Tell me about the poems you've made.
1. Did you use a
prompt? What was your inspiration? (A photo, a painting, a poem, a
text?) Did you use a traditional form? Did you invent a form? Did you
alter a prompt or form that I gave you?
Also, tell me about your trials and tribulations as well as breakthroughs and success.
2. What worked for you, stimulating your poetic ear and imagination? What are you proud of?
3.
What are you still frustrated by or concerned with? What would like to
know more about or practice more? What would you do if you had more
time?
Ivy G.
ReplyDeleteI loved writing these poems and a large part of me wishes that we spent more time with poetry. The first poem I wrote is a free verse. I was inspired by a picture of a seal with a ring of fishing net around her neck, to write this free verse. The second poem was written to show the net in the eyes of the marine animals. I didn’t intentionally make it rhyme because I was brainstorming it in my head as though it was a song. The next poem (3rd) is a spontaneous style of poetry with a little story-telling. Lastly, my fourth poem was inspired by an old pirate song I love to sing. It follows the guidelines of a Renga.
The exercises we did in class with regard to creating metaphors helped incredibly. I have a lot of anger and passion with regard to fishermen and the ocean, so it was relatively easy to raid my brain for some poetic lines. I wanted to express nets in the eyes of animals and contradict the theory that marine animals have no feelings nor can they understand pain or make friends. I am proud of the story-telling detail in my poems and the personal connection they have with the songs I still sing from my childhood.
If I had more time I would love to create more poems based on the structure of other types of poetry. I understand now, what it means when people say that poetry is creating music with words. Several years ago, in my ignorance, I used to think poems were pointless if they didn’t rhyme, so now I challenge myself to writing poems that don’t rhyme.
1. In my first poem, “A Photograph of Park Benches,” I studied a picture of two benches that sit above the ocean at Stage Fort Park. I described everything in and around the frame of the photograph, but I also tried to convey a mood that’s a little dark but exciting, like a thunderstorm. In “Ghost Soldiers of Cape Ann,” I wanted to focus on the cannons and show that the area is still protected even though the cannons are no longer operational. This was a ballad, and it was kind of difficult to find rhymes, but it worked out in the end. “Stories from a Cannon” was the easiest for me to write. It’s an ekphrastic poem, and I just wrote about what I’d say to a cannon if it could hear me. “Chalk on a Picnic Table” is a tanka and haiku that is based on a picture I took of a picnic table at Stage Fort Park. It was somewhat difficult to make the syllables fit, but I enjoyed imagining the people who drew on the table. “Starting Over” is the only one that doesn’t directly relate to my topic, which was very strange for me. It was hard to start but after trying out different words I found the right ones.
ReplyDelete2. Looking at pictures really helped me to come up with more descriptive words. The poems would have been less interesting if I had described things by memory. It also helped to read haikus and ballads to get the rhythm in my head for those two poems.
3. I’m still not entirely happy with my erasure poem. I went with the first string of words I could find that made sense, and if I had more time I would look for a different string of words.
Just a Peak
ReplyDeleteI tried to describe the Stage Company from beginning to end. Entering the theater, seeing a run-through, the light booth, and the backstage area. I made each stanza 9 lines, except for the final stanza. I like my descriptions, but I wanted to make the point I was trying to get across more clear.
Poor Quality
This poem was an erasure where I went through my narrative and each stanza was in a new paragraph. I went in chronological order and tried to make it a bit mysterious. I like the details I chose from the narrative to keep the creepy tone, but I wish I had been able to make it longer.
My Woes
This was completely a joke poem. I would just like to state that in case my boss or coworkers see it. I told my boss about the project and she just came out with a fantastic limerick, and so she was my inspiration for it, It’s really too short to have anything wrong with it, or that I like.
Dread
This was another erasure, but I chose details throughout my entire story to create the mood. It has another creepy tone, which I think is interesting. I like the ending because of the twist ending.
Sydney Iwohn
ReplyDelete1. The ballad carried e heavily, and I think it was a mistake to do it first because when I tried to write in another form I could only go on in ballad. I tried inventing my own the rhyme scheme of AABC, then the last stanza the author is free do do as they please. I wrote four tankas. A lot of the inspiration came from the Veterans Memorial as well as the Battle of Gloucester. Captain Linzee was obviously a huge inspiration for the Ballad.
2. I really enjoyed the ballad, and trying to come up with more complex rhymes in my own poem. The rhyming was the most fun part, followed closely by keeping rhythm.
3. I'm still slightly concerned with the substance they hold and trying to work in metaphors and similes. I wasn't sure how to make them deeper than they were.
1. For my first poem, "Sculptors at Work", I used a form of poetry called a lai. I read about it online and it sounded really cool, so I wanted to try it out, and the form actually ended up helping my creative flow. Amazingly,the structure was not binding but helping. For my second poem, "Welcome Wanderers", I wrote free verse and just let my thoughts flow. "What Makes You Worth the Work" was a parody of the song "What Makes you Beautiful", by One Direction. It was really fun to write because it sounded so ridiculous. I was really happy because once I got writing, I didn't come across any roadblocks!
