Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Object Poem

1. Sit before the object and take down a minimum of twenty-five concrete descriptive images. (You can be strange in these, but not vague or abstract.)
2. Taking that list home, begin a poem that employs one of the following phrases:
When dealing with____________, remember the ________..
Never so many__________ in this ___________. We were accidentally______________
Ask yourself, haven't you had/seen/been/loved/left/cast/anyotherverb enough ___________
After________ (we/you/she/he/it/they/Matilda) was/were different/changed.
3. Do research on something (that object, what it represents or something utterly related.) Include that set of research or facts in some aspect of your poem.
4. Make up a historical fact in which the subject of your poem is featured (consider all of the "factual info." of Matt Guenette's poem.
5. Have this object interact with some other in a story or song line that you invent. (Rap counts, country music or nursery rhyme, too.)
6. Write one adage or proverb that includes the subject of your poem.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

And don't forget your memorable or odd object

Yes, Indeed, the Pantoum

Teaching it today, I realized it's a good final attack at the formal poem. Let's try a pantoum. The length is optional and the form is easy.

Here's one I love by a  friend of mine (who wishes not to be identified, though I don't understand why).
He took a liberty with the second repeating line. I would like you to stick to it but you can deviate from the rhyme scheme. (You needn't, if you'd rather not.)

 Pontoon Pantoum

Pontoon cuts through the open water
Sun goes down and the fish ain't bitin
Grandpa talks to his daughter's daughter.
Bout boys and toys, readin an writin

Sun goes down and the fish ain't bitin
Loons duck under to the great unknown
Motor sputters and the time's forgotten
Can't never ever fell so un a lone

Loons duck under to the great unknown
Daughter's daughter said what's said
Mommy's Daddy let's a sudden groan
Eyeballs roll to the back of his head

Daughter's Daughter said what's said
Pontoon circles far out from shore
We're pretty sure that Grandpa's dead.
Daughter's Daughter on the pontoon floor

Here's one that follows the two and four become one and three form a bit more closely.
Iva's Pantoum
               by Marilyn Hacker
We pace each other for a long time.
I packed my anger with the beef jerky.
You are the baby on the mountain. I am 
in a cold stream where I led you.

I packed my anger with the beef jerky.
You are the woman sticking her tongue out 
in a cold stream where I led you.
You are the woman with spring water palms.

You are the woman sticking her tongue out.
I am the woman who matches sounds.
You are the woman with spring water palms.
I am the woman who copies.

You are the woman who matches sounds.
You are the woman who makes up words. 
You are the woman who copies
her cupped palm with her fist in clay.

I am the woman who makes up words.
You are the woman who shapes
a drinking bowl with her fist in clay.
I am the woman with rocks in her pockets.

I am the woman who shapes.
I was a baby who knew names.
You are the child with rocks in her pockets.
You are the girl in a plaid dress.

You are the woman who knows names.
You are the baby who could fly.
You are the girl in a plaid dress
upside-down on the monkey bars.

You are the baby who could fly
over the moon from a swinging perch
upside-down on the monkey bars.
You are the baby who eats meat.

Over the moon from a swinging perch
the feathery goblin calls her sister.
You are the baby who eats meat
the bitch wolf hunts and chews for you.

The feathery goblin calls her sister:
"You are braver than your mother.
The bitch wolf hunts and chews for you.
What are you whining about now?"

You are braver than your mother
and I am not a timid woman:
what are you whining about now?
My palms itch with slick anger,

and I'm not a timid woman.
You are the woman I can't mention;
my palms itch with slick anger.
You are the heiress of scraped knees.

You are the woman I can't mention
to a woman I want to love.
You are the heiress of scaped knees:
scrub them in mountain water.

To a woman, I want to love
women you could turn into,
scrub them in mountain water,
stroke their astonishing faces.

Women you could turn into
the scare mask of Bad Mother
stroke their astonishing faces
in the silver-scratched sink mirror.

The scare mask of Bad Mother
crumbles to chunked, pinched clay,
sinks in the silver-scratched mirror.
You are the Little Robber Girl, who

crumbles the clay chunks, pinches
her friend, givers her a sharp knife.
You are the Little Robber Girl, who
was any witch's youngest daughter.

