- Why does it matter that authors let us experience scenes like the humming of an engine or the slippery silk of a ballgown?
- What builds strong imagery?
- Do you think that poems are written in response to events in an author's life? Why?
- Which phrase sounds better- and why?
- and then the fish jumped out of the water.
- and then the scaled water-beast broke through the still surface of the pond.
Please refer to the following rules before completing your first post and responses:
- No name calling
- Be inquisitive, not contrary
- Do not use profanity or anything else in your writing you don't want the principal to read
- Please keep initial posts to 100-250 words, and responses to 50-100 words.
This is a test!
ReplyDeletePoetry is important because it evokes emotion and allows us to see words come alive on page. Authors do this to show us how the world is, was, and can be. Strong imagery is built off of strong words. The use of metaphors and similes and descriptive words are all important to poetry. I think that some poems are written in response to an author's life because some author's have a lot to say, but not all poetry is about an author's life. Most poetry is just to understand thoughts and how people think and see things. The phrase, " and then the scaled water-beast broke through the still surface of the pond" sounds better because it allows the reader to see an entirely different fish and the imagery is really prominent.
ReplyDeleteSenses in poetry are what make the words alive and bring the reader into the poem. Appealing to the different senses helps to connect the reader to a real experience that they can understand. Imagery brings these senses alive in so many different ways, personifying nature and creating visuals for the reader to imagine as they read. Strong imagery is colorful and descriptive and meaningful: "The dewy whisper of the trembling drops of morning precipitation dusted the soft stalks of summer grass in the field near the brazen rust-red barn. The air smelled of daffodils and the fresh dampness of a misty rainstorm as I breathed in deeply. I could hear the shuffle of the wind as it gently pushed the branches of the trees against one another, causing a shower of droplets to land with a drip to the forest floor." Here the image appeals to the senses and illustrates what the narrator is reading. In poetry, these images can be rhymed and repeated to add emphasis to their importance.
ReplyDeleteCarlie: I like what you said about strong imagery being built off strong words. Strong words can be unique adjectives and little-used vocabulary, but I think the verbs are some of the most important words you can use. The words you chose NOT to use are also really important--getting rid of all those useless, extra stuff really helps streamline the lines and get to the meat. Poetry is all meat.
ReplyDeletePoetry is important because it expresses things in ways no other written medium does. Because oftentimes the medium is half (or more) the meaning any given communication, this means that poetry can also express things that can't be expressed in any other way. I like the second sentence about fish better, but it sounds kind of weird, too. Sometimes people use way too many adjectives in an effort to describe things. It's better to use stronger verbs. Personally, I really like poetry about everyday things. Concrete descriptions fit in well with every day poetry. I like words like ditch, gravel, dust, grains, gritty, concrete, silos, corrugated, etc. These all fit with a certain type of scene, but concrete imagery builds strong poetry in any setting.
Poetry is meant to express. Whether it is expressing emotion, a scene, an idea, or the wonders of a tomato, poetry expresses something. A poet wishes his or her reader to to feel, see, experience, the same thing that the poet is feeling, seeing, experiencing. In order to achieve this, poets must employ words that provide vivid imagery, that allow the reader to be in the moment, to be in the poem with the poet.
ReplyDeleteI like to consider myself somewhat of a poet. When I write poems I wish to empart to my reader exacting what I'm thinking, seeing, feeling. Just a general idea isn't going to cut it. In order to reach this goal, I hunt around for that perfect word, the most precise sensory detail I can find.
"When wings such as these finally break,
The break is never clean.
Bone splinters,
Jagged edges rip through skin."
This is an example of a metaphor I used to describe the event of an emotional injury. Obviously the broken wings aren't literal, but it gets the point across quite nicely, if I do say so myself.