Questions

I read this book in elementary school….it was like 1999-2000.It was a fictional book about a boy who works at The Globe theatre and see’s William Shakespeare…but Shakespeare is not the main character.The cover has Shakespeare on the front…and I think it included his name in the title.Any help would be appreciated!Thanks
That’s it!Thanks:)
- the_ensnarer12

ntroduction

 

The idea for doing this book came from teaching inner-city students in Newark, New Jersey, and realizing from that experience that poetry—its writing and reading—is a great medium for not just self-expression, but for recognizing and giving vent to the turbulent frustration, anger and hurt that children and teenagers endure in the growing-up process. Growing up poor and disadvantaged just intensifies those feelings.

 

For the inexperienced, this book should be a motivating introduction to poetry for all children and teens.

 

Being asked to write a poem can be a frightening challenge but, really, it’s not as hard as you think. The first thing to keep in mind is that we can ALL write poems. Remember no one’s asking you to be a Shakespeare, Walt Whitman or Robert Frost. The great thing about creative writing—not just poetry—is that there are no hard and fast rules. Well, in a way, there are—but not what you think. How to Write a Poem If it’s an assignment and you’re given the subject of the poem, take a pen and paper in hand and free-associate on the topic. Just write down everything that comes to mind, as diverse, dispersed or silly as it may seem. Once you have your list, keeping it in eye range, begin to put one line after the other on the page.

 

Don’t worry about grammar or other writing mechanics. Just get it down on paper. When something inside you says you’re finished, put it aside and don’t look at it for a while. Then go back to it with fresh eyes. Now is the time to start looking at the poem’s rhythm. It has to have a rhythm—like music. It has to have a flow and life of itself. Just like you wouldn’t like to listen to “wooden” music that doesn’t resonate with life, so your poem must have a life of its own.

 

It has to have a life that jumps off the page. To get the rhythm in the poem, eliminate all absolutely necessary words like prepositions, helping verbs, articles. Keep cleaning it up. Substitute words with the same meaning that better enhance the rhythm. If your poem is rhyming, use a thesaurus. If you are just going to write a poem on any topic, often a scene, a feeling that comes over you, an overheard conversation, a crisis in your life, inner turmoil, or just about anything, can stir something inside you to begin a poem.

 

Remember, that your poem mustn’t EXPLAIN, it should just BE.

 

Now shut your head off and write!

Forward to Dawn of New Discovery and “How to Write a Poem” by Jane Statlander, Ph.D., Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida and Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, NJ
- John Scott

media?, its for my exam tomorrow and its the main question so please help
- Mitchell B

As a language and literature teacher, it has always been my main concern to translate relevant theory into the classroom. And I have felt, at times, bombarded by the various approaches suggested to that end. In this series of articles, I will help you select the kind of material that will make your practice enjoyable both for yourself and, most importantly, for your students. Furthermore, since the choice of materials is of paramount importance, I will provide you with a selected bibliography, most of which I have been using for a long time, and some which I have become acquainted with – and enjoyed – in my recent studies in curriculum design.

I will start by focusing on a question Tricia Hedge asks in her delightful work Writing. Why is it that for large numbers of English language students writing seems to pose great problems? According to Hedge, it is … (possibly) for the same reasons that large numbers of adult native speakers never achieve a high level of expressiveness in writing their first language. It is partly to do with the nature of writing itself. If we asume that the last sentence refers to the solitary nature of writing, the inability to converse with the reader, we must heartily agree with the statement. But a writer never writes in a vacuum, a writer is influenced by internal and external circumstances, such as having had a row with with a relative, or suffering from a head cold, to mention only two items from a long list! Certainly, the most influential factor affecting you, the (would-be) writer, is seeing yourself as a writer. This is probably because we associate the job of writing with the great minds (Shakespeare, Borges, Hemingway, you name the author), so it is of course difficult to imagine that what you write may be worthwhile, may capture the attention of a reader. Because, as readers, we try above all to feel, not to analyse. Likewise, when we write we are not aware of the literary elements we are using, all this is for the literary critic to detect. When we write we do so out of feeling, out of some impulse, out of some idea we wish to express. So, when the reader reads, their first experience is the impact of emotion, to move later on to intellect, in an act of ‘intense narrative abstraction.

