Notes from Feb. 17 Class

Personal Journal book ideas for writing:

• random ideas
• thankfulness pieces
• images
• similes
• centering
• metaphors (spilling over in rivulets of fire)

Definition of "enjambed" is when a poem continues in longer lines...Ellen Bass is known for enjambed poetry

When explaining difficult situations, usual of a personal nature, using the second person as narrator is effective (=you walk, you do, you see)

Effective way of starting a poem, essay, etc. is to use "Dear X:..."  not necessarily using the salutation, just using it as if you were writing to a person

Use opposite points of view to strengthen a story, juxtaposing the points of view to create tension

Use research to strengthen a story, give facts, show something interesting.  It could oppose the view of the writer, as well

Coda:

1. a concluding musical section that is formally distinct from the main structure
2. a concluding part of a literary or dramatic work

Look coda for when poems undergo a pronounced or invisible coda, or a repeated coda, ending sometimes on a fine point, or stepping back to give us a few last details

Use metaphors and images in writing; Leslie Jamison is great at this.  Examples of her good writing:

• I needed to look at him and see the opposite of my fear, not its echo
• when bad things happen to others, I imagined them happening to me.  I didn't know if this was empathy or theft
• empathy isn't just something that happens to us -- a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain -- it is also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves. It's made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse
• I believe in waking up in the middle of the night and packing our bags and leaving our worst selves for the better ones

Purchased EMPATHY EXAMS by Jamison today

Workshopping handout:

There are techniques to writing, just as in art or jewelry making, bird watching, singing, etc.