novapsyche (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
novapsyche) wrote2013-09-30 06:44 pm
novapsyche) wrote2013-09-30 06:44 pm
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assignment #1
So the first creative writing assignment is about dadaism:
TO MAKE A DADAIST POEM
Take a newspaper.
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article of the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that makes up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake gently.
Next take out each cutting one after the other.
Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
And there you are--an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.
I decided, despite my lack of excitement, to give the assignment a try. I need to make a good-faith effort!
So I perused the main section of Sunday's paper & found a blurb about local crime. Blurbs are short; Rebecca herself suggested finding a short article. Fire, also, seems universally intriguing, so why not something about possible arson?
The whole process seemed to take longer than it should have. From the choice of the article to drawing each word from a bowl & then transcribing their order took about two hours. I was sad to find that the product was subject to length bias: the longer the word, the easier it was to fish out of the bowl. It would have been better had I adhered the words onto index cards, but I had no cards at home at the time; also, it would simply had upped the tedium.
Anyway, here's what I came up with, without any line breaks (because I can't figure out where they should go yet):
Too late, I realized I should have transcribed the original article so I could make a good comparison.
*sigh* I do not feel this was a good exercise. But I'll turn it in, once I figure out where to put in line breaks, just to show that I am open to new experiences. However, I will be thinking, more & more in the coming days, what else I could bring to class so as to read something other than the above.
TO MAKE A DADAIST POEM
Take a newspaper.
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article of the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that makes up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake gently.
Next take out each cutting one after the other.
Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
And there you are--an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.
I decided, despite my lack of excitement, to give the assignment a try. I need to make a good-faith effort!
So I perused the main section of Sunday's paper & found a blurb about local crime. Blurbs are short; Rebecca herself suggested finding a short article. Fire, also, seems universally intriguing, so why not something about possible arson?
The whole process seemed to take longer than it should have. From the choice of the article to drawing each word from a bowl & then transcribing their order took about two hours. I was sad to find that the product was subject to length bias: the longer the word, the easier it was to fish out of the bowl. It would have been better had I adhered the words onto index cards, but I had no cards at home at the time; also, it would simply had upped the tedium.
Anyway, here's what I came up with, without any line breaks (because I can't figure out where they should go yet):
'Suspicious' fire destroys mailboxes
apartments source investiga-tors it 90 percent firefighters Johnson "suspicious" mailboxes mailboxes cards crews up though nearest receiving residents mail in birthday extin-guished reports township believed apartments have mailbox about inside checks fire burned apartments garbage 2:56 p.m. quickly Saturday said blaze 150 near burned from accidental fire Saturday afternoon mail Johnson was the Ypsilanti flames of the Woburn the carriers expecting have extinguished block Huron 600 letters the leaving recover went love in to the might were Heights could shelter said in the the ruled the after fire to a called officials the about were said after fire to at a office in the called charred the cause and as drive to the post of the of can is felt or be at mail ashes the be
Too late, I realized I should have transcribed the original article so I could make a good comparison.
*sigh* I do not feel this was a good exercise. But I'll turn it in, once I figure out where to put in line breaks, just to show that I am open to new experiences. However, I will be thinking, more & more in the coming days, what else I could bring to class so as to read something other than the above.