The Challenge

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

This excercise is open to all students.

I have realize with the influx of new students that some may be interested in taking the writing course I'll be teaching. So, for all who would like the oppportunity to express themselves, complete the form below and drop off their entries at my office.

I must state that once you have finished the entry. Go through the editing process and make a final finished copy. But, I must stress that I would like both the original and all forms of edits, attached and in my box as soon as possible. If this proves too difficult, I'll be in my office this week from 1-3p.m.



Even though writing can come in many forms, I've chosen this assignment to assess every entry and gauge the level the class will perform. Your responses do not have to follow the format exactly, but only as a guide to inspire.

Follow the instructions and ask any questions if you are unsure.

1. Begin the poem with a metaphor.
2. Say something specific but utterly preposterous.
3. Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in succession or scattered.
4 Use one example of synesthesia (mixing the senses).
5. Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a place.
6. Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.
7. Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.
8. Use a word (slang?) you've never seen in a poem.
9. Use an example of false cause-effect logic.
10. Use a piece of "talk" you've actually heard (preferably in a dialect and/or which you don't understand).
11. Create a metaphor using the following construction: "The (adjective)(concrete noun) of (abstract noun)... (i.e. "The dullness of sex and meanness scribbled all over my thoughts...")
12. Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities. (i.e. "We were as happy as headstones...")
13. Make the persona or character in the poem do something he/she could not do in "real life." (i.e. "We fell through the sidewalk and changed colors at night.")
14. Refer to yourself by nickname and in third person.
15. Write in the future tense, such that part of the poem seems to be a prediction.
16. Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.
17. Make a declarative assertation that sounds convincing but that finally makes no sense.
18. Use a phrase from a language other than English.
19. Make a nonhuman object say or do something human (personification).
20. Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement, but that "echoes" an image from an earlier poem.

This piece contains adult themes. Young children---Please Stay Away.



This is an quick example to use to help complete the assignment:

Inside A Blue Devil Hall

The dark in this hall looms over us
like a heavy man over his dinner plate,
and Michel looks to me for sustenance.
His eyes speak of consolation,
but his double-edge tongue cuts
through my skin.
He leans over and kisses me,
his salt-lick skin smelling like
Old Spice and stale chips.
Why does he clutch onto me
like a bird over a limb?
I am his statue.
My head swoons the way trees smell at sunset,
swooning the way Memphis Blues sway
to that hidden beat, that same beat
that can make anyone’s head dance,
but my head swirls in a haze of smoke.
Memphis has lost its rhythm.
We are lost inside this blue devil hall,
moving to an inner rhythm.
Yet Billie plays in the background,
"Southern trees bear strange fruit
blood on the leaves
blood at the root
black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees."
The broken stump of my ficticious relationship
has been lost in these catacombs,
but Michel manages to fall through
the world, escaping it all,
traveling from England to New York in my mind,
taking this jazz hall wearily in tow.
“I will be back for dinner,” his eyes promise.
But the careful disco ball moon leans forward
through the glistening skylight
and says softly, “he lies often.”
In order to go I must see
where I’m going.
Je pense de la mer quelquefois…
Leaving the flurry of the blue devil hall,
we head home through the clouds,
moving in along the ocean
leaving the night alone with only
black stars to pepper the sky.



I cannot wait to see everyone's work. And I believe with everyone's help, this class should be an experience for all.

Comments

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

Yes, Rahne. Following them in order is a main requiste,but combining them is no problem.

[x-rahne.livejournal.com]

*bites lip*

Then may we do some of them more than once?

...Never mind. I'll throw away this part.

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

Sweetheart, don't throw them away.

This is all about the writing and the editing process. Whatever comes from you through this excercise is your work and therefore important.

Again, keep everything. If anything, it'll help show your progression as you grow as a writer.