ReplyDelete2. As I said, my thoughts flowed really easily writing these poems. I think that the structures that I used helped direct the creativity that could easily flow because I was writing about a subject well known to me.
3. To be honest, I would have liked more time to write more poetry. I hope we do more poetry next year because I really enjoyed it. There are several forms of poetry that I would still like to try, but many were extensive and I did not have that much time.
Olivia Parsons
ReplyDelete1. For most of my poems that I wrote, I referred to www.poeticterminology.net to see which different types of poems I could write, and in each section I was given mini examples on how to write poems of my own. There were some poems that I'm not sure I did right, so one could believe I invented my own poems, but I was just unsure if they were right or not. I tried my best to do as many different examples as possible, and I found myself enjoying the free writing poems more, simply because I was having troubles with rhyming. I actually visited the Pavilion Beach parking lot to find inspiration, where I came up with so many different ideas to write my poems about. It hit me that Fort Square is the center for all different types of activity that goes on in Gloucester, and that is where the inspiration of my poems was founded from.
2. I was proud of how easily the writing came to me. When I was concentrated on getting my work done, I could just continue to write poem after poem. Although there's no comparison to Shakespeare in my writing, I was impressed how the words just naturally came to me once I was set on my topic.
3. I'm a bit concerned with how my writing sounds. I don't know if other people's perception of my poems are the same as mine, and that makes me a little worried. If I had more time I would definitely go back and proof read my poems by saying them out loud, and catching my mistakes. In the near future I would love to practice my rhyming, because although most of my poems were not rhyming verses, I enjoyed the ones I did write. They made me feel accomplished when the whole sentence flowed.
1.For each poem I really just used free verse. I can't write with structure, basically meaning trying to write creatively with boundaries. I sort of went my way and tried to really bring in the imagery of my topic. Norman's Woe is so beautiful that i could not stop talking about what it looks like, and how much it hides. My first poem, Rocks Are the Scars, was really a reflection on my topics past. My second poem, Creation of Mystery, was based on my Narrative, and i was surely proud of this poem; i felt really connected to my writing. My third poem, What a Special Place, was created by the use of the Go Inside a Photograph prompt. My last poem, The Never-ending, sort of just came to me, i didn't really have any inspiration.
ReplyDelete2. Experience and pictures really helped me get my poetic side discovered. When i actually visited Norman's Woe the scenery spoke to me and influenced a lot of my writing. Also, the picture I found online of Norman's Woe created most of my poems. I am proud of the way I incorporated imagery into my work.
3.I would like to learn how to write more formally, basically with some type of Old English style. If I had more time I would attempt to create poem that had a better flow, or even rhymed.
1.) I didn't really use a prompt but I did use a traditional poem format, and I changed the ending pattern then they all died and died and died and died,for the first poem I was inspired about how nature can be attacked essentially by corporations and how it just adapts and becomes more resilient. The four poems in the picture poem is me being annoyed of people partying but then it is also ok for people to go camping if they are respectable about it. The free style was how time had changed Dogtown.
ReplyDelete2.) I like how the the picture worked out even though there was more I had to write once I made it nicer looking. I found that I would sit there trying to think of something for a while and then there would be times where it came really easily. I like the sestina was the nicest of the three poems that I did.
3.) I feel like a freestyle was funky because it didn't have any structure, and the picture poems weren't typed and that is some ascetics that bug me.
Making the world in Gloucester go round
ReplyDelete1. In this poem I basically talked about the what i saw when i looked at the paintings. I wrote this poem following the Imagery prompt.I used different paintings from a book on Winslow Homer.
2. Imagining what Homer saw and connecting these thoughts to my ideas really helped me.
3.While writing this poem i had difficulty connecting the poem to my topic.
Life of Winslow Homer- 1. This poem was basically about Winslow Homer depicting him before Gloucester and after. For this poem i used the erasure strategy; i found an article on Winslow Homer and I went through it picking out the descriptive parts.
2. finding an article that i was familiar with help me pick out the important parts about him.
3. While writing this poem i was frustrated because some parts were important but they didn't fit in well.
Future Decided & an outside view
1. In these poems, i wrote Ekphrastic Poems. i followed the prompt and i responded to the art. In the the poem, "future decided" i was a little girl growing up in Gloucester and in the other poem "an outside view" i was a tourist in the Gloucester and i was responding to the art.