So your first task when attempting to write would be what we might call ‘getting the cops off your back’, i. e., getting rid of the voices you hear inside yourself, telling you, ‘Now, look who can write!’And how do you accomplish such a difficult task? Simply by taking a slip of paper and writing down the name of the person who is holding you back from writing: it could be a (former) teacher, a friend, a spouse, even yourself! If there is more than one voice pestering you, write their names on separate slips of paper, put them in an envelope and take it out of the room where you are writing. This is the first exercise I ask my language and literature students to do when we embark on a writing project, and I guarantee it works wonders! Incidentally, when I enquire about the name(s) they have wrapped up, it is always my name that comes up on top of the list. What worries them is what I might think about their attempts at writing, they have confessed to being afraid of disappointing me. And I always tell them a writer is not supposed to please anyone but him/herself. If you write, say, a short story to please your literature teacher, it will most probably make a poor read, and you will attain an undesired end, i. e., boring your teacher to death! Why? Simply because your story will be empty of the passion mentioned above; it will be a wishy-washy piece of writing that will not involve anyone, will not knock anyone off the chair.

Take a few seconds to reflect upon a story that (has) had this effect on you. I am certain that you will agree with what Mark, Josephine and Esther Harris say in their inspiring book. ‘We love the sound of a good story, its rhythms, its excellent phrases, the very words themselves. Maybe we can never know precisely what the story is “about.” It just is.It sounds. This, too, is what the writer may have felt: it sounded right. If you asked me which story I would select, I would answer What a Thought,by Shirley Jackson some years ago, and at this moment of my life anything written by Tolkien (but I find some of Tolkien’s critics unreadable!). With this I mean to say that it is very difficult to answer certain questions as Which are the best stories you have read?, because both reader and writer are part of the process, and the reader does not exist in a vacuum, either. I would also like to make another point here. Although the stories I selected were written by great minds, do not worry if yours were not. You can include the Harry Potter series if you like! We should never be ashamed of our literary affections, and always avoid rigid categories and ranks; ‘consensus is not the goal of literature.

Now that you have taken the cops off your back, you are ready to start. So the question at this point is,’What do I write about?’ It all depends on the writer; some prefer writing about what they know, some about topics they are not familiar with, in order to expand their horizons. When I wrote my first (published) story, I did it to enter a contest, which I later won,to my surprise. Why was it surprising? Because on that occasion I wrote about people I know, and I did not expect the jury to be interested in a confession on paper. But there you are again, I suppose the decision was based on two criteria: ( a) it must have engaged them emotionally, some of them must have shared my feelings; (b) it was reasonably well-written; after all, I do teach people to write! Remember, they were not ordinary readers like you and me, they were also supposed to pass judgement.

Why is it that reading is frequently mentioned alongside with writing? They go hand in hand because you need to be a good reader if you want to write well. Just as young children learn by emulating the behaviour of significant people in their lives, we learn to write by being exposed to the writings of significant authors in our lives. I should stress the word significant here, as I never read what is not significant to me. That is the reason why I never expect my literature students to enjoy all of my literature syllabus, but I encourage them to make their own selection, which is subject to availabilty of materials when one lives on an island! In my next article I will provide you with some strategies to become an effective reader, as well as with some ideas to start a writer’s workshop, which might be useful to introduce you and your students to different forms of writing.

