2006 poets! (1 Viewer)

[shimmy&shine]

hello there. sorry, delayed response. my poetry is quite random and off the planet, i.e. shit. the idea is identity based around relationships in pretty simple terms. it's going nowhere! what about yours? is it going along smoothly??? xxx not long till it's all over!

hey feefa, sorry for this late reply (busy writing poetry!) I hope yours is going really well. it is about two months before it is due, and it feels so close, too close!

My major work is getting there... i have approximately 2500 words which i'm sure will grow as i renew my word count (yet again). There's been so many assessments around this time, but somehow i'm still alive breathing and writing.

I'm actually still formulating new ideas in my head to give my work more depth and i guess 'layers'. Although it isn't finished, not even close, i still have, i think, something solid enough to hand in.

My major work is on the life and cycles of the poet Sylvia Plath, which has been a great challenge, but i've had a lot of enjoyment. My class has recently begun 'telling the truth' elective for english, so my knowledge has another area to be applied to, not just my own poems.

By this time, i think constant construstive criticism is highly important, and thankfully both my eng ext 2 teachers are senior markers, so their feedback is important. Get your work read by a wide range of people, of course be careful to keep track of exactly who you are letting to view your work. I'm a bit hesitant to show my friends, even though they beg me, because it is still at a 'premature' stage.

Feefa, your ideas sound really interesting. Identity, is a complex concept to work with , and i'm sure it is really good, can't wait to show each other our major works!

I can't believe it is almost all over!

Where are all the other poets!?

 

[shimmy&shine]

I am also the only person at my school doing poetry. I can identify with your feelings;time is running out and it's so hard to pull everything together!

I'm at the 2600 word mark. I've read alot of steven Herricks stuff and alot of prose poetry, but I feel like I need to read alot more widely any suggestions??

also, the year before me did really well with their majorworks, because they added other levels, using allusions and intertextuality alot as well as experimenting with text types.

my majorwork is sort of conversational. I wanted the poems to be easy to read, so they are simple and unassuming. I found that that was how I write best. Maybe to find your voice you need to experiement more?? (I don't know here, just a thought). For me I found that when I just wrote things down without thinking too hard about it, I could find my voice (and my character's vioces) more easily.

hope it helps

hey katie! welcome to this forum..

It seems we are on the same level of time running out, but that there is still so much to do! But i know we are going to make it over the finish line happy, satisfied, and all the good things.

I'm around the same word count as you. Are you going to keep on writing, or just focus on editting? I'm doing both at the same time. The last poem of the suite, i am aiming for it to be a 'magnificent' poem (lol, i couldn't think of any other word, but i hope it'll turn out to be!), because i guess you want the marker to finish reading the piece on a high note (with hopefully, a smile on their face). But i haven't written it yet, but i do have the 'substances' to work with, so it is coming, slowly.

In regards to reading poetry, read widely, extensively, and make sure it is 'good' poetry, so the good stuff can rub off on you. I met Les Murray (the poet, of course) at Sydney Writers' Festival, and he gave me advice, to just read as much quality poetry you can get your hands on. On that note, i think anthologies would be helpful, as it gives a wide range of quality poetry, all in one book. My absolute favourite collection of poems is titled 'Staying Alive: unreal poems for real times'. It has fantastic poetry from awesome poets from Heaney to Hughes, Nowlan to Auden, and all the best!

I think 'experimenting' is a risk that'll either pay off really well, by giving the piece an edge, or be just plain bad. I plan to take a few risks, and give my suite an individuality, that'll hopefully give it a few more marks. But i'm going to be very careful! My main problem is that some of my poetry is quite estorica, and carries allusions that are too elusive, if that makes sense.

Anyways, yours sounds individual, being conversational, yet experimentive. Those parameters will give you a lot of space to do a lot of intersting things in.


I'm curious about people's major work titles...

 

[shimmy&shine]

I am doing poetry.. explaining certain issues withing three families..

I am shitting myself also. No one else in my school is doing poetry, there are five short stories and one speech. As far as I know Short Stories seem to be the popular option

der,

what types of issues?

Yeah, most people in my school doing ee2 are doing short stories and critical responses.

being the only one doing poetry is good that there isn't any competition, yet bad, because it'd be good to have another amateur poet read your work and get advice, and vice versa.