2. Imagining myself in the art really helped me write this poem effectively.
3. i was frustrated because i couldnt write what i wanted to say, not sure i said what i wanted to say
1. For my first poem, "A Tourist's Dream," I used a photograph I had taken at Niles beach during sunset. I decided to just use a simple rhyming scheme, but I changed it for the last two stanzas, not for any particular reason. This was my favorite poem. Having actually been in the setting made writing easy and descriptive. The second poem I wrote followed the guidelines for writing a spontaneous poem. I wrote about the subject, then circled words I thought I could work with, and then quickly wrote the poem using those words. I liked how it came out, especially because of the spontaneity. I wasn't expecting something as nice, so I was pleasantly surprised. My third poem was the most difficult. I tried to write an ekphrastic poem, but I found it strange to respond to an object that I already was well acquainted with. I didn't follow any sort of form here, but tried to just see the statue for what it is, and relate it to other ideas without using any of my previous knowledge. I used the picture to guide myself while writing this. My fourth poem, "Cuisine," was something I knew I wanted to write. I work at Seaport, and I see thousands of tourists each summer. I thought it would important to write about the seafood and tourism. I didn't have anything to go by, so I just used my own memories of what I saw in the restaurant and in the city. My last three poems are haikus. I wanted to make concise statements about the city and tourism, and these were a good way to do so.
ReplyDelete2.It was really helpful for me to read and reread my stanzas and figure out the rhythms and sounds. I'm proud of my ability to rhyme without losing too much value, and describe things in a way that makes a reader think. I'm a visual and audio type of person, so utilizing these strengths helped me write the poetry. I liked using pictures because it enabled me to refer back to something concrete rather than writing about a fuzzy memory.
3. I'm a tad concerned about my lack of really complex thoughts, and the fact that I didn't have time to think about my poems as long as I had wanted. I also seemed to have run out of ideas for my poems, and I feel as if I was repeating my ideas. If we had more time I would have liked to try all the different poem types and played around with rhyming schemes and wordplay.
1. My first poem "living rock" was inspired by the view from my front window, i saw rain falling on the granite stones of my front wall making their color much darker and making them look more alive. I used a free verse form for "living rock". "A village in the spring", "the leaving season", and "northern winter" were inspired by a series of home photo graphs taken throughout Lanesville during spring, winter and fall. I used the Tanka haiku style for "A village in the spring" and "the leaving season", and for "northern winter" I used the traditional haiku form. "the composition of a village was inspired by my feelings about Lanesville and my memories of the year the city outlawed the Lanesville parade. used the erasure style to create ,my poem "composition of a village" I used a paragraph from my personal experience essay and edited changed font and size as well as the clor of some of the words that in paticular stood out to me. "forgotten souls" and "Granite pools" were inspired y a walk I to through Lanesville.
ReplyDeleteFor the first poem, I attempted to write an Ekphrastic poem, although I changed it into a free verse poem. I was not sure if I had to follow a rhythm so I simply called it a free verse poem. While I wrote this poem, I looked at a black and white image of the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge and I wrote the poem as if I were the image. That is to say, I became the image. The poem is a metaphor of the four big towers of the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge. The towers are described as a strong friendship. I did this to my last poem.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I still attempted to write an actual Ekphrastic poem by looking at a black and white image of men working on the bridge before the foundation of it was even built. Some of the poems I turned into long metaphors and in the title I stated what I was talking about. All of my poems were inspired by old black and white images of the building process of the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge that I found at the Cape Ann Museum. My last poem, “Crystal Palace” is a metaphor of my experience going to the Cape Ann Museum. It was a very rainy rain and I walked there with my pink umbrella. Although, that was not explicitly revealed in my poem. For the rest of my poems disregarding my free verse poems, I followed the prompts on the blog. However, I struggled at writing my Found vocabulary poem because I was not sure if I did it correctly. I tried incorporating sentences of my introduction paragraph of my research paper and turned it into a poem. I liked my Limerick poem, it seemed to describe humorously my view of A. Piatt Andrew. The Tanka poem I wrote took me time to carefully choose the right words with the correct amount of syllables.
I am not so satisfied with my Found vocabulary poem, I felt like I was repeating myself. If I would have had more time I would have most likely worked longer on this poem along with my Ekphrastic poem and added more adjectives and insights.
Haikus
ReplyDeleteI wrote four different haikus. Haikus are simple and I did not need a prompt for this. I kept them traditional for this project. I had no artwork or inspiration for these, just the idea of exploring Fiesta, and what it is. I really enjoyed exploring what Fiesta is and making St. Peter significant throughout my Poems.I was particularly proud of this. It made me feel like I was helping the cause. It was difficult finding meaningful words for a maximum amount of syllables. But after a few they became easier and i enjoyed the simplicity of them.
For my acrostic poem I made it a little more intricate. I had a saying going down at the beginning of each line, and at the end. VIVASANPIETRO were the first letters and DRINKINGAGAIN were the last letter. I took the opportunity to convey the two different aspects of Fiesta through these two sayings. I also went back and forth describing the different aspects of Fiesta. It was challenging to build meaningful lines with required letters beginning and ending the words, but the end product made me really proud. I used my paper as inspiration for this poem and I like it the best out of all my other poems.
