Creative Writing: Poetry, Lesson One

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

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.***

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Comments

Re: POETRY SHARING

[chasingangela]

"This is by, um, Sylvia Plath. I think she was like 20 when she wrote it. It's called 'Mad Girl's Love Song'." Angela tells the class before she begins to read.


"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

Re: POETRY SHARING

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Angela. That was a beautiful choice. And you've succeeded in one of the hidden goals of this class -- you've introduced at least one of us to something new. [He smiles at her.] Now, will you tell us why you chose this particular poem?

Re: POETRY SHARING

[chasingangela]

"Thank you," Angela says. She frowns slightly. "I chose it because ... I guess because, to me, it has this really strong emotional hold? It feels like falling in love and having a relationship end -- completely wonderful and terrifying and, just, y'know, overwhelming."