STUDENT POETRY IS

CORNY AND PAINFUL

Possible solutions for eliminating the personal and confessional tone

To begin...
In creative writing, we are often instructed to always
establish a speaker in a piece of writing. This is
speaker is not you, even if they feel and believe the
same things you do. They may even have the same
experiences that you have, but it can be productive to
have a healthy amount detachment from one's work.
Think Chaucer the character vs. Chaucer the author in
Canterbury Tales.

Why?
Overly sentimental poetry can be eyerollingly
contrived, and even young students can create
writing that is original. Once you've read one
grandma's cookies poem, you've read them all.
Wouldn't we be more interested in something
from this student's experience that is thought
provoking and new.

Yes,
Simple prompts are easy, and anyone can write
from them. And, sometimes we're just happy
that students are writing anything at all.
Write about a time you were scared
Write about the hands of someone you love
Write a poem about where you're from

But,
If we push students to detach even a little and write
using perspective, the results are often compelling.
Camera eye: Write a poem in which you imagine you are a
camera or a video. Report a story using only descriptions of
what the camera lens can see, or the microphone hears.
(ex: "He grabbed her forearm and her mouth opened and
she gave out a sharp cry.")
Choose a member of your family and write a poem in
which they apologize for an imagined incident.
Choose a villainous character and write a poem in which
they profess their love for something unexpected.

I detach using strict prompts.

Let's try it!

The Contrapuntal Subject

(Jam unlikely material together to create something
unexpected)
Make the following list in your notebook
1. Name three cartoon characters
2. Name three fictional villains
3. Name three every day activities
Your poem's title is:
[villain's name] and [cartoon character's name] are
[everyday activity]

1. Marvin the Martian, Starscream, Grumpy Bear

2. Xenomorph Queen, the Thing, the Terminator
3. Planning dinner for the week, choosing an outfit,
afternoon nap
Marvin the Martain and the Xenomorph Queen plan
dinner for the week.
Starscream and the Thing choose an outfit for a
Friday night out.
Grumpy Bear and the Terminator take an afternoon
nap.

The New York School

The New York School is the name for a group of poets
that all lived in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. The
most well-known members are Frank OHara, John
Ashberry, and Kenneth Koch. Their poems are actually
very different from one another, but many New York
School poems display a sort of conversational tone,
references to friends and to places in and around New
York, humor, inclusion of pop culture, and a sense of the
importance of art; visual, poetic, and otherwise.
(www.napowrimo.net)

Thom Donovan's NY School

Recipe

at least one addressee (to which you may or may not wish to
dedicate your poem)
use of specific place names and dates (time, day, month,
year)--especially the names of places in and around New
York City
prolific use of proper names
at least one reminiscence, aside, digression, or anecdote
one or more quotations, especially from things people have
said in conversation or through the media
a moment where you call into question at least one thing
you have said or proposed throughout your poem so far
something that sounds amazing even if it doesnt make any
sense to you
pop cultural references
consumer goods/services
mention of natural phenomena (in which natural
phenomena do not appear natural)
slang/colloquialism/vernacular/the word "fuck"
at least one celebrity

at least one question directed at the

addressee/imagined reader
reference to sex or use of sexual
innuendo
the words life and death
at least one exclamation/declaration
of love
references to fine art, theater, music,
or film
mention of genitals and body parts
food items
drug references (legal or illegal)
gossip
mention of sleep or dreaming
use of ironic overtones