week of 4/2/13

Thursday:

Hip-Hop Continued:

Goal: Explore how hip-hop artists manipulate tone and mood. 

First Step: "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac

HW for Tuesday: 

1. Finish Found Poems/Drawings if you need to.

2. Attempt to write a piece while being conscious of tone. Name your poem after an adjective.

Hint: You might want to choose a song, poem, piece of fiction, speech, play etc. that has strong tone and attempt to mimic its tone in your own work. Or, DYT, but be conscious of how words, phrases, sounds, and rhythm influence tone. Post to your blog.

Themes:

• "dissing"
• poverty
• sex, especially male, heterosexual sex
• money, raising yourself from poverty
• sexism
• African-American, Latino issues
• dancing/partying
• gang/prison life
• machismo, bravado
• authority (cops)
• aggression
• racial tension
• rebellion
• pride in where you come from
• being the best (better than other rappers, for example)
• shock value
• drugs
• dialect
• originality
• borrowing from each other (oral tradition)

Tone discussion (5 volunteers):

Tone is the speaker's attitude--how the speaker in a poem comes across to us. A speaker's tone influences an audiences mood. That is the difference. 

• "What are you doing?" (Activity)

• How do hip-hop artists manipulate tone? Diction, phrasing, persona, sound devices, rhythm.

Hip-Hop "Found Poems": Work by yourself or with a partner.

1. Choose on of the songs I've printed, or print a one-page version of a song of your own. 

2. Read through the lyrics, attempting to pinpoint the words and phrases that influence tone the most. When you decide on which lyrics these are, highlight them by drawing a box around them.

3. When you've highlighted all the words you think you need to highlight, "cross out" the rest of the lyrics by making a drawing over the top of them. This drawing should reflect the tone of the song. 

4. Turn in by the end of class!

Examples:

Tone/Mood Found Poems (link to examples)

_________________________________________________

Lupe Fiasco's "The Instrumental." (lyrics)

"Instrumental" on Youtube

"Hip-Hop" by Mos Def lyrics

"Hip-hop" on Youtube

____________________________________________________________________________

4/2/13

Goal: Discussion about Culture

A word about the Haiku tournament. Hiding behind a computer makes bullying even more cowardly. 

What makes me the most frustrated is that, even though I spend inordinate amounts of time in here trying to make people feel comfortable, as soon as you got behind a computer or started talking through your phone you reverted to making fun of people who have chosen to take risks in this class. It makes me think you've heard nothing I've said in here.

Bullies called him porkchop...


1. Go to m.socrative.com on a laptop or smart phone.

or 

2. If you Googled it, now click on "Socrative Student"

3. Go to Room # 833685


Hip-Hop Intro:

Hip-Hop Poetry:

"Most people ignore poetry because most poetry ignores most people." --Adrian Mitchell

"Rap is an oral poetry."

"The beat is rap's beginning." (There would really be no rap music without beat or rhyme)

What are common themes in rap music?

Sugarhill Gang: "Rapper's Delight" (1979)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diiL9bqvalo&feature=related

Grandmaster Flash: "The Message" (1982)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

____________________________________

Extra stuff--don't read below unless you want to

1. Hip-hop tends to use heavy structure, rhythm, and rhyme. In other words, it does everything that scares most people about poetry.

2. Hip-hop tends to speak in code. In other words, it does the same thing that most people fear about poetry.

3.As happened with lots of "traditional" poetic forms, Hip-hop forms developed organically based on performances and sincere, honest writing.

---

Reading Poetry: Guidelines

1. Select a book. Don't worry too much about the choice. You can always put it back and get another one

2. Check out the cover, the back pages, the copyright date, and anything about the poet.

3. Begin reading. You might want to select individual poem titles, and you might want to begin at the beginning. Up to you.

4. Find three powerful poems or passages.

5. On a sheet of paper, write down the powerful passages. Reflect on each. Why are they powerful, confusing, reminiscent of an experience, though-provoking, etc? Writing and drawing are both fine--just be thoughtful.

6. Turn the reflection page in at the end of the reading period.

---

October 5, 2011

Chris Rene

Writing Activity. "Lil' Homie What You Trippin' on."

Verses and refrain--the repeated line. 

"Ain't nuthin' but a G Thang Baby..." (Snoop and Dre)

"I knew what I was feelin', but what was I thinkin'?" (Dierks Bentley)

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!" (Iron Maiden)

"Jump around!" (House of Pain)

Come up with at least 2 verses and a refrain that repeats, either before or after the verses or both.

Example (Yes, I know there are grammatical mistakes. "I spoke the King's English but got a rash on my lips....")

"Spare can rhyme like a rocket he's in the cockpit 

pullin' lyrics out his pocket his favorite topic

is rhymin' but he's too old to shop at Hot Topic

So please allow me to rock this, don't dis, resist, or reminisce.

Hey mama...

My teacher punked me; he sunk me.

I said the teacher punked me; he sunk me.

Spare can wreck a mic like Chicken of the Sea

his kids say please--and eat they peas, jeez

Dad by day MC by heart so if you start

to front he'll get the cart and haul you off for spare parts.

Hey mama...

My teacher punked me; he sunk me.

I said the teacher punked me; he sunk me."

