Thursday, 21 January, 2010

Today in class writers read, discussed, and analyzed three poems written in the first person.

Writers took time to write a draft of a poem in the first person.

Up-coming due dates were reviewed.

Monday, January 25th: Spirals due (16 pages)

Tuesday, January 26th: Memoir due see yesterday's blog for the criteria.

Due on the final date for the period: One well crafted poem, and a self-evaluation of the poem.

The self evaluation should include the following:

A paragraph describing the origin of the poem. How did you get the ideal; how did you choose the format or style?

A couple or a few paragraphs explaining which poetry techniques were used, and how well the techniques were used. These paragraphs should be like paragraphs you would write when analyzing a poem by another author, and includes quotes as examples from your poem. (Note: one way to show where a line break happens when quoting a poem is to use a /.)

A conclusion. This might include a statement of what could be done better, or how you do things differently in the future. It might sing the praises of a very well crafted poem. It might make a comment on the authors relationship to poetry in general.

There should of course be an introduction to the entire piece.

Note: Saying your poem is good, because it shows emotion misses the whole point. If it does show emotion or feeling, it does so because of the choices the author makes. Explain what those choices were.

EXTRA CREDIT POSSIBILITIES

On Thursday, 28 January at 7:30 pm there will be a reading from the new WITS anthology at Powell's Books on Burnside. Students who attend will receive a small amount of extra credit, but since it is the night before the last final it might not be a good idea to go.

Tuesday, 2 February at 7:00 pm at Broadway Books on NE Broadway, all writers are invited to share a part of their memoir. Those who share will receive substantial extra credit. Those who attend to support those who read will receive modest extra credit.

WARNING

If your Restaurant Review is not turned in you may not immediately get credit on this semester's grade. It is getting to be so late, that you may get a failing mark on 1st semester and require a grade change. Get it in NOW!