The metaphorical poem was also very fun. I enjoyed the chance to be creative. Using the idea of comparing one big idea to another big idea, and using small metaphors was very easy for Fiesta. I was inspired by the renaissance era, and compared Fiesta to this. It was easy making metaphors, but I was worried that they weren’t clear enough... but they are metaphors and aren’t meant to be straightforward, so I stuck with it. I made St. Peter the King, the fishermen and the families the king’s peasants, the Italian sausage the king’s feast, and all of the drunk people the court jesters. It was very fun to create this poem, but I struggled somewhat with the comparisons, and some seemed a little too vague and unrelated to use. Had I had more time I would have liked to research the renaissance era a little more, because I had so much information Fiesta and only a general understanding on the comparative era. This became frustrating, but I was especially proud of my metaphor that the drunk people were the court jesters.
Haikus
ReplyDeleteI wrote four different haikus. Haikus are simple and I did not need a prompt for this. I kept them traditional for this project. I had no artwork or inspiration for these, just the idea of exploring Fiesta, and what it is. I really enjoyed exploring what Fiesta is and making St. Peter significant throughout my Poems.I was particularly proud of this. It made me feel like I was helping the cause. It was difficult finding meaningful words for a maximum amount of syllables. But after a few they became easier and i enjoyed the simplicity of them.
For my acrostic poem I made it a little more intricate. I had a saying going down at the beginning of each line, and at the end. VIVASANPIETRO were the first letters and DRINKINGAGAIN were the last letter. I took the opportunity to convey the two different aspects of Fiesta through these two sayings. I also went back and forth describing the different aspects of Fiesta. It was challenging to build meaningful lines with required letters beginning and ending the words, but the end product made me really proud. I used my paper as inspiration for this poem and I like it the best out of all my other poems.
The metaphorical poem was also very fun. I enjoyed the chance to be creative. Using the idea of comparing one big idea to another big idea, and using small metaphors was very easy for Fiesta. I was inspired by the renaissance era, and compared Fiesta to this. It was easy making metaphors, but I was worried that they weren’t clear enough... but they are metaphors and aren’t meant to be straightforward, so I stuck with it. I made St. Peter the King, the fishermen and the families the king’s peasants, the Italian sausage the king’s feast, and all of the drunk people the court jesters. It was very fun to create this poem, but I struggled somewhat with the comparisons, and some seemed a little too vague and unrelated to use. Had I had more time I would have liked to research the renaissance era a little more, because I had so much information Fiesta and only a general understanding on the comparative era. This became frustrating, but I was especially proud of my metaphor that the drunk people were the court jesters.
For this poetry part of this project i took the opportunity to explore many different types poems.
ReplyDeleteI used a prompt for an Italian sonnet poem. I was inspired by the different aspects of Fiesta for this poem. I had no visual or written inspiration though, just my own opinions. It was difficult rhyming, I personally am not a big fan of it. I liked the challenge though and stuck with the traditional form. To do this poem reading it out loud helped me alot. The rhyming scheme at the end of this type of poem was a lot more fun than the beginning rhyme scheme. I feel as if though my poem lacked creativity, and I felt sort of redundant by the end of this poem as my lasting frustration.
Spontaneous poem
I referred to the blog prompt for this but put my own twist on it. i used personification, but for two photos and they were speaking out to each other. I got the inspiration from two photos of the fiesta alters with a six year difference between them. These photos came from the book “Fiesta Through the Years” by Joe Palmisano. This poem was very easy to write once in the creative mind set, it helped me a lot to loosen up and let my mind wander a bit. It was tough to put emotion into what the pictures were feeling. I would like to practice this more and become a master at this type of poem because i enjoyed it so much, but I would like to be more clever and less straightforward.
A View of the Island
ReplyDeleteI created a quartet, and I got the idea from Olivia I thought it was interesting an I thought I would do one.
I was proud of my rhyme scheme. I just remembered about the imagery from my personal essay.
I would like to practice more rhyming because I had difficulty rhyming words.
Back to 1873
I did another where I imagine myself in the picture of 1873 title 1873
I was proud of my imagery detail
I would like to practice writing more poetry so that I get better with the beats
1. “Contrasts of Fiesta”/ “Pavilion’s Beach”:
ReplyDeleteFor these two poems I chose to attempt to create erasure poetry. I decided to make two of them, because I felt like counting one or two words as one line shouldn’t count. So instead I created two poems to count as one. The essay I made these poems from was about the races on Pavilion’s beach, so both of my poems were more connected to that aspect of Fiesta. My first poem is about the contrast of the days of the races compared to the rest of the days on the beach.
“In Honor of Our Saints”/ “The Symbol of Gloucester”
To create these two poems I chose the method of looking at pictures and writing about it. For the first I wrote about a picture that showed St. Peter being processed through the streets. And the other is a picture of the greasy pole on a day that it was completely empty. For both of these poems, I attempted to not say what I was writing about in the poem until the end. And in the “Symbol of Gloucester” I didn’t say the name of my topic at all.
