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(no subject)
Dec. 10th, 2007 03:15 pmIf you have time to waste spare, take a look at the NON-help I'm getting in response to my question about ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
13_blackbirds.
13_blackbirds.(no subject)
Dec. 8th, 2007 05:23 pmIf your birthday falls in December and I fail to mention it, it's not because I don't care. LJ has moved its bday notifications for me to the month of January for some reason.
Also, I've been fiddling with13_blackbirds, and I've noticed that if I try to search LJ for such interests as "creative writing", "writing" or "poetry", 13_blackbirds doesn't come up. This may explain why the member base has remained so low.
Also, I've been fiddling with
13_blackbirds, and I've noticed that if I try to search LJ for such interests as "creative writing", "writing" or "poetry", 13_blackbirds doesn't come up. This may explain why the member base has remained so low.(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2007 12:52 pmOver at 13_blackbirds, I've given some pointers on how to explicate a poem. This skill was taught to me by the venerable Elizabeth Dobbs, a professor at Grinnell. I had her my freshman year, when I (foolishly) thought I was going to be an English major. She was legend on campus for how strict she was and how dour.
I took her Poetry in English course, which compensated forComposition I Fundamentals of Literary Analysis. It was one of the best courses I had in my time at Grinnell.
13_blackbirds, I've given some pointers on how to explicate a poem. This skill was taught to me by the venerable Elizabeth Dobbs, a professor at Grinnell. I had her my freshman year, when I (foolishly) thought I was going to be an English major. She was legend on campus for how strict she was and how dour.I took her Poetry in English course, which compensated for
(no subject)
Nov. 26th, 2007 02:36 pmI'm thinking of restarting 13_blackbirds at the beginning of December. Please join if you want to talk about the mechanics of poetry and receive weekly poetic exercise challenges.
13_blackbirds at the beginning of December. Please join if you want to talk about the mechanics of poetry and receive weekly poetic exercise challenges.Assignment for 13_blackbirds
Dec. 22nd, 2005 01:27 amStill Life
Write a poem where an object is described in detail. This poem should be 15-20 lines long. No more than nine modifiers should be used. At the end, the speaker should allude to why the object was chosen. The object should not be identified in the poem (for example, if the item is a ball, the word "ball" should not appear in the body or title).
Write a poem where an object is described in detail. This poem should be 15-20 lines long. No more than nine modifiers should be used. At the end, the speaker should allude to why the object was chosen. The object should not be identified in the poem (for example, if the item is a ball, the word "ball" should not appear in the body or title).
(no subject)
Sep. 4th, 2005 09:49 pmThirteen Blackbirds meets tomorrow! What better way to celebrate the holiday? If you're in the Ypsi/Ann Arbor area, you are invited. Email me at novapsyche at livejournal dot com for directions.
Our assignment is to write a matrix poem, a 4 x 4 word construction fleshed into lines. Read the rules of construction here.
My suggestion on how to acquire your own matrix: ( Read more... )
Our assignment is to write a matrix poem, a 4 x 4 word construction fleshed into lines. Read the rules of construction here.
My suggestion on how to acquire your own matrix: ( Read more... )
(no subject)
Jul. 26th, 2005 09:13 amI had to call off Thirteen Blackbirds last night, I was so tired. I had a lesson plan and handouts and everything.
However, I was able to make up a bit of sleep. This is good.
However, I was able to make up a bit of sleep. This is good.
(no subject)
Jul. 25th, 2005 10:10 amThirteen Blackbirds will be meeting tonight, but the meeting time has been pushed back to 7:30.
The assignment: to write a cat poem. Anyone in the AA area interested in attending should contact me at novapsyche at livejournal dot com (or, if you already know how to get to the meeting place, you can just swing by.)
The assignment: to write a cat poem. Anyone in the AA area interested in attending should contact me at novapsyche at livejournal dot com (or, if you already know how to get to the meeting place, you can just swing by.)
(no subject)
Aug. 6th, 2004 09:53 amI'm coming to have specific ideas of what poetry is, and some people are getting mad at me for it.
I'm still thinking of starting that poetry group, though.
I'm still thinking of starting that poetry group, though.
(no subject)
Aug. 5th, 2004 01:19 pmI might have to start a poetry group around here. I'm not getting my fix.
a comment I made in about_poetry
Jun. 7th, 2004 12:54 pmThe reader is NO PART of the poem, and should be of little or no interest to the poet while he is composing it. A poet, at least one with personal integrity, cares about honestly (and artfully) expressing his ideas. To subject his ideas to the filter of what the (possible eventual) readership might think, is to pervert (or at least dilute) the ideas.
