Lesson 2/ Do I make myself clear?

Lesson 2/ Do I make myself clear?

from So you want to be a poet series

 

 

There are number ways to make oneself clear

but first the poet must decide if it wants to be clear

or unclear. Vocally support a mixture of both, but as a beginning

poet, don’t do too much.  Most of you are lazy

sacks of apples. You could be sauce.

 

Have you ever had applesauce with honey?  Sauce is good.

Honey is good.  You will never be honey.  So don’t use the word.  Its bad to spread lies.  Don’t.  Care for people.  People want applesauce. They have apples.  They want the sauce – Poets. This is all going to be on final 2-3 pg easy exam.  Do you know where honey comes from?

 

   I worked out the problems with my computer.  It didn’t crumble. I just didn’t plug it.  Thanks to Tom.  Thanks Tom.  I have the syllabus.  It is basically a reading list and I will add rules to it whenever I am inclined.  You bet.  I am a busy person with lots of scotch. This is a courageous tentative plan.

   I have to spend time with hook hers and my family.

 

 

 

Assignment

 

 

Read Syllabus (listed below under “Syllabus”)

Start reading the assigned reading. Just skim around and fallback on cliff-notes when possible so that way when you write or discus any of the reading it will be obvious you did not read them because you only know the general ideas and none of the particular details of the piece.

 

Decide if you want to be clear or unclear in your poetry.  Follow guidelines for “writing clear poetry” or Guidelines for “writing unclear poetry” listed below and post outcome for workshop.

 

*As well, email assignment from lesson 1

to a_burie@hotmail.com or post under

blog entry “Lesson 1 –So you want to be a poet

 

 

Guidelines for “writing clear poetry”

 

-Get reliable writing tools (Large quality paper and anti-smudge colored pens)

-Pick a purpose for your poem

-Brainstorm ideas for a poem

that go along with your purpose

-Pick a few words that go along with your

brainstorming session.

-Pick a form to follow and mock

-Pretend you are writing a rhyming letter

to someone.

-Choose commonly used rhyme combinations

-Adhere strictly to a theme

-Revise and brainstorm as needed to adhere

to the purpose and theme.

-Make sure you use simple language

(Try to write at a 6^th grade reading level or lower).

-Write a zinger for last line of the poem that

recaps on what you said in the beginning of the poem

-Read and discuss the poem with someone else.

After everything you say, say “Do I make myself clear?”

-Hand in page stating only the obvious things about your experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guidelines for “writing unclear poetry”

 

-Use pencil and college-ruled notebook paper

-Free write for two hours (stream of contagious style).

-Use words that you are not sure what they mean.

(Try to write at a 8^th grade reading level or higher). 

-If you do look words up, only do it after you are done writing the poem.

-Do not use, the, an, a, of, he, she, I or me in your poem.

-Use verbs the most.

-Use adjectives in the place of nouns frequently.

-Use a lot of punctuation (never can have too much)

-Don’t adhere to any grammatical rules

-Make sure your ending has no connection

with the beginning of the poem.

-The end line zinger should use simple rhyme ti reinforce

a supposed message that the reader is suppose to get,

but make sure it is nonsensical and no matter

what people think they get, it is meaningless.

-Read and discuss the poem with someone else.

After everything you say, say “Do I make myself clear?”

-Write 1 page evaluating the experiences and send one copy to

parent figure and another copy to me.

 

 

 

 

Please post assignment before the end of the day (I sleep to about four or five pm).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Syllabus

 

“All quiet on the Western front”

Poetry is an art form and it takes the right kind of person, the right kind of literary training and the right kind of paper.  There is nothing important about poetry but everything is poetry.  That is the problem of for the future’s poets.  Be happy you have some quiet time and scotch.

 

 

 

Requirements

 

 

Attempt to do what I ask of you by using as little as energy as possible.

Complain a lot.

Use spellchecker (Don’t go to tutor).  

Hand in sloppy work done at the last minute.

Hand in all assignments in time.

Any assignments handed outside of time may be badly disrespected or incinerated. Don’t fall in love with me.  I’d be a pervy to do you. I’m like four years younger than you (keep a good grip).

 

Final essay

   2-3 pages on why you hate poetry now. Cover at least 10 literary crutches, 15 sound effects found in poetry, 34 poets, three afternoons you had with your dog that were meaningful, (Don’t tell me you don’t have a dog, I don’t want to hear it).    

 

Portfolio

 

   Hand in 17 poems with revision copies stapled together in the right order and clearly mark what they are.  As well submit one page of analysis for each of your poems.  In the analysis, analyze your own poem in any kind of way you can.  Make font slightly bigger so you don’t have to write as much (less thinking too). 

 

 

 

Grading policy

 

   I read all assignments out loud to several of my friends. Then I pick the best accidental humor and give it an A (100% – 79%).  Then I throw the rest down stairs. The essays that land on the bottom of the stairs get Bs (78.9%-53%).  One’s on top, Cs (52.9%-0.02%).  Unless I like you, this applies to you.  If I like you or you are smart I will give you an A as long as you hand in some of the work.

 

*Most People get Cs.  I am not afraid to give Bs or As, I just prefer not to. 

*You can bribe me if you don’t make me feel cheap (scotch/cash).

 

Class activities

 

    If someone does hand in a poem of quality, we’ll workshop it and rip it a new one until the poet logs out crying.  The same for the really bad ones, but we’ll spend less time on the bad poems.  You know the type I am talking about, the “prosey” ones full of banal truths. Gross.  This is poetry and I don’t want any gross weak enlightening prose. Do you have a heart beat? Then you use it or lose it Poet. The poems of average craft will be read and complimented briefly in a surprised tone. 

   The rest of the activities that we will do in the course of this series are secret and mysterious.  I cannot tell you everything yet or else you will get bored.

 

 

 

Reading Requirements

 

   I’ll assign other reading as necessary.  Please read in order of listed and write summary for each chapter/section on all of the required reading. Hand in all at the time you hand in your final essay and portfolio. Please write all essays in third person. Compare all literature to yourself and internalize when possible. 

 

Texts

“Don’t Know Much About History” -Kenneth C. Davis

“Holy Bible” King James Version.  Daily.

“American Popular Music” –Starr Waterman

“How To Win Friends & Influence People” –Dale Carnegie

“The Norton Anthology of Poetry” (Shorter Fifth Edition) –Ferguson, Salter, Stallworthy

“The Collected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser” (the first complete paperback edition) –McGraw-Hill

“The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary” –Sue Young

“Patton” –Martin Blumenson

“Premier World Atlas” –Rand Mcnally

“The Great Hunt” -Robert Jordan

“Somebody, Somewhere” -Alan Gillis

“Code of the Street” -Elijah Anderson

“Creating Your Own Destiny” -Patrick Snow

“The Self-Publishing Manual” -Dan Poynter

“Tomorrow; Adventures in an Uncertain World” –Bradley Trevor Greive

“Where the Sidewalk Ends” –Shel Silverstein

“Here, Bullet” –Brian Turner

“Selling 101” –Zig Ziglar

“What You Can Do With a Major In English?” –Shelley O’Hara

“Pictures of the Afterlife” –Jude Nutter

“The Best American Poetry” (2004) -Lyn Hejinian

“Financial & Management Accounting” (13^th edition) -McGraw-Hill Irwin

“The New American Medical Dictionary And Health Manual” (Third Revised Edition) –Robert E. Rothenberg, M.D.

“Needful Things” –Stephen King

 

 

 

*Additional Reading Requirements

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