Writing Opportunity

Hi All,

I just wanted to pass along some information that I just received about an opportunity to do some dramatic writing.

This is not a course requirement by any means. I merely pass it along for those who are looking for other places to hone their writing skills.

Writing Opportunity With Carousel Players

Let me know if you decide to participate.

CP

Good Question!

From: cheyenne foster
To: ewcwriter@live.ca
Subject: Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:21:53 -0700

Q: Do the narrative and monologue poems have to rhyme or have a certain number of syllables per line?

A: Excellent question, Cheyenne, thanks for asking it.

The dramatic monlogue does not have to rhyme. Although the sample I gave you is written in iambic pentameter, more contemporary monologues are usually written in free verse.

The narrative poem could also be in free verse (in theory) so long as it tells a story. However, there is something about narrative poetry that usually results in them being written in regular lines or stanzas. Perhaps the regularity of the form enables readers or listeners to focus on the plot. So long as your poem tells an engaging and vivid story, I will be satisfied regardless of whether it is written as a free verse poem or not.

I hope this helps. Ask questions in the comment section if you would like clarification.

CP

Calendar

Here's the link again: CALENDAR

Marks

I'm about as caught up with marks as I can get. CLICK HERE for a very tentative look at the numbers.

These grades will fluctuate considerably over the next couple of weeks. Firstly, I need to add in the weighting categories, which will make journals worth more. Secondly, the children's stories need to be added in this week. And finally, there are a few items that weren't handed in on time (like the radio play) but still can be. Even with the 25% late penalty, the radio play is still very worth handing in.

Email me if you need your code name. Just put "What's my code name?" in the subject line and I'll send it along. Alternately, you can ask me in class.

Let's get these marks exactly where you want them for mid term reports!

The Suggestion Box is OPEN

As per our tradition, Journal # 12 will be a free write. After that, however, I would like to line up some new, invigorating journal topics.

Let me say that I've been seriously impressed with the journal writing thus far this semester. I'm not sure whether it is a reflection on my great group of EWC students or also a function of our digital journals. Any thoughts?

Anyway, I'd love to hear from you about some different topics or issues you might be interested in writing on. You can post your suggestion in the comment space below. I only need a brief suggestion from you, from which I can work up a full prompt.

Happy Friday, Everyone.

Poem # 3 -- A Lyric Poem

So now that you are developing some expertise with meeting form requirements, such as are needed to imitate a poem or to write a sonnet, we are going to loosen up a little.

You are now invited to write a "free verse" poem, meaning that you may vary the number of syllables in each line and rhyme or not rhyme as whimsy takes you. Keep in mind that poetry is primarily an oral medium so you will want to try saying your lines out loud as you compose them.

See what you can do with:

rhythm (paying attention to where the stresses fall) e.g. "To BE, or NOT to BE. That IS the QUESTion."

alliteration (the repetition of consonant sounds) e.g. "Bob bounced a basketball"

assonance (the repetition of vowel sounds) e.g. "He seems eerily eager"

and, of course, rhyme. --> Keep in mind that skillful poets keep their readers (or listeners) off balance. If your readers can predict a rhyme before they get there, choose another rhyme. Sometimes "near rhymes" can be very effective since they result in a combination of words that is usually quite original and hard to predict. The joy of free verse composition is that you may not have any rhymes for several lines (did you catch that near rhyme?) and then have two words in a row that rhyme.

As far as what to write about is concerned... lyrics are primarily emotion poems. Any strong emotion can be channeled--love, despair, regret, disappointment, joy, relief, trust, faith are just a few you may wish to consider.

Here is a sample:

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

** Notice that the 2nd and 4th lines of each stanza rhyme. You may choose to or not to do this. Notice how in the 2nd to last stanza Hughes rhymes "on" with "born" -- a near rhyme, although he likely pronounced them in such as way that they rhymed better for him than they do for me.

As always, post your questions here and I'll try to get you some respectable answers.

CP

The October Calendar has been updated.

Poem # 2: The Sonnet

Hi.

Click here

for a sample sonnet and few notes on how to write one.

CP

How Long Should My Poems Be?

Sam just asked a great question, one that I should have addressed earlier.

I am asking you to shoot for about 12-15 lines on average for each of your poems. Since some will come more easily than others, I will be satisfied if turns out to be 10 lines and the next one runs to 20. While more isn't always better, students who exceed the average will have shown signs of having gone above and beyond the unit's minimum expectations.

