By Clarence Duncan
I’m not sure about grades 5-7, but the 8th grade is currently wrapping up one of the most frustrating and fun times of the year. POEM SEASON!!!!! …., anyway throughout my years doing these poems I’ve noticed a few loopholes and tricks that helped me get through the literary flaming hoops of English class.
Disclaimer: Because there are different types of poems not all of these hints help with every type of poem, please consider using only the information that applies to your poem needs. Also keep in mind that everyone works differently, the tips that work for me and the people I’ve helped might not work for you exactly. But feel free to tweak any facts for your own personal use.
4. An Emotional Mind Leads to an Emotional Poem:
Poetry is a complex art form, and like most other art forms it shows small traces of the creators essence to its observer. Basically, your English teacher will be able to tell almost immediately whether you did your poem in the lunch period before class or at home. The best way around this is to change your mood to reflect the mood your looking to convey to your audience. Play some sad music, or turn up the jams and get hype, think of your worst fear, or a loved one, just do whatever you can to put as much emotion in your poem as possible (think: emotion water balloon). I can guarantee you that your target audience will appreciate a moving poem much more than a dull one.
3. Avoid Direct Narration:
Y’know what’s worse than a poem with a bad theme, one with a good theme and horrible narration. No matter how creative you are, if your poem is telling a story and it reads out as a list of actions your audience will get bored. Instead of repeatedly attacking your reader with information, smoothly give it to them with a more indirect tone. The best way to avoid this is to keep pronouns like “he”, “she”, and “it” away from each other, as they bring a plain and informative atmosphere. If you don’t get what I’m getting at check the examples below, the first one has direct narration and the second has indirect…
Ex 1:
Why did it have to end like this
She told him “it’s over”
He started to cry
She looked him over and scoffed
He stopped crying and became angry
Ex 2:
Why did it have to end like this
“It’s over”, words seemed to slipped from her lips
Two male eyes glistened from the moisture of their sorrow
Her quick scan of him was followed by a quick dismissal
His sadness violently transformed into a frenzy of rage
2. Don’t Think About Ideas Too Much
As you progress more and more into poetry, you will begin to be challenged with increasingly more difficult prompts. Many students find themselves spending hours thinking of good ideas to fit these when the answer is right I front of their faces. The problem is that people tend to think about their poems meaning without realizing that the meaning of their poem is conveyed mostly through the writing. Your poem could be about anything from tacos to taxes and it won’t matter as long as it’s good (unless you are only allowed to write about tacos), I challenge you to write it about the literal first thing you think of.
1. Be a Friend to the Rhyme
Those of you who are in Mr. Byrne’s class may be familiar with his catchphrase “don’t be a slave to the rhyme”, meaning that one should not detriment the meaning of their poem just to add a word that rhymes. Though this is a valid point by itself, he forgets to add that the rhyme and story should be the same thing. Instead of thinking wording for your story and trying to find a synonym that rhymes, it is best to let your rhyme scheme lead you through your story line by line. In the end your story may not have ended the way you wanted it to, but the unexpected twist brought about by desperation for words only adds to the fun (just make sure the poem makes sense).
By: Clarence Duncan
Photo Credit: freedisignfile.com