62 Writing Assignment: Last Poem
Directions
Write one of the following types of poems: ekphrastic, found, or list poem. You may write it in first-person point of view (I, me, my we, us, etc.) or third-person point of view (he, she, it, they, etc.) Here is a list of poem suggestions:
- Visit a local art museum and write an ekphrastic poem that is inspired by one of the pieces of artwork.
- Find a famous painting, sculpture, photograph online and write an ekphrastic poem about it.
- Read a chapter in a novel and write a found poem from an excerpt of it.
- Read a newspaper or journal article and write a found poem from an excerpt of it.
- Find a famous speech online and write a found poem from an excerpt of it.
- Write a list poem with the title “Things Found in…”
You get the idea, right? Brainstorm a list of your own ideas, a variation of one of the above, or use one of the above ideas.
Show Don’t Tell
Remember to use specific nouns and strong action verbs. Remember to use your senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Remember to include literary devices like assonance, consonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, meter, end-line stop, enjambment, caesura. Of course, poets use less words than fiction writers, too.
Line Breaks
Follow the traditional line breaks and format that most free-verse poets use. Mae the line breaks where there is punctuation, an end of a phrase, or the end of a sentence unless you are deliberating using enjambment.
Final Draft Instructions
Follow these instructions for typing the final draft:
- The poem must be typed in a Microsoft Word file (.docx)
- It must have one-inch margins, be single-spaced, and typed in a 12 pt. readable font like Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial.
- Don’t allow the auto-correct in Microsoft Word to capitalize the first line of each poem. Use conventional English rules to write your lines.
- In the upper left-hand corner of page 1, type your first and last name, the name of the class, the date the assignment is due, and the assignment name:
Jane Doe
ENGL 1465–Creative Writing
Due Date
Writing Assignment: Last Poem
- Be sure to give your poem a title. Do not bold, enlarge, or punctuate the title. Capitalize the first word and each important word in the title.