“Fiesta Senses”
For this poem I tried to create a sestina, but I felt like it was beginning to sound repetitive. I decided to cut out three stanzas of the poem, so it wouldn’t lose anything because it was redundant. I kept the first three stanzas and the last stanza. I wrote about the carnival aspects of Fiesta, because all of my other poems were about the greasy pole, the seine boat races, and the culture.
“The Races”
This poem was the last one I wrote, so I decided not to make it any special type of poetry, I just made it free verse. I made it four stanzas, three of which had five lines, and the last has six with a rhyming couplet at the end. I chose to write about the seine boat races because I felt like I had touched on all the other aspects of Fiesta but the races. I didn’t actually plan for the rhyming couplet I just didn’t know how else to finish the poem.
2. Using the prompts helped me to make my poetry better because I liked the feeling of having to have set rules I had to follow. But I also liked that I was allowed to change the rules if necessary, like with the sestina.
3. While writing these poems I felt like I really struggled to figure out how to put punctuation into my poetry. I needed one of my friends to help me. I also struggled with trying to make my lines sound poetic and not just like they were sentences.
An Old Friend
ReplyDeleteThis poem was my going inside a photograph attempt at poetry. I tried to imagine what quarrying life was like back in the 1940’s. I had some basic prior knowledge of this thanks to my previous research but I still felt the need to further my knowledge. After examining quarrying life from a more precise scope I tried to relate that into my poem. Using imagery to describe the setting has always been a weak point so naturally poetry is a weak point for me. So I focused more on the relationship between quarryman and quarry. I used a free-verse to right my poem because just thinking of the how to describe it turned out to be quite the task. Even more time would have done little to help.
The Wall
The Wall was one of my spontaneous poems. While it is still just a free-verse I feel that it has a certain pattern of rise, fall and then rise again. I found the inspiration through listening to classical music while I wrote it. The problem with this is that while I wrote it I thought it was awesome while I listening to music but after I finished it I was not what I had hoped for.
Black Water
In this poem I explored the fear and mystery that quarries hold. I tried to think back on my childhood fears. I was ashamed of some of the rhymes but all in all I feel most confident in my message with this one.
The Well
This was a metaphor poem where I compared quarries to wells. I tried to make it a Villanelle following its rhyming scheme. If I had more time I probably could have matched the syllable count to.
“Wild and Strident”:
ReplyDeleteI used free verse for this poem. I included the five senses so each line could stand on its own. I think it is important to write every line and phrase as if it was written just for itself and not part of something bigger. I tried weaving in meaning with scenery and metaphors. At the end of the poem, I used a bit of personification and the ending words of the last two lines rhymed. I felt like some of the lines just automatically came to me (the last two), as if I were writing a song. But filling in the middle was frustrating, nothing seemed to flow together.
“Soul Watcher”:
This poem was also free verse, but it started with a quote by the author Stephen King “Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all.” It was darker than most of my other poems, because I wanted to give diversity. It was not exactly about the UU Church itself, but it was based of the graveyard that the church owns. I used three short lines twice, a triplet in the middle and I used it again at the end. I thought this was one of my better poems because the subject was more in my comfort zone, it was not as “happy” or “sweet”.
“Sun Shower”:
I wrote this poem first, and then when I went to type it I realized I hated it, and edited and cut out most of it. At first I didn’t know where I was going with it, but then I realized it was about diversity and thats why I titled it “Sun Shower”. Its not an obvious title or meaning, but I wanted it to be abstract. Every fourth line was a repeated phrase, “Old music plays, soft and low, deep within the haven.” I also ended the entire poem with this line. This poem I included a lot of metaphors and hypothetical ideas and images.
“Breathe and Beat”:
This was my second to shortest poem and I felt if it were longer, it wouldn’t make sense and it would seem like rambling. Every other line was a short, quick line. It was about the narrator (using the word “I”). Then the line after the quick line was an explanation of the line before it. My goal for this poem was to be fast and not direct. It was not about the church itself but about someone who is connected to its atmosphere.
“My Soul to Take”:
I used the old line “If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take,” in the beginning. This was the shortest of all five, but I felt it had the most meaning. The line reminded me of childhood, but it also seemed kind of morbid. I thought it would give depth to my other poems.
List of poems/explanations:
ReplyDeleteAfter All is Said and Done -
I sort of made this form up, for this poem. I like to call it a Scenic poem, not very creative, but that is what the poem is about. I described the setting of Hammond Castle after Hammond had passed away. I think that after the life of Hammond, the castle took on a haunting atmosphere, and is not as happy and joyful as it was during the owner’s lifetime.
And So We Must-
This poem is a free verse, but I used the repetitive phrase “and so we must”, so I sort of made up my own form again. This poem is about Hammond’s inventions and his success with them. And as a whole, if we do not try, we can never succeed.
