#7 (due Thurs, May 26): revision comments

finalize 3rd memoir poem

Blog #7: how did your partner’s comments on the various versions of the poems help you to choose a version?

#6 (due Thurs, May 19): example of self-revision

Finish revising your poem, using the 5-finger punch method

Blog #6: post a line from your poem that was a 2, and the revised 3-level version (from the 5-finger punch method)

METHOD:

1. FIVE FINGER PUNCH
1. STEP 1: write down 3 things that your poem definitely IS
2. STEP 2: write down 3 things that your poem definitely is NOT

**COPY/PASTE YOUR POEM INTO A NEW DOCUMENT, AND TITLED IT AS A REVISED VERSION (DON’T CHANGE OR THROW OUT THE ORIGINAL)

3. STEP 3: Read through your poem, and rate each line from 1-3 (1=irrelevant to what you said your poem IS, or it focuses on what your poem IS NOT,  or it’s  fluff; 3=highly relevant, important and/or beautiful)
4. STEP 4: Remove the 1’s
5. STEP 5: Turn the 2’s into 3’s: circle the most important words in the line, and find more creative/poetic ways to say them.

#5 (due Thurs, May 12th): revision comments

Revise poem #1

Blog #5: post a revision comment you got from a peer and explain how it helped you

CLASSWORK FOR Tues, May 3rd

GROUP WORK:

1) Put yourselves in new groups, and perform your revised villanelles or pantoums for each other.

2) Memoir poetry, using Saeed Jones as the model

*Jones’s poems are written in chronological order of his life, documenting significant moments; essentially, his anthology of poetry is actually a memoir

-read aloud each poem

-after each one, discuss/take notes on which moment in Jones’s life you think each is documenting

-which poetic devices does he use to document that moment?  Mark them and analyze, together: how do they help to document the moment?

-after reading/studying all of the poems, make connections: what is the bigger story, about his life, that he’s trying to tell?  What poetic devices does he repeat, to help us understand that story?

INDIVIDUAL JOURNAL WRITING:

-brainstorming moments in your life that you believe are connected to each other (write down several groups, each with at least 3 moments)

-write: how are they connected to each other?

-write: what is the bigger story, about your life, that this connection could reveal?

*over the next several classes, we will develop a series of 3 poems, using Jones’s memoir strategy, and use of poetic devices, as inspiration

HOMEWORK: decide on the 3 moments, and the bigger story you want to tell, through these three moments.  They will become your 3 poems.

#4 (due Tues, May 3rd): revision comments

Revise your pantoums or villanelles, using your peers’ feedback; they do not need to remain in those forms, if you want to expand or change them entirely

Blog #4:  like before, post a piece of feedback that your partner gave you, either praise or criticism about the poem, and explain how it helped you to revise your piece.

#3 (due Tues, March 29th): revision comments

1. Revise your stories, based on all peer feedback.  Finals due in class next time.
2. Blog #3: like before, post a piece of feedback that your partner gave you, either praise or criticism about the setting, and explain how it helped you to revise your piece.

TUESDAY CLASSWORK

Conferencing for drafts, in new groups of 3 (only show your group members the story draft, so that they have to read it without any informational support, explanation or outlines).

PUT ON BLOG: Focus first on praise (what, specifically, the author did well), and then on constructive criticism.  Here are some guidelines for what to constructively criticise:

1. can you follow the story?  Some ambiguity is fine, but if the plot of the story is difficult to understand, or there are major plot holes, what can the author do, to clarify or fill in the holes?
2. does the narrator have a clear 1st or 2nd person voice?  Does that narration help you to get to know and/or connect with the character?  Does the narrative voice have a specific effect on the story-telling?  If not, what can the author adjust, in the narration, to make the voice clearer?  Remember the voice development tools we discussed last time.
3. how do you feel about the beginning and/or ending of the story?  

HOMEWORK:

1. Revise your work, based on peer comments, and bring in final for story-time!  We’ll be reading them aloud in groups and, hopefully, for the full class, so practice that narrative voice out loud (if yours ended up being especially long, excerpt one page to share).  If you would like my feedback on your story, print it out for me (totally optional).
2. Blog #2: post one or more comments, that you received from your peers during conferencing, that you thought were especially helpful (praise or criticism), and what you changed about your story, based on those comments.