Chapter One
This chapter is the first chapter in The Minds Eye by Kevin Clark which is the book that I used as my textbook in this independent study. It goes in depth on how words can be used to paint pictures and very often mentioned the phrase “show don’t tell”, which is a very important point to remember when writing poetry. As this class is focused on poetry when I began to write these first few poems it was very hard for me to use concrete details. But with help from my teacher and finding that place from which these memories came I was able to create some memorable poems. I was tasked with writing poems for five of the seven prompts given me and these are the two that I decided to improve upon.
Christmas Dinner Final DraftIn my first draft I wrote as if everyone automatically knew what I was going to be talking about, and who was at the table, and I was very wrong. In order to fix this poem my teacher had me close my eyes and put myself back at the table, and had me describe everything I heard and she took notes. I struggled with concrete details again with this poem but when prompted I gave good concrete images which I then transferred to my poem. I thought about the personalities of the people at the table and realized how my family members are all very comfortable around one another and everyone was happy.
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Here is a picture of my sister and I on Christmas last December.
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Christmas Dinner First Draft
Every year my grandma hosts Christmas dinner for my mom’s side of the family. We all talk and play games, but my favorite part is and always has been, the food. In this prompt I was asked to imagine an exciting event that I had recently attended with my eyes closed and focus on sounds. I decided to write about my last Christmas dinner where all three of my brothers, my little sister, my mom and her brother’s wife and three daughters gathered around at my grandma’s dinning room table for a nice home cooked meal.
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Christmas Dinner First Draft | |
File Size: | 100 kb |
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My Papa Final DraftTo make changes to my first poem my teacher had me close my eyes and put myself back into the place I was in in my poem. She had me describe everything I saw, felt, heard, smelled, tasted, and we walked through that memory as if it had been happening right then. She took notes and gave them to me to look at. Like I said before I did not use any concrete details, but when I walked my teacher through the memory I used many concrete details which I then transferred into this poem.
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This is a picture of my Papa holding my older brother, Galen, and I and Galen decided it would be a good idea to get a sucker stuck in my hair :).
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My Papa First Draft
This poem is about my grandfather whom I loved very dearly and I miss more and more each day. He inspires me still even though he is no longer alive. The prompt for this poem was to write a poem about a scene so unusual and so vivid that I’d never forget it. Now granted this scene is not unusual, but it is the most vivid memory I have and I am not sure why. My Papa meant the world to me and every memory I have of him are so special to me and I really wanted to bring this one to life.
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Papa First Draft | |
File Size: | 52 kb |
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