Awakening-
This poem is another free verse. It’s kind of morbid; it talks about Hammond after he has passed away, and how the poison ivy he requested to keep him in his grave has torn apart, and his spirit is waking from his corpse; and now he is a ghost who haunts his castle.
From Underneath-
I made up my own kind of form for this one. In one line I use a verb in the present tense, (ex. breaks) and the second line is the single word (ex. break), and that is all in the second line. The poem is about Hammond roaming the grounds as a ghost.
Whole-
This poem is a free verse. It is multiple metaphors explaining Hammond’s personality, in few words. I write the word (noun), and then I give a short explanation that resembles the castle in some way. His personality reflects the structure and setting of his home.
I think that I am most proud of the sort of poems I created. The castle and its grounds are so vivid, that it was easy to describe it using metaphors and adjectives to form a substantial poem. Although a lot of my poems are a bit morbid, I do believe that it captured the castle during present day and what it seems to people now.
If I had more time, I think I would try to include more of Hammond during his lifetime. I think that I focused more on what he left behind, and his life after he had passed, than I did about what he was like alive.
1- For “The Home of the Fishermen”, “No Training Wheels”, and “ Positive Externalities”, I used the forms/prompts that you had given us. I used a photograph as my inspiration for “The Home of the Fishermen”. For “No Training Wheels”, I used my personal experience essay and for “Positive Externalities”, I used my researched argument to get inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for doing a double acrostic is because I have always liked writing acrostic poems in the past, and I decided to add a small challenge to an acrostic by making it a double. For my created form, “Heat, Tradition, Footprints, and Grass”, I had wanted to write something that involved the seasons, so I made it up as I went along and was happy with my result. For the poem without using the letters G, F, or A, I was trying to challenge myself with the letter restrictions. It was an idea inspired by some of the examples that Mr. Cook had talked about in class, and I thought it would be interesting to try it out.
2- To stimulate my poetic ear and imagination, I found that brainstorming different parts that go along with my topic as a whole was a useful technique. Using the prompts was definitely a good way to get me started, and after doing a couple poems with prompts, I was feeling more comfortable with it and created a couple forms of my own. I am most proud of “Heat, Tradition, Footprints, and Grass” because it involved my creativity of creating the prompt, and then my writing ability to carry through with the prompt’s directions.
3- I think I would like to try out a couple of the other prompts if I had time. I maybe would also attempt to write one of the longer, structured poems. I am still a bit concerned with the fact that I feel that most of my poems are very similar, with the same overall meaning. If I had more time, I would try to expand a bit, and take a few more risks with different prompts.
1. I did not use a form for two of my poems, deciding to let free verse speak for itself. In addition, I wrote a limerick that fit the rhyming scheme but did not apply to the beat. The rest of my poetry took the form of haikus and tankas. Most of my poetry focused on certain rooms or how lonely Sleeper was and how that reflected on his house.
ReplyDelete2. When writing poetry, I tend to think about certain key points that I need to bring up. Using those ideas I will look for things that grasp the concept and make metaphors and similes with them to then put together into one cohesive poem. When first brainstorming I used the “What kind of ___________ is it?” method to get the metaphors assembled and then used them when I figured out what points I wanted to nail down.
3. I think I would not change much if I had more time, considering I was done a few days before the actual due date and was satisfied with the results.
“The Importance of the Woods”
ReplyDeleteIn this poem I was just really thinking of what Ravenswood Park meant to me. While Ravenwood is important in many different aspects of my life, the one aspect that really stands out in my mind is its peace and quiet. Ravenswood functions as an escape from the industrialized world. For this reason I feel it is not only an important but a necessary part of Gloucester. I believe that we all need some sort of sanctuary, and for me that is Ravenswood.
“Value”
When trying to write another poem for this same project, I came across the word bort in a rhyming dictionary. Bort is defined as a sort of low quality of diamond that is ground up to be used as an abrasive. Something about this definition stuck with me and made me think of Ravenswood. In our own way, we grind Ravenswood up to make it useful in our industrialized world. The word “bort” seemed to have such a sad connotation, and I felt that, in a way, the definition of “bort” was very similar to Ravenswood and how underutilized it can be. Even out of the people that do go to Ravenswood, not all of them understand what a gift the park is.
“Parallels”
This poem was inspired by the thesis of my research essay. I wanted a poem that reflected Ravenswood’s ability to be both a place of solitude and a place to gather together. The poem sounds very much like a personal narrative. For the first two stanzas I tried to describe what the woods feel like when one is walking alone. In the last two stanzas, I describe, from my personal experience, what the woods feel like when I am with other people.
“The Raven”
The erasure poem was by far my favorite. I chose “The Raven” Because of how similar its title is to Ravenswood. Having not read the poem in a while, I had not been too sure that the poem would supply the words that I was looking for, but once I started I realized how perfectly Poe’s words would work for my project. I had seen erasure poetry books before, and I really like the concept of being able to see the entire original work and then you color or pencil to accent the words that are part of you poem. For this reason, I scanned in the pages of the Raven, printed them out, and used colored pencil to draw over the words that I wanted to be edited out.
