Day 12
Wed. Apr. 26
A word of advice about revising
Share “postcards from the present”
Share observations on “I Remember”
Homework
➤ Work on final project
Get started revising the essay you’ve chosen. This should be your first priority!
➤ Write “I Remembers”
Write at least 20 “I Remember” statements in the style of Joe Brainard’s I Remember. (Write more if you can!) Treat this as an exercise in “automatic writing” — try to produce a lot of writing. Keep writing constantly, just whatever comes to mind. Then delete the ones you don’t like and keep the ones you like.
Upload your “I Remembers” to our SharePoint folder, to the folder titled “I Remember.”
➤ GO BACK AND LOOK AT ENDINGS
Look at the endings of the following pieces: “The Old House at Home,” “Orange Crush,” “Southern Summers,” “Uncle Pat,” “The Man Who Eats,” and “Mazie.” For each one, ask yourself: Why does the author choose to end this way? Come prepared to share your answers next class.
➤ Turn your “postcard from the present” into a poem
Turn your “postcard from the present” into a poem by cutting it up into separate lines.
As you go, make any changes to the language you wish to make it “work” better as a poem. Try cutting away words that don’t add anything meaningful. Add anything you now realize needs to be there. Make sure that there’s something meaningful in every line.
Upload your poem to our SharePoint folder, to the folder called “Postcards turned into poems.”
(If you’re interested, before you turn your postcard into a poem, read my handout of poems that capture moments. Many poems are just vivid snapshots of moments—you can see how many other poets, writing in very different styles, are still basically doing this same thing. These might serve as inspiration.)
