241/Ritt Poetry assignment info & writing ideas Your task is to write one or more poems. If you choose to write more than one poem, your works may be related or not, at your own discretion. Here are some prompt ideas to get you started: a) Write a poem that’s a list (e.g. “Things I Could Never Say Out Loud”). b) Write a poem about a color or an abstraction (e.g. love) without ever naming the subject of the poem. Give lots of specific, vivid details. Use the subject as the title of the poem. c) Take an existing piece of writing (any fiction or non-fiction that you’ve written), and using a dark marker, block out strategic words or phrases to create a new poem with a new meaning (feel free to alter line lengths or add breaks as needed). d) Write a collection of statements, each of which is a lie. e) Write a poem in which weather plays an important role (either as the focus or as an influence on events). f) Write a poem that answers a question. You could choose to begin with the question, as in Whitman’s “A child said…” or imply the question, leaving the reader clues as to what you’re exploring. g) OR feel free to do anything else that intrigues you! As long as you hit the minimum length requirement, there are no wrong answers in poetry. Feel free to play with formatting, line length, punctuation, alliterations, sounds, etc: There are NO specific formatting requirements for your poetry. If you choose unusual punctuation or editing conventions, you’ll want to make sure that they serve a purpose in your work: to enhance the emotions, to create a sense of intentional confusion, etc. Your work may be fictional, non-fiction, or some combination thereof. (See length requirements, on reverse). As in the previous exercise, try to show us information about the scene rather than just telling what’s going on. For example, "I felt embarrassed" is much less moving than immersing your reader right in the details that show us how embarrassed you were—your sweaty palms, your face turning red, the kids around you laughing, etc. Help the reader see the scene as you see it and feel the emotions you feel by using lots of specifics. As you move into the 2nd draft, keep in mind that poems, like essays, will often have two layers: One is the surface-level subject (e.g. a snowfall). The other is the larger, underlying idea: What is your essay really about? (e.g. change, loneliness, etc). After 241/Ritt we read your poems, we should have some hint towards or sense of your overall purpose: Why was this topic important for you to write about? (Don’t tell us directly, but we should be able to infer this or have a sense of it by the end of your poem). Assignment lengths:  SFD: 1-3 pages (double-spaced, unless you have short lines and/or really strong feelings about why it should be single-spaced) o Submitted for feedback; graded for completion and creativity (+10)  Small group works.

1. 241/Ritt
Poetry assignment info & writing ideas
Your task is to write one or more poems. If you choose to write
more than one poem,
your works may be related or not, at your own discretion. Here
are some prompt ideas
to get you started:
a) Write a poem that’s a list (e.g. “Things I Could Never Say
Out Loud”).
b) Write a poem about a color or an abstraction (e.g. love)
without ever naming the
subject of the poem. Give lots of specific, vivid details. Use the
subject as the title
of the poem.
c) Take an existing piece of writing (any fiction or non-fiction
that you’ve written), and
using a dark marker, block out strategic words or phrases to
create a new poem
with a new meaning (feel free to alter line lengths or add breaks
as needed).

2. d) Write a collection of statements, each of which is a lie.
e) Write a poem in which weather plays an important role
(either as the focus or as
an influence on events).
f) Write a poem that answers a question. You could choose to
begin with the
question, as in Whitman’s “A child said…” or imply the
question, leaving the
reader clues as to what you’re exploring.
g) OR feel free to do anything else that intrigues you! As long
as you hit the
minimum length requirement, there are no wrong answers in
poetry.
Feel free to play with formatting, line length, punctuation,
alliterations, sounds, etc: There
are NO specific formatting requirements for your poetry. If you
choose unusual
punctuation or editing conventions, you’ll want to make sure
that they serve a purpose in
your work: to enhance the emotions, to create a sense of
intentional confusion, etc. Your
work may be fictional, non-fiction, or some combination
thereof. (See length

3. requirements, on reverse).
As in the previous exercise, try to show us information about
the scene rather than
just telling what’s going on. For example, "I felt embarrassed"
is much less moving
than immersing your reader right in the details that show us how
embarrassed you
were—your sweaty palms, your face turning red, the kids
around you laughing, etc.
Help the reader see the scene as you see it and feel the emotions
you feel by using lots
of specifics.
As you move into the 2nd draft, keep in mind that poems, like
essays, will often have two
layers: One is the surface-level subject (e.g. a snowfall). The
other is the larger,
underlying idea: What is your essay really about? (e.g. change,
loneliness, etc). After
241/Ritt
we read your poems, we should have some hint towards or sense
of your overall
purpose: Why was this topic important for you to write about?

4. (Don’t tell us directly,
but we should be able to infer this or have a sense of it by the
end of your poem).
Assignment lengths:
-3 pages (double-spaced, unless you have short lines
and/or really strong
feelings about why it should be single-spaced)
o Submitted for feedback; graded for completion and creativity
(+10)
-3 revised pages (double-
spaced)
o Used in class during small workshop (+5 participation points).
-4 revised pages (double-spaced)
o Submitted for feedback and a grade (+30).
Bonus! Poetry Collaboration Project with Art 176 (Digital
Multimedia Design)
llaboration with Prof.
Shevchenko’s DMD students. We
will send them our poems, and they will have the challenge of
interpreting them

5. into works of text-based art.
—it’s neat!
And easy! Just email
your working draft to Prof. Ritt at [email protected] with the
subject line "poetry
project". Don't forget to include the title of your poem. (Don’t
forget to print a
regular copy to submit for a grade, as usual).
an interpret your
work—that’s the artist’s
job. Your job is to write a poem that is meaningful and
expressive (which you’re
already doing, anyway). They’ll figure out the rest.
print of the artist’s
interpretation of your poem! The cost is $6 per print (because of
the cost to the Art
Department for the special paper). Details about obtaining a
print will be given
later.