metonymy, applies the attributes characteristic of a thing to another which is closely related.
Paradox refers to a situation which at first appears to be self-contradictory but on reflection makes some sense.
Now: I'd like each of you to choose one of the elements I just defined -- including the various types of figures of speech -- and give me an example.
[Following the lecture]
All right, enough discussion of the technicalities. Let's share some poetry. Please read the piece you brought to class, and then tell use why you chose it.
***Assignment for next week: Begin reading Petrarch's Canzoniere (yes, there are 366 poems, no you don't have to read them all). Also, please leave me a message on my voicemail if you're interested in applying for the position of Teaching Assistant. I'll be interviewing applicants over the next fortnight.***
((Kindly use the threads provided for your comments!))
Welcome to your poetry writing class. Find a place to sit where you're comfortable, although I'll ask that you keep toward the front of the room.
We'll begin with introductions: tell everyone your name and why you signed up for the class.
[Following introductions, the class is treated to a brief lecture.] Let's first talk a little about how poetry is defined.
The word poetry is derived from the Greek word 'poeio', meaning "I create". It is a written art form in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to -- or sometimes instead of -- its semantic content. The emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the deliberate use of elements such as repetition, meter and rhyme, distinguish poetry from prose. Poetry is generally considered its own literary genre, but it can also occur within other genres. Plays, for example may be prosaic, poetic or a combination of the two.
In order to write poetry, you'll need to have an understanding of the various elements used in verse. We'll begin today with three of the most basic: rhyme, meter, and figures of speech.
Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words.
Meter refers to the linguistic sound patterns of verse.
Figures of speech: There are numerous examples of this element, but let's begin with the most common.
Personification occurs when an object, animal or abstract term is given human qualities.
Apostrophe is a manner of addressing someone or something that is invisible or not ordinarily spoken to.
Hyperbole, often referred to as 'overstatement', is the use of exaggeration for effect. Its opposite, understatement, occurs when more is implied than is stated.
Metonymy is the substitution of the name of a thing with that of an object or concept that is closely related. A form of metonymy is Synecdoche, where a part of a thing is used to stand in for the whole, or vice versa. Transferred epithet, another form of metonymy, applies the attributes characteristic of a thing to another which is closely related.
Paradox refers to a situation which at first appears to be self-contradictory but on reflection makes some sense.
Now: I'd like each of you to choose one of the elements I just defined -- including the various types of figures of speech -- and give me an example.
[Following the lecture]
All right, enough discussion of the technicalities. Let's share some poetry. Please read the piece you brought to class, and then tell use why you chose it.
***Assignment for next week: Begin reading Petrarch's Canzoniere (yes, there are 366 poems, no you don't have to read them all). Also, please leave me a message on my voicemail if you're interested in applying for the position of Teaching Assistant. I'll be interviewing applicants over the next fortnight.***
((Kindly use the threads provided for your comments!))
Re: POETRY SHARING
"The Man Who Knew:
The Dreamer visioned Life as it might be,
And from his dream forthright a picture grew,
A painting all the people thronged to see,
And joyed therein -- till came the Man Who Knew,
Saying: "'Tis bad! Why do ye gape, ye fools!
He painteth not according to the schools."
The Dreamer probed Life's mystery of woe,
And in a book he sought to give the clue;
The people read, and saw that it was so,
And read again -- then came the Man Who Knew,
Saying: "Ye witless ones! this book is vile:
It hath not got the rudiments of style."
Love smote the Dreamer's lips, and silver clear
He sang a song so sweet, so tender true,
That all the market-place was thrilled to hear,
And listened rapt -- till came the Man Who Knew,
Saying: "His technique's wrong; he singeth ill.
Waste not your time." The singer's voice was still.
And then the people roused as if from sleep,
Crying: "What care we if it be not Art!
Hath he not charmed us, made us laugh and weep?
Come, let us crown him where he sits apart."
Then, with his picture spurned, his book unread,
His song unsung, they found their Dreamer -- dead."
Re: POETRY SHARING
Re: POETRY SHARING
Re: POETRY SHARING
Re: POETRY SHARING
Re: POETRY SHARING