by Fitz | Feb 8, 2016 | The Crafted Word Blog
It is hard to imagine a more perfect weekend for memorizing your WW Fenn piece!
The class presentations will start on Thursday, [Monday for ninth grade] so please be ready. Those with shorter pieces will be asked to go first.
By now you should have posted your WW Fenn piece text and reflection on your blog. Add your Adobe Voice video to the post before tomorrow, if you can.
It is very easy to share your Adobe video. Share it first to Adobe. After it uploads to your site, you can view the video and get the embed code to enable you to post the video on your blog. Spend the time to recite the video as you hope you will in live performance.
There is nothing now that you are doign that I haven’t already done hundreds of times in my life. I’m not bragging; I’m just saying that I get what you are going through.
…and like the straits of Skylla: the only way out is through!
by Fitz | Feb 2, 2016 | The Crafted Word Blog
Iambic Dimeter
When you combine two iambic feet, (ba-booms) you can create poetry in iambic dimeter. These poems are relatively rare, but are extremely effective for a short observational poem.
NOTE: sometimes the rhythm is more ba-ba-boom [unstressed-unstressed stressed] This is called an anapaestic foot and can be used in place of a strict iambic beat. I have highlighted the anapaests in red.
For Example:
Dust of Snow
The way a crow (A)
Shook down on me (B)
The dust of snow (A)
From a hemlock tree (B)
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
~Robert Frost
Assignment:
Create your own two stanza iambic dimeter poem. Be sure to follow the abab rhyme scheme as in Frost’s poem
Title
ba-boom ba-boom (a)
ba-boom ba-boom (b)
ba-boom ba-boom (a)
ba-boom ba-boom (b)
ba-boom ba-boom (c)
ba-boom ba-boom (d)
ba-boom ba-boom (c)
ba-boom ba-boom (d)
Due Wednesday
by Fitz | Feb 1, 2016 | The Crafted Word Blog
I want you to choose your WW Fenn performance piece this week. We will begin the memorization and performance process immediately–and it is a multi-step process! Performance implies mastery, not simply memorization.
This contest originally started out as a poetry recitation contest. Over the years, the original rules have been bent and distorted to the point where it is sometimes hard to tell that it is supposed to be a celebration of “greatness” in literature, not a mimicking of a speech seen on TV or in a movie; not a silly comic piece or sing-songing children’s story, and not a shallow barrage of clever words set into a story.
I want you to have an experience that will live on in you and for you through as many years as you walk this earth; I want you to remember your words for the power that gives those words timelessness. I want to get back to the purity of the original source and lifeblood of the WW Fenn contest.
Guidelines:
- You may choose a poem, ballad, or a passage from a longer piece of classic or singularly great literature, which includes: novels, short stories, or essays; moreover, you may choose to recite a traditional myth or cultural story.
- The piece must be at least two minutes long and not more than four minutes.
Expectations:
- Find a piece and post the words on your blog with a Poetry Response Reflection about “why” you choose your piece.
- Learn a portion of your piece each night, so that you can practice more in class and receive the feedback you need to do the best you can.
Grading: 25 Points
- Your grade will be based on the quality of the piece you choose. 2 Points Due Thursday
- A WW Fenn Response Reflection: 5 Points Due Friday
- Daily Metacognitions of your progress. 3 points Post in the discussion thread. 100 words per post.
- Your performance in front of the class. This will be filmed. 5 Points Beginning Next week
- An Adobe Voice video of your piece posted on your blog. 5 Points Due Tuesday
- A personal narrative essay (video or written) you will write after your performance is completed. 5 Points TBA
Sources:
Poemminer.weebly.com
BalladMonger.weebly.com
TheCraftedWord.org
PoetrySlam.com
PoetryOutLoud.org
PoetryFoundation.org
PoetrySoup.com Great selection of ballads
Shakespeare Passages
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