Our friend gives you a sharp knife,
shows how the useful blades open.
Was any witch's youngest daughter
golden and bold as you? You run and

show how the useful blades open.
You are the baby on the mountain. I am 
golden and bold as you. You run and 
we pace each other for a long time.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Villanelles & Sonnets

Write a sonnet or a villanelle on the topic of your choice. Bring in nine copies tomorrow.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Course Policy Writing Poetry

Faculty Name: Sophia Kartsonis
Class Blog: www.zeldaville.blogspot.com
Department: Liberal Arts
Division: English
Email: Skartsonis@ccad.edu
Office Hours: M-F 1-1:30
Office Location: Kinney 224
Course Description: Introduces students to the art of writing of poetry, the most ancient yet current of arts. Students will study aspects of poetics, learning a variety of techniques while reading and responding to both contemporary and canonical poets. The course involves a variety of writing exercises, the drafting of poems, and peer critiques, culminating in a small collection of poems and an essay at the end of the semester.
Course Goal To acquaint student with the craft of producing poetry and to help give them the terms and tools in which to assess and help revise and edit poems.

Course Learning Outcomes Students can expect to know more about a poem’s composition, both as an active verb and as a noun indicating its contents. There will be lessons on rhyme, meter, poetic terminology, and a variety of exercises in formal poetry designed to increase competence and understanding of the various styles and forms of verse from blank to free.

CCAD Learning Goals (these are the CCAD goals that are supported by this course):
Through the writing and analysis of poems, and the workshop, the course is designed to help students connect words and images into cogent, vibrant writing. Also, through the workshop model itself, students connect with one another to create a body of work that is more powerful for their collective insight. As the workshop environment creates an opportunity for both risk and community, it provides a means in which to reflect upon poetry as act of language distillation. Additionally, through mastery in the art of reading as a writer and writing as an astute, sensitive reader, students are better able to create artful writing overall.
Required Course Materials:
N/A
Required Text(s):
Jacqueline Osherow’s Whitethorn
http://www.amazon.com/Whitethorn-Poems-Press-Paperback-Original/dp/0807138355/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1315098067&sr=1-1
All links and handouts provided in class or through the blog.

Recommended Text(s):
TBA throughout

Schedule of Classes (including key events including assignments, projects due dates/exam dates):
(See Attached)
Methods/weights of Evaluation (this is a list of items that will be used as the basis for calculating students’ grades in the course: workshop participation, punctual, thorough, projects, assignments 70%,
attendance &class participation 30%):

Course Grading Policies (this is a list of policies regarding due dates, late submissions, standards and expectation regarding work, etc.):
Due dates are crucial, particularly for those assignments that involve class-wide presentation or discussion. Late work will not be welcome and if an assignment is not turned in for a student’s upcoming or workshop or a presentation is not ready, there is no way to make that up to the whole class. For this reason, those assignments must come in on time, students must be present for their own workshops and as they are given two free absences, it is expected that students save those for such occasions and to keep the instructor informed (at least eight hours before class is to begin, where possible) that there has been an issue or emergency. After three absences, the instructor reserves the right to request the student consider dropping the course. All work unless otherwise noted is to be typed, proofread and turned in as a final, to-be-graded, copy.
CCAD Academic Policies:
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
(see the Student Handbook for complete policy information) Academic dishonesty may assume several forms. The most common are the use of unauthorized materials during exams, acquiring information from other students during an exam, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined by the following actions:
• Reproducing another person’s work and submitting it as one’s own
• Lifting material from other sources, including the Internet, to use in assignments without acknowledgment
• Using another person’s original ideas without providing appropriate credit
• Misrepresenting oneself as another individual to an instructor in the context of completing assignments or tests
• Participating in co-construction of assignments without the knowledge and approval of the instructor (not to be confused with legitimate and appropriate tutoring activities, which do not include actually completing another person’s work for him/her)
In all cases, if a student is unsure about a question of plagiarism or academic misconduct, the instructor should be consulted. Please consult the appropriate section under “Disciplinary Procedures” to learn about specific procedures involved in academic misconduct cases.
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES
(see the Student Handbook for complete policy information) ADA STATEMENT If you have a documented cognitive, physical, or psychological disability, which includes learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, anxiety, or mobility, as described by Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is recommended that you contact Disability Services at 614-222-3292. They will assist you in arranging appropriate accommodations with the instructor.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
(see the Student Handbook for complete policy information) Students are required to attend all classes on their schedule. Students may receive a failing grade if they have two or more absences in the minimester. For Summer Semester, the number of absences is computed on the basis of the total number of class hours missed (nine or more hours for studio courses and six or more hours for other courses). For May Minimester or summer sessions, missing 15% or more of a class constitutes an automatic failure. Students are reminded that they will receive a failing grade if they stop attending a course without properly dropping it. Dropping courses is the responsibility of the student.
REQUESTING AN INCOMPLETE
(see the Student Handbook for complete policy information) A grade of incomplete (I) is given only in cases involving serious illness or unforeseen emergencies. In case of illness, a written verification may be required from the attending physician. The student should see the director of advising to process the proper medical documentation.
STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT
(see the Student Handbook for complete policy information) The college expects students to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the high ideals and standards that CCAD has set for its community and its students. Students who violate college policies, cause harm to others, commit criminal acts, or engage in disruptive behavior on or off campus premises may be subject to disciplinary sanctions by the institution.