Overall I was satisfied with my poems, but not necessarily pleased. I found it very hard to write poetry that did not sound forced. Also, having to write poetry about one specific subject was very hard. I feel I would have had a lot more success if we were allowed to write poetry about anything. Especially since we had already done so much on our subjects, I had felt that most of my creative inspiration had already been sucked out of me.
Collage of Contrasts
ReplyDeleteFor my first poem, “A Collage of Contrasts,” I used a renga, which has the syllable pattern “5-7-5, 7-7, 5-7-5, 7-7, 5-7-5, 7-7.” While writing the poem, I first compiled a list of contrasting images of the Gloucester sea serpent. My first two stanzas don’t have contrasts, though. Instead, I decided to start with describing the creature so it was clear that it was about the sea serpent. I was afraid that otherwise it wouldn’t be clear that it was about the sea serpent (for people who didn’t know it was my topic, at least). I really enjoyed doing the syllable counts. I’m used to doing just regular haikus, and this one made me feel like I was challenging myself a bit more. It started off as a haiku, but then I thought that I could expand on it. Sometimes, though, the syllable count was a big challenge. I struggled to get my meaning across in just a few syllables.
Creatures of the Sea
For this poem, I did the “Go Inside a Photograph” exercise with a picture that I had found through my research. It was a drawing of a terrifying sea monster and a handful of sailors trying to swim away from it. I thought that this was a really interesting portrayal of the Gloucester sea serpent, so I used it to write my poem. I started off the poem before the picture was set, and then used that as a climax of the story. There wasn’t a certain rhyme, syllable, or stress scheme, but I tried to make it sound poetic by using some sound repetition. I also used different line lengths, usually to emphasize certain words or phrases. I felt like I had more freedom in this poem and that I had few constraints to abide by.
He Is
I used the metaphor form poem for this one. I thought about the different aspects of the sea serpent and tried to match unrelated objects to it. I realized halfway through the poem that my idea of the serpent in this poem differed from the idea I had of it in others. It was a lot darker and sleeker than I had written about before, so I went with that idea and used darker imagery. Sometimes, I had an idea of what metaphor would match the serpent, but I had trouble describing why it did in the poem, so I just wrote it and hoped (and prayed a little bit) that it would be able to stand on its own. If I had had more time, I would have had someone look it over for me and see if it made sense to them.
The Leviathan
This one, the erasure poem, ended up being my favorite to write. At first, I found it difficult to find a source that I could use in order to write a poem with, but I eventually found a Bible passage that was inspiring. Although they’re not exactly my words, I’m proud of the way I was able to fit the phrases together. If I had more time, I would have liked to make the drawing that I did of the poem more detailed.
1)
ReplyDeleteA Eulogy for Summer
This poem came from a photo I took of Lighthouse Beach during the dead of winter. The sun was setting, a brilliant orange, and ice and snow was covering the beach. A tree without any leaves is framing the picture, and it looks bleak and beautiful at the same time. This was the first poem I wrote for this assignment and I tried my best to make it sound like a bunch of metaphors to try to get the point that the beach is desolate in the winter and awaiting summer.
Tucked Away
This poem came from a page of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, page 185 to be exact. I used a sharpie on a printed out scan of the page to form the poem and then I typed it up. Though, the original page is included. Annisquam reminds me of a secret garden in a way, because to me, the people who have never been there don’t know how special it is.
Snapshot
This poem comes from yet another picture that was taken of me sitting on a stone chair in Annisquam as a child. The poem quickly captures some of the senses to represent a memory.
Storm
This poem is a free verse about a time during sailing camp when we were out in a thunderstorm. I metaphorically mentioned the storm and rain through use of two of the Greek gods, Poseidon and Zeus.
Barrier
This poem is another free verse about the summer kids who come to Annisquam and how they act while at the Yacht Club for dinner. These kids become the idols of Annisquam and it is quite annoying. I used metaphors and slight alliteration to make it flow.
Shark Attack
This free verse poem is to convey a shark attack which took place at the beach two summers ago. I made the lines short for the most part because I wanted to represent the quick movements made by the shark and how fast paced the situation was.
Summer Dining
This is a haiku about dining on the footbridge each summer after the Sea Fair. It is pretty self explanatory, three lines, five seven five, and descriptive.
Grandmom
This is a free verse poem about my grandmom, who to me, is a big part of Annisquam. I wanted to show her looks, actions, and overall personality in this poem.
2)
What worked best for me was looking at a picture and writing about it or thinking about a specific experience I have had and then writing a poem. I’m most proud of A Eulogy for Summer because of the way it sounds and how metaphorical I tried to make it.
3)
I’m frustrated with being constrained to a topic to write about. It made it difficult for me, even though I have so much I could write about. I was constantly worried that each poem would sound the same as the last.
