week of 4/16/13

Thursday:

Goal: Think about how compression is used in poetry.

Thought. What's the link from freestyle/improvisation to poetry class? (from last time)

HW: Finish Compression activity if you need to (see below).

First Step: Free write. Write for five minutes on one of these topics. Keep the pen moving.

Options:

1. You're digging in your yard and find a fist-sized gold nugget. Describe what you do next.
2. Describe the last time your heart was broken.
3. Continue this story: A kid walks out of the bathroom with toilet paper dangling from his (or her) waistband...
4. Write about the most beautiful smile you ever saw.
5. DYT

Compression: Reducing the number of words involved in saying something. Being economical with language.

Look at the piece you just wrote. Go through it and cross out about half the words. See if you can end up with something that still makes sense. 



The Tallest Man on Earth plays "Lost My Shape"  (at 4:30)

You used to feel like a smoker
Shivering in the cold
Waiting outside the bar
Til the opener's over

But now you feel like a drinker
Twenty days off the sauce
Down at the liquor store
Trying to call your sponsor

You used to feel like the forest fire burning
But now you feel like a child
Throwing tantrums for your turn

You used to sound like a prophet
And everyone wanted to know
How you could tell the truth
Without losing that soft glow

But now you feel like a salesman
Closing another deal
Or some drunk ship captain
Raging after the white whale

You used to feel like the forest fire burning
But now you feel like a child
Throwing tantrums and then some

You used to feel like the prodigal returning
But now you hate what you've made
And you want to watch it burn

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/david-bazan/lost-my-shape-lyrics/#89FIajcO6u8x2QBt.99 




Compression Activity (Directions):

• Get a computer and go to 

http://www.authorama.com/

• Find a paragraph in one of the books that seems interesting rich with language. You could also find one on the internet, but it should be fictional. Dense is better.

• Copy/paste your paragraph onto your blog.

• Count the number of words it contains, including a, an, and the.  Write that number down next to your paragraph.
• Copy/paste your paragraph onto your blog again.

• Take two minutes.  Read through the language, reducing the total number of words by half by cutting out empty words, repetitions, weak phrases, connectors, etc.  Get to the “good stuff,” the language which interests, intrigues, and carries meaning for you. You might also mess with line breaks and make a poem out of it.

• Count the number of words in your new version.       Write that number down. 

• Copy/paste your new paragraph onto your blog again.
• Take two minutes more.  See if you can halve again the number of words, and still keep meaning somewhat intact.

Tuesday:

Goal: Continue linking hip-hop and other forms of poetry.


First Step: Finishing the Villanelles. Let's do it quickly and read a couple examples. 



Two more connections from hip-hop to other poetry: 


Improvisation and Compression.



Improvisation: Making something up on the spur of the moment.


Supernatural (Improvisation, but with rhythm and rhyme)

Mos Def (Same thing)



If time: These improv games. Let's appreciate how hard freestyle is.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4417666_one-three-word-_improvisation-_game.html (1 word three words)

http://www.ehow.com/video_4417669_word-association-_improvisation-_game.html?wa_vlsrc=continuous&pid=1&cp=1&wa_vrid=9dd2217e-cba0-4761-9f6a-2a08b0b4dbea (Word association)