Poetry Assignment 2

Due Wednesday, January 27

This assignment has two parts. The first part is a poem of between 100 and 150 words. The second part is a few sentences that interpret the poem. In other words, restate what the poem means. Type your poem and interpretation and hand it in during class on the 27th.

The broad topic of your second poem is your experience with rules or roles with respect to gender and sexuality. Many of the poems that students wrote for the first assignment were disappointing. We will need to go over a few important topics before you write your second poem.

  1. Have an image ok'd by me before you write your poem. Many of the Poem 1's were very abstract and conceptual. Images and not concepts should be the basis for your poem. Aim for unique images that you can touch, taste, feel, hear, or see.
  2. Focus on a specific scene. To be safe you can use a two-part structure, one part a scene, another part the wider significance of the scene.
  3. Do not try to rhyme.
  4. If you are writing about someone else state clearly that you are imagining that person. It is unfair for you to put words into someone else's mouth or thoughts into someone else's head. Remember that you do not have direct access to anyone else's thoughts or feelings. For example, you might write, "I wonder/ Does he feel ashamed." Do not write, "He feels ashamed."
  5. Do not blame "society." Try to describe who exactly has a particular attitude or point to what specifically sends you a message. For example, do not state that society wants women to be pretty. It would be better to point at the cover a specific magazine--for example, Vogue--and state that the cover seems to say that women should look like Keira Knightley. Likewise, do not write about the expectations of society. Write instead about the expectations of your family or your friends.

I will be paying attention to the quality of your images. Here is a guide:

Good Images:

  1. Refer to the senses
  2. Appropriate to a unique experience
  3. Vivid (real)

Bad Images:

  1. Not tied to the situation (arbitrary)
  2. Cliche (the moon was fresh 1300 years ago)
  3. Be careful with "heart"
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