1. For my poems I tried a few different forms working from both the suggested forms as well as altering them and trying my own types. A traditional approach that I used was a Haiku and different variations of it. I also tried to create my own form of rhyming poetry which ended up taking on a goofy tone. It rhymed in a fun engaging way. While creating my poems I attempted many different things, failing and succeeding. I wanted to write a poem that ends up in a shape related to my topic but in the end it did not work out the way I wanted it to. Other poems ended up being more successful than I anticipated and flowed easily onto the page.
ReplyDeleteHammond Castle
This is a variation of an acrostic poem that has words on both sides to make it look more intricate as well as be more detailed. I used to do these poems a lot and i enjoy creating them because it is challenging to think of words that fit the criteria.
Hammond’s Halloween Haunting
This poem is a form that i made up that is fun and rhymes throughout. I enjoyed writing this poem because it was entertaining and made my creative mind flow onto the paper. At first it was hard to think of what to write in order to make it rhyme but after a while it became easier.
Who was John Hammond?
This poem is a variation of a Haiku called a Renga. It is the same type of rhyming pattern as a Haiku but it is longer. I started out by writing a Tanka but it did not seem complete when I finished so I added to it making it into a Renga.
A Not So European Castle
This poem is a simple Haiku about Hammond Castle not being a traditional European castle. I had trouble with the second line trying to make it just right but I eventually came up with a line that worked right.
A European Hybrid
This poem is a variation of an Erasure poem. I took the lines from my researched argument and added line breaks and deleted words. For certain lines i added words and changed some of the word forms.
2. Haikus and different variations of that form worked best for me, forcing me to consider length and sound of the words included. I was challenged with trying to count syllables in order to follow the correct format. I am proud of all of my poems, but I am especially proud of my rhyming poem because I really had to try and be creative to create it to the best of my ability.
3. I am still frustrated with most traditional forms of poetry. I struggle to create forms such as sonnets. If i had more time I would work on becoming more comfortable with traditional poetry forms.
1. I used the poem within a picture prompt for my first poem, “I love Macadamia” and used a picture of Murray’s letter to her sister-in-law thanking her for some nuts she had sent Murray that are quite hard to find. My third poem was also based on a picture of one of her multiple letters but this time it was her letter to the first President of the United States, George Washington. In this second poem I responded more to how the resources used to write the poem would feel, smell, and overall physical presence of it. In the first letter to her sister, I focused on the look of her writing including her “Loopy scrawl”. For my second, fourth, fifth, and sixth poems I used a freestyle beat, with either gradually increasing the number of beats per line and then decreasing or a set number of beats per line. In my final poem, I shaped it into a quill in a inkwell. The part of the poem making up the inkwell talk about her different resources that Murray used to further her writing and feminist career. When writing these poems it was sometimes difficult to stay in a creative mood when I became too focused on getting the exact right word that I wanted. I would have liked to have attempted some traditional poetry as well as freestyle and rhyming. If I had more time I definitely would have done poems where you blot out the words you don’t want and then use art to cover them up, leaving the poem left among the uncovered words.
ReplyDelete2. I’m actually quite proud of my quill and inkwell poem since it incorporates well written poetry and an interesting picture made of it. Another favorite of mine is my sixth poem, “Distant Danger” where I compared Murray and her work to a distant storm off of the Gloucester coast.
3. I’m still a bit frustrated with my lack of classical work and I wish I could have added a few of those to my poetry. I would have done a cover poem where you block out words you don’t want to be a part of the poetry. Another one I wish I could have done would be to write a poem using the words used by Murray in “On the Equality of the Sexes”. I feel that would be really interesting.
Under the Bridge & The Collection:
ReplyDelete1.) Both of these poems are from the Go inside a photograph prompt, I was inspired by photographs that i went out and took myself. altering the prompt slightly in “the collection” i used not just one but several of my pictures to write about combining them into one collection of poems.
2.) what inspired me the most was being able to go out into gloucester and take my own pictures and then write about them, because i actually know what was happening and what it felt like to be in the picture because i was.
3.) I am concerned with the quality of some of these poems, i felt a little rushed while writing these poems and i feel that if i had had more time to write they would have been more complex.
A Man at A Wheel:
1.) For this poem i chose to make an acrostic poem, but changed it a little making it a double acrostic. I was inspired by a piece of my writing in my research paper about the man at the wheel, and decided to further discuss it in my poem.
2.) I am proud of how well the words work together being so simple and short yet having so much meaning packed into it.
3.) I really don’t like that some of the lines, i wish that they were bigger words so that i could only use one word per line.
Capture:
1.) I made my own style of poetry, using the same word for the first word of each line throughout the poem, this style allows the reader to be engaged by the rhythm of the poem.
2.) I am proud that i was able to create my own kind of poem and execute it well.
3.) The only thing that i can think of changing would be creating a different title.