Prompt 1—Imitation Poem

Using Ethridge Knight's "Belly Song,” write three stanzas that begin with the following refrain: "This poem is . . . "

You are welcome to use the line as a dedication (i.e. "This poem is for Erica Garner . . .") or as a metaphor (This poem is a match . . ."). But pay attention to the rhythm and the construction of the lines in the original poem and practice stretching out your own lines:

This poem
This poem
This poem / is /
a gray / hoodie /
a bag of candy / a boy
going somewhere / a boy going 
somewhere fast in February.

The three stanzas do not need to be connected, but keep in mind we are going to use them to build a collaborative poem in class.  There is no theme, but the original "Belly Song" has a tone. It's a poem about pain, love, celebration, and struggle. It's a poem about "feeling" in general. So write whatever you need to write about, but consider the tone. Don't make it silly. 

Prompt 2—Chant Poem

Write a 16-20 line chant poem using at least one refrain (you are welcome to use more) to establish repetition. You can use long or short lines and write about whatever you want, but make it musical. Stray away from forced rhymes and clichès, and read your poem out loud as you compose to hear what it sounds like off the page. There are no other formal or thematic rules. Just listen as you write and have fun with it.

Here is an example of a chant poem by William Evans and another by Galway Kinnell and yet another by Jayne Cortez.

OR

Write a 16-20 line poem using anaphora. This is very similar to a chant poem so don't get stuck on the "chant" and "anaphora" definitions.

Prompt 3—Blank Verse Poem (A variation of a prompt found in The Poet's Companion)

Write a 16-20 line poem in blank verse—unrhymed iambic pentameter. Before you begin read a lot of blank verse and listen for the iambic (ustressed/STRESSED) rhythm. You can start with Patricia Smith's "Incendiary Art" (page 9) and "Emmitt Till: Choose your own adventure (page 19). The Poet's Companion also suggests Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" and "Home Burial". If you don't understand "iambic pentameter," read up on it in The Poet's Companion (138-150). 

 
Prompt 4—Incendiary Art Poem

Write your own 16-20 line "Incendiary Art" poem using Patricia Smith's "Incendiary Art" poems as examples (there are seven poems entitled "Incendiary Art" in Smith's book you can draw from). You will need to do some research to come up with the historic moment you want to cover in your poem. The moment should be poignant since you are writing an "incendiary" poem. So challenge your readers with the subject matter. Finally, title your poem "Incendiary Art: [Place, Year] and begin your poem with an epigraph just below the title.  Again, see the example "Incendiary Art" poems for help. We will work on these poems for the duration of the semester and I will collect for a class anthology. You will receive one copy of the class anthology at the end of the semester. The draft is worth one writing prompt, but the final poem is worth 10% of your grade.

Prompt 5—Group Slam Preparation Poem

At this point you should know your slam group and have selected a theme and a refrain, and created a plan to draft your individual portion of the group poem. This prompt gives you the chance to work on the poem that you will contribute to the group this Friday when you put the larger poem together. Try to compose at least 16-20 lines and, as always, be prepared to hand a copy in at the end of class.

 
 
Prompt 6—Image Poem (from The Poet's Companion)

Write a 16-20 line poem using one of the following prompts from The Poet's Companion:

What images obsess you? What do you think about when you are daydreaming? What kinds of images do you find yourself returning to or seeking out for comfort? What object, person, place, picture could you look at for hours and not get bored? Look at one of your obsessive pictures and describe it intimately. Do it in prose, quickly; don't worry about making a poem yet. Then, contrast it with an image that you prepress continually, that you really fight with. Describe that second image just as closely. Once you've done that, try joining the two images; mingle them as Hummer does in his poem (page 92), and see what happens.

OR

Describe a pair of shoes in such a way that a reader will think about death. Do not mention death in the poem.

OR

Describe a painting or photograph (not an abstract one, but something that pictures people or objects) as though the scene is really happening; animate it with movement, speech, story. See Victoria Chang's "Edward Hopper's Office at Night."

Prompt 7—Witness Poem

What issues in the world concern you? Write a rant; be as rhetorical as you like, get up on your soapbox and scream. Once that's out of your system, you're ready to begin a poem. Explore a large issue--racism, sexism, violence, war, vanishing wildlife. Find out how and where that issue enters your life, intersects with it. Make it personal: the story in the newspaper on your kitchen table, next to the plate of eggs; the homeless person sitting next to the Coke machine outside the grocery store; a remembered incident from childhood. 

OR

The Poet James Merrill wrote, "we understand history through the family around the table." In what ways does your own family story overlap with the story of others--an ethnic group, a historical event, a social issue? Write a poem about someone in your family and how his or her story is related to history.

OR

What communities of people do you identify with and feel you belong to? Write a poem from the voice of this collective "we." talking about your troubles, your failings, celebrating your strengths.

Prompt 8—Memory Essay

Prep (we may do some of this in class): Think of a moment in your life that is important to you and list of inventory using sensory detail (sight, taste, touch, smell). Begin each sentence with "I remember . . . " When you are finished create another list and begin each sentence with "I do not remember . . ." Even though it may feel counterintuitive, continue to use sensory detail with your second list.

Prompt: When you are done creating your lists, write a 1-2 page essay that examines your memory of your event? How do the things you remember and do not remember work as a metaphor for your life story? You may find that using this exercise can get you back into the scenes and images you remember but never knew how to approach. You can write some very powerful essays based on this prompt, exploring material that seemed too dangerous to examine head-on.

Prompt 9—Scene Writing (From Tell it Slant)

To get a feel for writing scene, re-create an event that took place in the last week--one with characters you can delineate and dialgoue you can remember. It doesn't have to be important--it probably will help if it isn't. The point is simply to write two or three pages in which a location is established through description, people are characterized and talk, and something happens.
.

Prompt 10—Character Writing (from Tell it Slant)

Write a portrait or character sketch. Think of someone close to you and try to cove thier essence, through clothing, sound, dialogue, gestures, and so forth, in two or three paragraphs.

Prompt 11—Placing Characters in Scene (from Jewell Parker Rhodes' Free Within Ourselves)

Using a character created in class or in a  previous exercise, imagine a scene in which your character is responding to a specific event or person. Because you already know your character's history, appearance, and emotional life, you are much more likely to "breath life" into your character in a credible, consistent manner.

Write a two-page scene emphasizing your character's actions, reactions, thoughts, and speech. Do these aspects have to be created in equal measure? No. Sometimes, a character may not think but impusively respond. Speech can be limited during a blank heist or tender love scene. A prisoner, arms and legs chained, may only be capable of limited actions/reactions to a sentencing. However, characters will be more vivid if you use as many character-building techniques as you can.

Prompt 12—Changing Point of View

We canceled this prompt, but you can still do it if you need more work in the portfolio!!

Pick a scene that you have written this semester or one you plan to write and use in your short story. Write the scene in three different ways: first person point of view, second person point of view, and third person omniscient point of view. 

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