Why just write poems when you can write better ones? This course is built on the notion that the most exciting writing begins after the first draft. It is specifically for folks who believe that writing poems just to express oneself is like using the Internet just for email. After all, poetry can change the way you and your readers think of the world and its inhabitants; it can break new ground for language; turn a blank sheet of paper into a teeming concert of voices and music.
Though any of us may have the potential to make that happen, having an understanding of how several tools of poetic composition can be used (and audaciously “mis-used”) gives you more ways to try (and if we do this right, we might surprise ourselves most of all).
We'll cover key poetic terms and devices by studying poems by a handful of modern and contemporary poets and then get a chance to try our own hand at writing new poem drafts from a select number of prompts. Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to workshop your poem drafts and get feedback on your work, working towards a more polished poem.
Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop
proposé par
California Institute of the Arts
Programme du cours : ce que vous apprendrez dans ce cours
Semaine
1Introduction and the Poetic Line
Poetry orchestrates its music, arguments, tensions, and environment via arrangements of language into lines and stanzas. This week we’ll address the importance of the line break, perhaps the most conspicuous, signature tool in the poet’s toolkit. Do you break more for sound, for sense, visual effect, shape, a mix of several? We’ll participate in several line break exercises and remix found poems. Also: prepare for your first quiz and a fun first writing prompt.
8 vidéos (Total 20 min), 4 lectures, 1 quiz
8 vidéos
The Workshop Process3 min
Workshopping in a MOOC, part 11 min
The Starting Line4 min
Rack ‘em Up: Gwendolyn Brooks' We Real Cool1 min
We/Read Close. We/Take note. 4 min
Game Over1 min
Poetry Prompt 1: Line2 min
4 lectures
Syllabus5 min
Workshopping in a MOOC, part 28 min
Course Resources3 min
Week 1 Summary8 min
1 exercice pour s'entraîner
On the Line10 min
Semaine
2Abstraction and Image
Abstraction doesn’t mean “deep,” and image doesn’t mean “picture.” Images are typically understood as anything you can literally touch/taste/see/hear/smell, and abstractions are those things for which we have symbols (a clock for “time,” a heart for “love”) but no image. Abstractions and images may fill our poems, but how can you tell what’s what, and how can you leverage them to compelling ends? This week we’ll work at finding new symbols to replace clichéd ones for abstractions and we’ll work at crafting images that do more than add furniture to a poem, but create systems of relationships, moods, and even style.
5 vidéos (Total 14 min), 1 lecture, 1 quiz
5 vidéos
Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bewildered: Harryette Mullen's [if your complexion is a mess.]1 min
The Wonky Chocolate Factory4 min
Read in the Shade2 min
Poetry Prompt 2: Abstraction & Image2 min
1 lecture
Week 2 Summary8 min
1 exercice pour s'entraîner
Abstraction & Image10 min
Semaine
3Metaphor and Other Formulas of Difference
Most of us think of simile and metaphor, personification and other similar figures of speech as being about similarities between objects, concepts, and entities. But the juice in these formulas comes from how different the two things being compared seem to be. This is why writing: “the shark moved like a fish” is, alone, a lot less interesting than saying “the shark moved like a squad car.” We’ll talk about how playing with difference via juxtaposition can create a range of poetic effects. Then you’ll write a poem built of one robustly developed or several contrasting juxtapositions.
We'll end this module with yet another quiz, and our first poetry workshop -- facilitated through a peer assessed assignment.
5 vidéos (Total 18 min), 1 lecture, 2 quiz
5 vidéos
It is What it Isn’t7 min
Home Cooking: Victor Hernández Cruz's Red Beans1 min
Lilies and Lava 4 min
After Dinner Meant1 min
Poetry Prompt 3: Metaphor2 min
1 lecture
Week 3 Summary8 min
1 exercice pour s'entraîner
Metaphor10 min
Semaine
4Rhyme
This week we’ll explore how rhyme leverages patterns of sameness and how we can estrange similarity for compelling poetic effects. We’ll check out examples of “rhyme”—sonic, visual, conceptual—from outside of poetry too.
5 vidéos (Total 14 min), 1 lecture, 1 quiz
5 vidéos
There’s No “A” in Showdown: Cathy Park Hong's Ballad in A1 min
Lipo-what?!5 min
What That Was2 min
Poetry Prompt 4: Rhyme1 min
1 lecture
Week 4 Summary8 min
1 exercice pour s'entraîner
Rhyme10 min
4.7
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a commencé une nouvelle carrière après avoir terminé ces cours
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Meilleurs avis
par JK•Aug 22nd 2016
Wonderful, learning about writing poetry here is IT! I will always use this to go forward and once in a while come back to freshen up. Thank you, there's nothing else out there like this class!
par AR•Nov 2nd 2015
I have learned so much and I love D's energy and the avid participation of the other students. Will definitely pass on what I've learned. Can't wait for more courses like this in the future! :)
Enseignant
Douglas Kearney
Assistant ProfessorProgram in Creative Writing, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota
À propos de California Institute of the Arts
CalArts has earned an international reputation as the leading college of the visual and performing arts in the United States. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions.
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