We spent class time talking about how to go about doing translations but in case you want some help writing the other poems here are a few ideas.
Writing a poem on your theme using an allusion.
An allusion is an implied or direct reference to an event, literary work, myth, or work of art. An allusion does not explain at length the connection to the place, event, text, myth, or art; this encourages the reader to interpret the nature and meaning of the link.
An idea:
• Choose a well-known event, story, myth, song, etc. related to your theme. (If the theme is tragic love you might begin with Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. If the topic is the ocean you might begin with Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. If your anthology is focused on birth you might begin with the Botticelli’s painting the Birth of Venus.)
• Free-write for five minutes about whatever you’ve picked.
• Write a poem in which you transfer some of the details from your free-write into a new situation. (Imagine Romeo and Juliet at Gloucester High School. Imagine a Gloucester fisherman experiencing his own “odyssey” on his way home from the Grand Banks. Imagine your own birth taking place in the manner of Botticelli’s Venus.) This is a technique used in most of the Icarus poems we studied.
If you think your allusion might not be clear enough include a footnote in your anthology.
*******
Write a poem on your theme using a traditional or invented form.
Idea #1: For traditional forms look at the directions for the project or click here. Make sure you produce at least twelve lines of poetry. That's a minimum. You might try to excel in terms of quality, quantity, and/or formal rigor.
Idea#2 To invent your own form here are the guidelines for this assignment.
Make sure you have at least three rules or constraints. Rules/constraints could include:
* The use of particular words in particular places as with the sestina.
* The use of rhymes (or other sound techniques) in a particular pattern as with sonnets, ballads, terza rima, etc.
* The use of stressed and/or unstressed syllables in a particular pattern as with sonnets, ballads, blank verse, etc.
* The repetition of certain phrases, as with poems that use anaphora and epistrophe.
* The use of acrostics, double acrostics, or mesostics.
* The shaping of words on the page to form representative images or to achieve other effects.
* The omission of certain letters, such works are called "lipograms". (A novel called La Disparicion by George Perec is written using only words that do not contain the letter "e". The English translation by Gilbert Adair is called A Void and also uses no "e". Perec also has a novella in which all the words contain no vowels other than "e".)
* Oulipo is a loose gathering of writers who have come up with some very interesting constraints (including lipograms). A reasonable list of these constraints can be found here.
* What other rules or constraints can you think of?
Make sure you have at least twelve lines. That’s a minimum. Go above and beyond with quality, quantity, and/or the rigor of the constraints. If you invent your own poem make sure you include the rules in your anthology.
***
Write a poem on your theme in any form or style you want. (Free Verse! Free Verse! Free Verse!)
Idea: Free-write for five minutes about your theme. Circle fifteen words or word clusters (no longer than four words in a row). Make sure you have fifteen (15). Give yourself fifteen minutes to write a fifteen line poem in which you use one of the fifteen words or word clusters in each line. Make sure you use all fifteen words or clusters. For your title tweak (revise, change) a common expression related to your theme. (If your theme is the "fear" you might use the expression "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" but change it to "The Only Ring You Have to Wear is Fear of Self".)
Variations: You might restrict your free-write to concrete images only or a list of abstract nouns linked to concrete nouns (for politics: "the celebration of manure" "the vulnerability of starmoles" "the ubiquity of loosestrife," etc.) or a list of verbs related to your theme around which you will build each section of the poem...
Idea #2:
Invent Form Poem: MACKU is based off a traditional form of poem called “Haiku”. Each line has a certain amount of syllables which is what makes it closely related to Haiku. But the pattern does not repeat 5, 7, 5, but it repeats by eliminating one syllable from each line as you go down. In this poem I started with a line that had 15 syllables (you can have more or less) and went down one syllable each so the final line of the poem would only be one syllable. Also every line, phrase, or word must be found from one piece of literature (cited below). I first found significant words and phrases in the text and then placed them in the lines according to how many syllables. Once every line was filled I made changes to express the message I was trying to show, but tried to keep the actual text as it originally stood.
ReplyDelete*It is more like a translation, in that the text is “strict” for each line is word for word from an original piece of text, and it is “loose” for you change the message and meaning into what you want it to be, by eliminating a lot of content and rearranging the chosen text, it makes each line more and more powerful and meaningful, especially as you reach the bottom of a macku.
Written by Mac Hutchinson on June 11, 2010
Hermit’s Haven Quest Ravenswood Park, Gloucester. Gloucester, MA: The Trustees of Reservations, 2008.
To Keep To Share
Poem (Macku)
The irreplaceable natural and cultural treasure, (15)
This fragile habitat is under threat help protect it, (14)
A myth of a mighty beast with protective power, (13)
Nature teach us the wisdom that doth crown our age, (12)
Where the catamount had its mythical romp, (11)
Snake your way through a field of mossy stone, (10)
The moon will rise and the sun will set, (9)
Belongs to both one sly and shy, (8)
Home to creatures of the night, (7)
Rich twigs used to make tea, (6)
Relies on our care, (5)
Destination, (4)
Ravenswood, (3)
Mission, (2)
Share. (1)
*This was from last year for Mr. Cook’s Final. My topic was Ravenswood and the original text was a brochure I found at the entrance to Ravenswood. I was able to find and rearrange text to create my overall theme and message that I was trying to portray in my project; that we must maintain nature so we can all be able to use it and share it with each other.
Written by Mac Hutchinson on January 27, 2011
ReplyDeletePoem (Macku) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/25/remarks-president-state-union-address
STATE of the UNION
What sets us apart must not just be our power -– it must also be the purpose behind it. (23)
It’s time we treated people who educate our children with the same level of respect. (22)
There isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth. (21)
Instead of re-fighting the battles, let’s fix what needs fixing and let’s move forward. (20)
What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea. (19)
The idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. (18)
The future is ours to win, but to get there we can not just stand still. (17)
We will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you. (16)
It is because of our people that our future is hopeful. (15)
I hear it gets even more complicated once they’re smoked. (14)
It’s not by whether we can sit together tonight. (13)
But whether we can work together tomorrow. (12)
That’s what a robust democracy demands. (11)
Our schools share this responsibility. (10)
Our generation’s Sputnik moment. (9)
Our destiny remains our choice. (8)
That’s how we win the future. (7)
Our journey goes forward. (6)
Your country needs you. (5)
We do big things. (4)
Together. (3)
That dream. (2)
Now. (1)
* This is another example. I did this for the Personal Poetry Anthology project and my theme is American Politics. The original text was from this year’s State of the Union Address from Barrack Obama.