And finally... It would be a good idea for each and every one of us to understand (and shun like an infectious disease) the concept of doggerel. If you are curious about how to avoid writing doggerel, you may wish to brush up on what wikipedia has to say on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerel, particularly the bit about "Doggerel is usually the sincere product of poetic incompetence..." e.g. The cat sat on the mat. Rhymes should be like good movies--no one should be able to anticipate the end until it arrives.

Questions about anything?

CP

Diigo at School

Thanks to Ryan Morris, Diigo is now much easier to use here at school.

To use Diigo (without having to install anything), open up the portable version of Firefox by going to the O:\Writer's Craft\ folder and clicking on the Firefox icon. It takes about a minute to load so be patient, even if it doesn't look like anything is happening.

Once Firefox is open you will still need to sign in to Diigo. Just click on the Diigo icon up on the toolbar.

I'm getting better with the post-it notes (I hope you appreciate the lessons involved in me making LOTS of mistakes before being able to declare that something is working...). I have begun posting them entry by entry since they are lost whenever URL's change.

If you want to be absolutely certain to never lose a post-it note again, start writing your entries using Google Docs and then posting them as links. (This is very easily done. If you're unsure how to do this just ask myself or Mike Cunningham).

As always, post your questions here.

CP

Length Guidelines and Amy's URL

Hello,

I'm reading (and enjoying) a whole other truckload of blog-journals. While it's true that I haven't read a single dull one, some certainly seem to be turning out longer than others. I thought I would provide some guidelines here to help.

Students working toward the 4C credit should be trying for journals of about 350 words. 4U students should be trying for about 500. I would certainly rather have 300 or 432 polished words (respectively) than 500 words of inflated and redundant composition. You may want to save your posts as drafts for a couple of days and then go back and edit them before you publish them.

Please, if you are having any difficulties at all, leave a comment or a question here. I have left some tips on individual blogs... you are at a point now where you could be helping each other with advice... which is exactly what this space should be doing for us.

Finally, Amy has kindly allowed me to post the link to her blog. She really has done some remarkable work here and I imagine we'll all be reading her column in the Globe and Mail or National Post someday. In the meantime, her blog serves as a great example of lively, polished and reflective writing. You can see her blog at: http://writerscraftjournals.blogspot.com/

If you read Amy's work and enjoy it, please let her know. I am looking forward to featuring more work from other students, particularly as we make our way through the poetry unit.

Poetry

Hi Everyone,

Here are some links that will help you find a poem to imitate for the first assignment:

http://www.emule.com/poetry/?page=author_list

http://www.poetry.com/greatestpoems/PoetsCorner.asp

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Email etiquette and the October Calendar

Hi All,

I'm going to post this email on all my course blogs because I've had a little something on my mind for a while.

I am getting a number of emails sent to the ewcwriter account that strike me as being "dashed off." When writing to your friends it is perfectly acceptable to write however you like and to take whatever shortcuts you wish. When emailing people in a more professional sense such as teachers, professors, business and government people, you should use the best possible standard of writing that you can manage.

In the same way that we make assumptions about people based on their clothes, their hair or their grooming habits, people who receive your emails will make assumptions based on what they can see. Not using capital letters, punctuation or spellchecking your email can suggest either a lack of skill or a lack of concern. Neither is the impression that you want to leave in the mind of the person who will be assigning you a final grade.

I'm not suggesting that our email communications have to be perfect, they just have to be the best of which we are capable of writing. I catch problems every time I compose an email by rereading it 2 or 3 times. Sometimes I'll read it even more than that if I am writing to someone really important.

By all means, I invite you to comment on this.

Regards, CP

The October Calendar is up and running for EWC.

Response Needed...

So I've had pretty good luck now getting my Diigo post-it notes back a day or two after they were created.

Can anyone actually confirm for me that they have been able to see my post-it notes on thier blogs? You may need to "bookmark" your page to Diigo--that seems to be helping.

Let me know,

CP

Diigo Works!

I've had a chance to use Diigo from home and it is working just fine. It makes leaving comments on your blogs much easier than simply using the comment section after your posts.

I am using Diigo with Firefox and they seem highly compatible. I recommend Firefox too because it has a built in spell check feature that will be handy when writing anything.

In order for you to see my comments you will need to be signed into Diigo and you will need to accept the invites I sent out on Friday. If you have any tech problems let me know. You can post here or email ewcwriter@live.ca

Regards,

CP

* I've marked about 3 journals so far and plan to mark all the online ones today.