 

[666_blessings]

being the only one doing poetry is good that there isn't any competition, yet bad, because it'd be good to have another amateur poet read your work and get advice, and vice versa.

And that's what this forum is for.

 

[shimmy&shine]

And that's what this forum is for.

very true... but it's different talking to someone, criticising, explaining, acknowledging, discussing, debating, arguing, advising, exploring, complimenting, etc, when you are face to face.

 

[Katie :)]

I'm curious about people's major work titles...

I can't find mine yet.

I am really close to finishing, though I have culled about 600ish words. well not culled altogether, I might use them in a different way. I'm writing at the same time as editing; hoping to get to the 3000 word make by next weekend.

my biggest problem with the title is how to choose one that's not cliched. Any thoughts?

 

[666_blessings]

With most poetry major works, there'll be one poem that's the core of your major. You could give your major work the same title as that poem. Otherwise, something like 'EE2 markers are uber cool' is bound to score brownie points.

 

[shimmy&shine]

With most poetry major works, there'll be one poem that's the core of your major. You could give your major work the same title as that poem. Otherwise, something like 'EE2 markers are uber cool' is bound to score brownie points.

haha, i might try that technique. how about
"Please give me 50 / 50!"
but i really doubt I'm going to get that anyway.

Due dates nearly here! There are so many poems i still want to write, but then again, i still have poems that need drastic improvements.

exciting and terrifying!

 

[666_blessings]

Well I've got 3 (Out of 13) poems left to go and some other poems needing some trimming. Is this somewhat where I should be?

Those three poems you have left should be drafted (or at least outlined) by this stage. Don't worry if they're not, one month (?) is a lot of time to get everything done. And don't leave the reflection statement to the last minute, it's best to get that done at least a week beforehand and have your teacher check over it for typos and ambiguities.

Have fun!

 

[emily_lestrange]

what types of issues?

Yeah, most people in my school doing ee2 are doing short stories and critical responses.

being the only one doing poetry is good that there isn't any competition, yet bad, because it'd be good to have another amateur poet read your work and get advice, and vice versa.

The different families explore different concepts-
A content family exploring happiness
An Adoptive family exploring belonging, and discovery
A Violent family exploring incest, a new marriage, a death.

I would be happy to comment on your poetry and vice versa.. if you would like.

 

[666_blessings]

I have a very clear idea for the last one of those poems, however the two that I am struggling with are really just there to build up to the overall meaning of the ending, so therefore, require some meticulous planning.

Meticulous planning is always good. ^^. If you need any help with anything or just someone to bounce ideas off, send me an email or find me on msn (i'm online from abt 7 to 12 most nights). My email should be in my profile.

 

[shimmy&shine]

I would be happy to comment on your poetry and vice versa.. if you would like.

thanks emily.
Do you want to send each other a few poems?

Mine explores the life, works, cycles, ambiguities, pivotal moments, relationships etc of Plath.
I'm writing a suite of poems, in chronological order that reflects many facets of her life, that accumulates to an elegy at the end.

Not that my ideas and poems are that original or brilliant, but I'm hesitant to say much more.

I think motifs, and connectiveness that strings the poems (in a suite) together, are really important for good marks. I'm using the moon, roses, medusa, mother / Daddy, suicide, Hughes, journal entries, and so on.

Emily, your concepts of famlies, and different types of families sounds great. Wow, things like incest would be really challenging, but then again, I have to write about suicide, and try to write Plath with her multi-personality self. Argh, but when we finish it, it's a good feeling!

 

[shimmy&shine]

I have a very clear idea for the last one of those poems, however the two that I am struggling with are really just there to build up to the overall meaning of the ending, so therefore, require some meticulous planning.

Go Lottox! you can do it! If the last two poems are there to reinforce, and build up to the overall meaning, they are quite critical pieces. I mean, if all your poems, have been written to reflect a meaning, and the last two poem's jobs are to convey the overall thing of the ending, then you don't want to be lazy with them.

Still a lot of time left! Keep planning, and don't forget to keep writing.

yeah, the last poems of a collection or a suite have to be killers. because they are the ones that gives the final impact on the marker.

My suite of poems are ending with a line from Plath's last poem, which i think is quite effective.