Now try your own. Type it for homework. Remember: this is rap poetry. Rhyme and rhythm are paramount.

---

October 6, 2011

Workshop with our rap poetry. Remember--it's about the performance.

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

--watch the movie and complete the study guide, either today or bring it to class Monday.

week of 3/19

3/12/13


Goal: Haiku March Madness!


First Prize: A $5.75 Gift Card!

Second Prize: A "Take 5" Bar

Third/Fourth Prize: One-of-a-kind Photos!

HW: Catch up on whatever you need to catch

up on. Don 't wait on Infinitie Campus. Go to 

http://sparespoetry2013.blogspot.com/ and 

scroll through to figure out what you're 

missing.


And now for the main event:

1. I had to tweak the bracket a little so that it 

worked. Get ready . Your need at least 3 original 

Haikus!

Rules: 

1. One-on-one rounds. Everyone else votes on 

Socrative. Winner advances. 

2. Haikus must be original work. No stealing ideas 

or poems. 

3. Poems must be actual Haikus: Three lines, 5-7-5 

syllable structure. 

4. Everyone must play at least once! 


After the 3rd round, Haikus must be invented on the 

spot. (In 1 minute or less. You may write them 

down.)



To vote: 

1. Go to m.socrative.com on a laptop or smart phone. 

2. If you Googled it, now click on "Socrative Student"

3. Go to Room # 833685

4. Wait for me to start you off!


_______________________________________
Quote: 

"Everything we are is given to us."

---from Michael Lee's Poem "Pass On"

First Step: A couple of invective poems to share? 

Then...

"Pass On" by Michael Lee

and

"Repetition" by Phil Kaye.


Question: Techniques of repetition is used in both "Repetition" and in "Pass On."

With the person next to you. Identify a specific technique that is repetitive. What is the effect of this technique on the listener? Why is repetition effective in either or both of these poems?

Discuss with a partner and be ready to share.

Repetition Exercise: Start with an "ing" word

e.g. "burning"

Then, add a word to it

e.g. "book burning"

Continue adding words until you have a poem like this:

burning
book burning
old book burning
revered old book burning
etc.




HW: Repetition Poem. Post on your blog for Tuesday. 

Write a poem of at least 

20 lines that uses repetition in some way, as 

Phil Kaye’s and Micheal Lee's poems do. You 

could repeat a sound, a word, a phrase, an idea, a 

rhyme, a refrain, or something else. You could 

make a list. 



Use the repetition artfully. Don't overdo it.


Start the poem in one of the following 

two ways:


Option 1: "I lost..."

Option 2: "I found..."

TCAP week (3/14/13)

3/14/13

Papers due. Remember I needed a hard copy?

Goal: Vent a little. Learn about the tradition of the invective.

HW: Post your invective by next Tuesday, 3/19. 

Here’s an invective by Shakespeare: 

“A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, 

shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-

stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson, glass-

gazing, super-serviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting 

slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and 

art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, 

pander, and the son and heir to a mongrel bitch: one whom I

 will beat into clamorous whining if thou deni'st the least 

syllable of thy addition.” 

(from The Tragedy of King Lear, II.2)

Here's another one by Denver Poet Lalo Delgado (1931-2004)

stupid america, see that chicano

with a big knife

on his steady hand

he doesn't want to knife you

he wants to sit on the bench and carve christfigures

but you won't let him.

stupid america, hear that chicano

shouting curses on the street

he is a poet without paper and pencil

and since he cannot write

he will explode.

stupid america, remember that chicanito

flunking math and english

he is the picasso

of your western states

but he will die

with one thousand masterpieces

hanging only from his mind.

Now: Write your own! 

Now … who or what has made you angry? Has there been a 

memorable anger-inducing person or event in your life? Write 

an invective poem in which you give someone or something the 

proverbial “hell.” Consider both humor and fury. Stamp your 

metaphorical feet, shout in written language, and write your 

rage.

week of 3/5/13

Thursday:

Goal: Make some sense of these paper drafts.

HW: Revise and submit a paper copy of your essay by next class, which is Thursday, 3/14 at 1:25 during TCAP week. Don't forget!

First Step: Haiku Contest in honor of Kyle:

The topic: The perfect travel experience

You have three minutes. Be ready to share. 



Computers: Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease return computers neatly to their proper slots. (Number is on the bottom).

First Step: With the person next to you:

Help each other improve. Trade either paper drafts or computers. Help each other with the following

1. Did the author answer the question clearly with a specific argument and reasons?
2. Did the author stay organized? (Paragraphs, topic sentences, evidence, explanation, transitions?)
3. Are there any distracting errors in CUPS?
4. Are the comparison examples creative and sophisticated, or are they obvious? How could they improve?
5. Does the author write with honesty, courage and conviction, or are we going through the motions still? Don't be afraid to say, "This paper bores me, and you can fix it by...."

I will come and check drafts. People who have it posted or have a paper copy get a 5 for the draft. People who don't obviously need to get to work. 

You can still get some credit for a draft if you show it to me by Monday (Note: This means you need to make an effort to come find me or email me a draft.)

_____________________________________

Tuesday:

Goal: Consider the power of writing in your life. 

Guest Speaker in the Forum: Kyle Sutherland!