When one is composing a poem, there is obviously an audience, even if it's an audience of one (the poet himself). You may not think the poet is part of the audience; you haven't substantiated that opinion. If the poet isn't even going to read his own work, then who is he writing for?
If the poem is written to be read, then the poem has an audience in mind, even if that audience is vaguely defined.
If the poet goes into a poem thinking there is no audience, there is little reason for him to think about the craft involved in writing. Who else is the craft for? It's not for the poet himself, as he already knows what he means. If the poet is merely writing to write, there is no need to use tropes or imagery, no reason to submit his writing to the rigors of figurative language, no need to grope for just that right word.
So, if there is craft involved, there is probably the assumption that the piece will be read by more than the author himself. That implies an audience.
To say that the audience should not be thought of gives ammunition to all those "poets" who claim that the reader "just didn't get" what they were writing. Odds are, their writing was unclear to anyone who couldn't read their minds. Poetry is not a mind-reading exercise. The reader can't know what the author's intentions were. The only way the reader has any idea of what the author is talking about is through the author's word choice and manipulations with language. And, again, if there is no conception of an audience, there is no need for an author to think very deeply about word choice or language manipulation.
I'm not saying the author should pander to the audience. Just that the author probably assumes that there will be a wider readership than just him alone. Don't confuse or collude these two very distinct ideas.
(Read the whole [?] discussion here. [In truth, the originator of the thread can't usually seem to get his replies in the correct threads, so he replies in a brand-new post. The conversation has been going on since last Friday.])
When one is composing a poem, there is obviously an audience, even if it's an audience of one (the poet himself). You may not think the poet is part of the audience; you haven't substantiated that opinion. If the poet isn't even going to read his own work, then who is he writing for?
If the poem is written to be read, then the poem has an audience in mind, even if that audience is vaguely defined.
If the poet goes into a poem thinking there is no audience, there is little reason for him to think about the craft involved in writing. Who else is the craft for? It's not for the poet himself, as he already knows what he means. If the poet is merely writing to write, there is no need to use tropes or imagery, no reason to submit his writing to the rigors of figurative language, no need to grope for just that right word.
So, if there is craft involved, there is probably the assumption that the piece will be read by more than the author himself. That implies an audience.
To say that the audience should not be thought of gives ammunition to all those "poets" who claim that the reader "just didn't get" what they were writing. Odds are, their writing was unclear to anyone who couldn't read their minds. Poetry is not a mind-reading exercise. The reader can't know what the author's intentions were. The only way the reader has any idea of what the author is talking about is through the author's word choice and manipulations with language. And, again, if there is no conception of an audience, there is no need for an author to think very deeply about word choice or language manipulation.
I'm not saying the author should pander to the audience. Just that the author probably assumes that there will be a wider readership than just him alone. Don't confuse or collude these two very distinct ideas.
(Read the whole [?] discussion here. [In truth, the originator of the thread can't usually seem to get his replies in the correct threads, so he replies in a brand-new post. The conversation has been going on since last Friday.])
personal notes, 3/22/04
Jun. 5th, 2004 12:13 amPoetry is really a type of energy transference. Basically, the poet is trying to 1) recreate a past feeling of his or her own or 2) create an altogether new feeling in the reader. Either way, the poet is attempting to engender a lived sensation in the reader.
The only means by which the poet can do this is through language, primarily the word on the page. Words themselves are filled with a type of energy of their own, by the fact that they are automatically associated with tones. Even upon sight, words transfer their tones to the inner ear; they're instantly transduced from visual images into sound.
The most successful poems seem to possess their own inner store of energy, a faintly felt lifeforce that is captured in the rhythm or cadence of the piece. But that rhythm in metrical pieces is so regular that those poems seem to lack this intrinsic energy. The excellent metrical poems combine time signature with inflection and meaning. This collusion of sense and sound produces (or reproduces) a feeling in the reader that is both familiar and novel, simple yet profound.
The only means by which the poet can do this is through language, primarily the word on the page. Words themselves are filled with a type of energy of their own, by the fact that they are automatically associated with tones. Even upon sight, words transfer their tones to the inner ear; they're instantly transduced from visual images into sound.
The most successful poems seem to possess their own inner store of energy, a faintly felt lifeforce that is captured in the rhythm or cadence of the piece. But that rhythm in metrical pieces is so regular that those poems seem to lack this intrinsic energy. The excellent metrical poems combine time signature with inflection and meaning. This collusion of sense and sound produces (or reproduces) a feeling in the reader that is both familiar and novel, simple yet profound.