"The moon has nothing to be sad about" Edge, Sylvia Plath

But, that line, lingering by itself in no proper context (like what I've just done) looks pathetic. lol. Let's just say, the Moon, is very very very imporant in my poems.

 

[shimmy&shine]

Reading the marking guidelines are really imporant.

For all people writing in free verse, be really careful, and know exactly what you are doing, lilke full control of rhythm, sounds, and techniques. Do they all cohere? Do they all enhance the poem's intended meaning?

Because, it was one of points in the 'weakness' of some major works. Like, you don't want the marker to think that you've employed that form of poetry, because it's, let's say, the easiest. And i've read that it's actually one of the hardest forms of poetry to write, because the supposed liberty that it gives the writer, is actually where the downfall for a lot of 'poets' is.

But with that said, i'm sure that all the poets here have full control of what they are doing.

Oh, and on another point, be careful with imagery. It's all about coherence (unless you want to portray something erratic). Why did you use it? Is it too abstract? Some critiques absolutely HATE abstract and too obscure poetry.

 

[shimmy&shine]

Oh, bad bad bad...
I've just been reading some old poems that i wrote ages ago. haha, they are so terrible that i just cringe. I deny ownership of them!!
I'll share them with you all, I've cut out the worst bits, and it just so happens that the poem shrunk to a few lines. lol.

how about this:

hand
a haunted house
of irresolute
candlelight
flickering uncertainty
and occupied

and this:

her core quavered
and held a
delicately flavored
resonance
accompanied by a
pacified tear
a pearl
that escaped
fell
down
and r o l l e d.


Not too bad, but bad enough to qualify for 'bad poetry'. Well that was what one of my ee2 teachers thought so when i showed her. i hope the 'bad poetry' hasn't rubbed off on you.
Tip: try to avoid all 'pearl' imagery, because no matter how hard you try to be clever with this imagery, it is still likely to come off as cliche. so be careful with that one. (from a senior ee2 hsc poetry marker)

Please share (what we should all avoid..)

 

[666_blessings]

Please share (what we should all avoid..)

Things to avoid: teen angst, pearl imagery, 'heart', abstractions like 'love', rose imagery (or any flower for that matter), the whole 'you're a dream come true' cliche, etc. etc.

There's a lot of stuff to avoid but you'll have to use a few of them because sometimes there's just no better way to get your point across. It only becomes an issue when your major work is packed with as much cliched stuff as a macca's burger is packed with fat (okay, maybe half as much as the fat content of a macca's burger).

 

[shimmy&shine]

hey! I HAVE to use rose imagery! It is a crucial part of my 'imagery & symbolism' techniques.
Anyway, Plath calls her two children "two roses" (and she won a Pultizer Prize for that collection).
Ted Hughes as well. His beautiful poem 'Red' (be prepared for an overdose of roses!)

...
Leaned over it, dripping roses,
Weeping roses, and more roses
...

I guess it's all about 'how' you do it, what meaning you are trying to convey, and if it 'fits' in well. I have two 5 lined poems called 'Roses I' & 'Roses II', thank you very much.

 

[bogen]

i write poetry and short storys, and theres no way in hell im crt C crt Ving them hear it would take to long, so i suggest you go to KMC and look up bogen.:wave:
other than that, live and let live.

 

[shimmy&shine]

My teen angst is like a pearl,
beating like a heart when
in love.
Like a red rose to say
"You're a dream come true"

How's that?

Brilliant! That's is sure to win a publishing deal. The well-controlled syntax, enjambment, ultilising all the free verse techniques with awareness, the accumulation of imagery that aims to intensify, and of course the genius personification of the 'red rose' brings painful clarity!
Well done! 10/10

 

[phatchance]

Now it is my turn;

Short dramatically paused statement!
followedsomewhatincoherentlyby -
rushed - yet -stut-t-tered statement;
alittle bit of alliteration builds the awesome base for blatant;
stealing of other peoples concepts

AND YET! hark, perhaps if I entwine my words;
with lengthy prose and maybe some,
soft sifted sleepy first;
followed by second rhyme scheme once;

or twice. I will have the formula -
THE FORMULA? the formula!
for repetition, downright despicable;
somewhat manic, always predictable;

boring, based on someone elses work;
extension II.

What do you guys think?