this is to help we poem beginners. ..
i think we all can gain from this
...
if there is questions, suggestions or enquiries

aiyamrex@gmail.com

is available for mail
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good luck!

welcome to class!

LESSON 1
THE FIVE SENSES


first of all I would like to clarify what poetry is and isn't. Writing poetry is best described as a composition that uses literary techniques and is not prose. Writing Prose is best described as writing that uses ordinary speech or language, such as a story or letter. However, there is such a thing as prose poetry that does use poetic devices, but it is still written in journal, letter or paragraph or story form. Poetry is written with a certain poetic structure of line breaks and stanzas. We will get more into the structure of poetry later in the course. Now that we have that cleared up, let's forge ahead.

1. Before writing a poem you should have an idea of what you are going to write about. Capture your muse on paper before starting, and build around that as a central point. You should know if you want to give imagery to provoke the senses, the emotions, or both before all other things. Once you have that decided, every word becomes a brick in the wall until you have built a solid poem. The concrete use of the senses makes a poem come to life.

2. What do you want readers to feel?
Do you want to put them at ease, make them irritable, make them cry, confuse them, make them laugh, make them think, excite them, put them in a dreamy mood etc...? Figurative language controls not only emotions, but the five senses. Well placed figures of speech are the very essence of poetry! For example, the use of simile is a good way to bring in the senses without having to use them directly if the senses are not being used directly. An example of this is, 'the anger within her churned like a thunder storm rolling in." This is using the sense of sound, as well as imagery, to give a metaphor to how someone feels. It is giving a concrete use of a sense as a comparison to something more abstract.


3. Which senses will you need to focus on?
To get the emotional response you want, will you appeal to any or all of the reader's 5 senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch?

The five senses:
sight
touch
sound
taste
smell

We are going to use two of the senses for the assignment below: touch and sound.
Examples:
Touch -- She runs her fingers through the dog's coat,
as static electricity tingles her hand.

Sound -- Music floats from the meadow;
soft flute notes, carried by breezes ...

Notice that writing in the present tense makes the scene more real and vivid to the reader. Try to use tangible and concrete examples either through the use of the senses directly or through simile, which is comparing something to another thing.
In writing your poem, please be sure to show not tell, through the use of the senses. For example, you could write about how a rose smells, but never use the word 'rose', or, how something sounds without saying exactly what it is. You are showing the reader what something is through your describing of it through the senses in this lesson.

Goodluck!


ASSIGNMENT 1

write a new poem of 6 - 10 lines in any style using both touch and sound in a concrete way somewhere in the poem. Even though you will be focusing on touch and sound, don't forget to use some imagery to set the stage. Don't worry if you go a little over the line limit.
Please state after your poem what you have used for sound, touch and imagery. Remember to show, not tell what you are writing about and try to write in the present tense. Try not to use the words 'touch' or 'sound' directly in your write, but instead describe these senses.

SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENTS HERE
OR ON THE MAIL GIVEN ABOVE

THANKS FOR COMING

My Woman!!
When tears dropped from my eyes for my hustle,
Your calmly words made my heart rumble,
With hope and faith that wouldn't crumble.
Your hands on my shoulder like an anchor,
It keeps me steady and going as a rotor.
Your aura like Awelewa's,
You'd always be my Ewa ati Wura
Or even best
My Woman!!



For Sound I used 'calmly words'
For Touch -'hands on my shoulder'
Imagery- A Wife's importance

Vitalvector

this is a very nice piece. .. "when tears drop from my eyes..." good imagery
but you should have shown instead of saying

Thanks
Well Noted