List Poems Lesson

1. List Poems Lesson AW #14 : Objectives To write from memory using "lists" models To gain confidence with writing poetry

2. Bird by Bird • Practices your writing muscles • Writing is hard work. • Know that there is pleasure in difficult work. • The way you make things is piece by piece, bird by bird.

3. Principles of List Poems • Repeating lines of phrases • Often long, almost prose-like lines • Have an iterative quality • Iteration means the act of repeating a process usually with the aim of approaching a desired goal or target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration," and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration. • A decent intro + complexity and detail

4. What Bugs Me • When my teacher tells me to write a poem tonight.When my mother tells me to clean up my room.When my sister practices her violin while I'm watching TV.When my father tells me to turn off the TV and do my homework.When my brother picks a fight with me and I have to go to bed early.When my teacher asks me to get up in front of the class and read the poem I wrote on the school bus this morning.

5. Examples • “Forms of Love” by Kim Addonizio • from "The Split" by Susan Wheeler • I Remember by Abigail Maskill

6. Elements that make a list poem a poem instead of just a list: • 1) The writer is telling you something--pointing something out--saying, "Look at this," or, "Think about this.“ • 2) There's a beginning and end to it, like in a story. • 3) The list is arranged with stylistic consistency and the words are arranged to create a parallel structure.

7. Assigned Write #14 • Start a fresh page in your WNB. Make sure it is NOT the back of another page on which you have written. • This will be private writing, no one else will read it. • Do NOT speak during this activity. Please. Just hold back. Talk to the paper. Let others have peace in which to write.

8. Write a poem: “I’ll never tell…” • Write a list poem for 8.5 minutes in which the first words of each line are “I’ll never tell.” • Don’t hold back; list your secrets; tell your truths; see what happens. • Again, please do not speak. Write. Keep writing. Don’t stop. Go back and choose better words when you think you are done. Keep being a poet.

9. Credit for AW 14 • If you wish to keep your poem private, fold your paper in half the long way to leave enough showing so that I can see you did this activity. I will give you credit. • You may decide to use this poem, or parts of it, as one of your 3 poems later. • You decide to keep or throw away this poem after I have given you credit.

10. List Poems Lesson, Day 2 AW #15

11. Listening by “pointing” • Start a fresh page in your WNB; label it AW 15. • As we read three more examples of list poems, listen by “pointing” with your pencil. • Jot down pieces of language that you are drawn to, as many as you can.

12. “My Friends and Enemies” by Carley Moore • “I remember”

13. “Gathering” what you noticed • What did you notice? • Notice the details • Notice the good use of sounds • Notice that poetic language arises from common, everyday speech • Notice how comparison vivifies language

14. “Gathering” discussion • One controlling thought or concept (remembering, telling, saying goodbye, a history of friends and enemies) • Specificity – adjectives, dialogue, details, imagery, proper nouns, very concrete, declarative statements, sometimes full sentences) • ADJECTIVES ARE THE ENGINES OF DESCRIPTIONS

15. Time to write! • Start a fresh page (still AW #15) • You will not have to share everything, but everyone will share a few things. • For 6.5 minutes, write an “I remember” poem. Every line starts with “I remember…”

16. Sharing • Look over what you wrote and select 3 items to share with the class. Put brackets around the three lines. • Ex: [I remember laughing until I hurt every time I talked to Sarah until I found out she wasn’t cool enough to be friends with.] • Rank the three in order of preference with 1’s being your favorite choice.

17. Spontaneous sharing • No disclaimer rule • Start with the 1’s; when it seems as if all the 1’s have been shared, start with the 2’s. • Silence is no big deal. • If more than one person starts, just wait and let one go. • Do not discuss. • Do not say anything about who should go at all. • Do not apologize. • Only the text from the poems should ring in the room. • Absolutely NO other talking.

18. More “gathering” • Often autobiographical • From memory • Something about the structure that is immediate • Shows more than tells • Often funny or poignant or both • Never bad