At this point I should mention two other elements a (prospective) writer needs; one is easy to get, the other might be somewhat harder if you are a busy adult. You will then need: (a) a notebook, which in my case is small enough to carry in my pocket; what do I scribble there? Notes about interesting people and situations I observe around me, possible titles for my stories, and sentences or phrases I overhear. And (b) time.Time to record ideas as they come to you, time to plan, time to write and to rewrite. Time, that is, for the sustained effort and craftsmanship that are essential in writing well. But finding the time to write is possible if you learn to organise your daily schedule and leave no more – and no less – than forty minutes per day to write. That is all that is needed provided you do not have to meet a deadline and you are behind! So, let nobody persuade you that writing is an impossible task; what you should always bear in mind is that it is learned by writing, rewriting, and by perceiving yourself as a writer.


- Praveen Kumarii

1.Which character in a novel or any literary work of art, do you admire the most and would wish to be your friend? Why?

2. Which character in a novel or any literary work of art, do you detest the most and would not wish to befriend? Why?

Mine:
My most attractive: Portia - modest, decent, perceptive and jocular too. . . .Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice

My most unattractive:Chichikov - Devious, slimy, and heartless in marketing souls of the dead. . . .Nikolai Gogol - Dead Souls.

*Realistic characters not Snow White and the Forty Thieves.
- ari-pup

For example: Romeo & Juliet is one, because both of them die in the play. But I need all the plays with the character’s name in the title die.
- D.S.O-A.T.L P.R.I.D.E-!

Poetry is the mastery of words in all their variations and subtleies to express in an eloquent manner that which cannot be expressed in silence. Emotions of the heart, a looking glass into the soul, a way to make amends, and a way to build vistas exploring humanity and all it’s relationships. Poetry is all this an much more. Poetry is also much less, and in a more simplified manner, it is only words. Just words. But used in such a way, as to make us think and feel about others, events and things in a way we could never have imagined. Poetry cleanses, fortifies and inspiries the reader, while at the same time fuels the creative passions and allows for cathartic emotional release on the part of the writer. Poetry is powerful, poetry is petty, poetry is loving, and poetry is hateful. But above all, poetry is human, it is a reflection of of the human experience in all it’s glory and all it’s shame. But, it’s something else as well. It’s words.

It’s Only Words

Words are what define the internet. It’s not technology, it’s not servers, it’s not protocols, it’s not browser wars. The internet is made up of words. And words are poetry. So, is the internet poetry? In a sense yes. Sure it’s pictures to, but words were there long before there were pictures. An internet of pictures would be pretty, but it wouldn’t be poetry. It would be thousands of words yes, but what would it say? Words are a business now online. We bid on words, we sell words and information. We sell poetry. Entire industries have sprung up based solely on words. Google is in the word business, as is Yahoo, and MSN. But, these guys are no poets, and long before them their were others in the business of words.

Words Are All I Have

For generations, authors and poets have been in the business of words. For that matter musicians were to. Music is really just poetry with a beat. And these guys and girls have never really prospered from a financial perspective. Oh sure, a few like Shakespeare and Stephen King did pretty well. But just being the tip of the ice cube, there were countless thousands of creative literary genuises languashing in poverty. Starving artists include poets, writters, and musicians. But hey, it’s a new day, and all that can change. The internet has open the door for artists of all inkling to support themselves with their passions of calling. Few have taken up the guantlet though. Perhaps, for poets and the like, suffering for their art is core to their being. A cruel but inspiritional muse. Dosen’t have to be that way though. It’s time for the poets to embrace the world wide web, and voice their words to the masses. The internet is about words, and words are about poetry. Arise poets, your time has come. Write you poetic fools, write.


- Chris Campbell

For example, in Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the main character’s name is Macbeth. I think I’ve heard of this word before but I can’t seem to remember it…
- Jeremy J

Im looking for new and creative ways that are more exciting that dressing up as shakespeare himself because that has been overdone. To all you creative people out there please help me.
- monoman

I’ve always liked poetry, but never had any kind of formal education beyond the usual grade school and Shakespeare stuff.
Are there any books you would suggest reading to learn more about poetry and how to write it?
- Kumara