Friday Assignment and Roll

Come to class ON TIME and sign the roll sheet that Jake will have for you.
Head over to the museum and choose a piece of art from which to write a sestina.
Look to William Carlos William's Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, Auden's Musee de Beaux Arts and Elizabeth Bishop's Sestina (a google search can find these for you, we looked at them all in class.)

1. One stanza that animates a figure or object within the artwork.

2. One stanza the involves some kind of research. The research can involve the artist's bio., information about the medium (the history of cadmium yellow, etc.)

3. One stanza that changes its point of view. It can become a letter to a figure in the piece or to the artist or from one of those two "characters." If you're already working in that mode, the piece can become more third-person and distant for this stanza or you can use a series of quotes.

The other stanzas can work in any mode or fashion that you'd like.

Remember you can find more information on how to construct the sestina online and you can bend a rule or two if need be (ie: a wildcard end-word or one that is an off-rhyme, synonym or homonym to the other words of its station.)

Once you go to the museum, find a place (home, labs, etc. and jot down the images--lots of concrete terms--that you'll be working with) and write the poem. Do note the artist and title of the art.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Writing Poetry Homework for Tonight (Due with Copies tomorrow)

Go to this site and choose a poem to imitate.  The imitation need not be very much like the original, but should rather, possess some version of the form or tone.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Recipe for the NY Poem

You will be writing a New York School poem (mainly associated with Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, & co.) using some of these instructions by   THOM DONOVAN
Other NY school poets include: James Schuyler, Bernadette Mayer, Charles Bernstein, and Dorothea Lasky—a heterodox selection, Eileen Myles, Schuyler, Robert Creeley, and Ron Padgett via PennSound).

Use as many of the following "ingredients" as possible:
1. at least one addressee (to which you may or may not wish to dedicate your poem)
2. use of specific place names and dates (time, day, month, year)--especially the names of places in and around New York City
3. prolific use of proper names
4. at least one reminiscence, aside, digression, or anecdote
5. one or more quotations, especially from things people have said in conversation or through the media
6.a moment where you call into question at least one thing you have said or proposed throughout your poem so far
7.something that sounds amazing even if it doesn’t make any sense to you
8.pop cultural references
9.consumer goods/services
10.mention of natural phenomena (in which natural phenomena do not appear ‘natural’)
11.slang/colloquialism/vernacular
12.at least one celebrity
13.at least one question directed at the addressee/imagined reader
14.reference to sex or use of sexual innuendo
15.the words “life” and “death”
16.at least one exclamation/declaration of love
17.references to fine art, theater, music, or film
18.mention of  body parts
19.food items
20.drug references (legal or illegal)
21.gossip
22.mention of sleep or dreaming
23.use of ironic overtones

Monday, May 14, 2012

Writing Poetry, Minimester A Poem for You to Consider


Greetings Gang, I am posting this poem for your consideration. Think about how you might talk about it as a workshop piece. What are its strongest points? Are there missed opportunities? Consider what is going on, if anything, formally. Be prepared to talk about it.


On Mondays

On Mondays when the museums are closed
and a handful of guards
look the other way
or read their newspapers
all of the figures
step out of golden frames
to stroll the quiet halls
or visit among old friends.
Picasso's twisted ladies
rearrange themselves
to trade secrets
with the languid odalisques of Matisse
while sturdy Rembrandt men
shake the dust
from their velvet tams
and talk shop.
Voluptuous Renoir women
take their rosy children by the hand
to the water fountains
where they gossip
while eating Cezanne's luscious red apples.
Even Van Gogh
in his tattered yellow straw hat
seems almost happy
on Mondays when the museums are closed.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Advanced Creative Writing

Any non graduating senior student who wants to meet for a 15 minute block with me, can come to class and meet up to do so. I have turned in all grades and so this is a purely optional assignment. By 1:00 or 1:15, I will have moved into from the classroom to meet elsewhere. If you are interested in meeting, get there by 12:30 so I can plug you into the schedule.

In any case, have a great summer.

Sophia