Zine Poem

​Poetic Forms handout; freewrites will explore these different forms
  1. Apostrophe to one of the social issues: An apostrophe is a type of poem which is a direct address either to an absent person or to an abstract or inanimate entity. The effects can be either highly formal or of a sudden emotional impulse. Read the model examples. Choose 1 issue / idea / quality / sub-idea and write to that thing as though it can hear you – so use second person ‘you’, personify it. Models: “Dirty Window”,  “Box of Rain” lyrics or audio, Ms. Sauvé’s journal. Read the model examples. Choose 1 issue / idea / quality / sub-idea and write to that thing as though it can hear you – so use second person ‘you’, personify it. Use issues from your WTF entry, or other lists we've made (12 Truths, etc)
  2. Elegy: An elegy is written to mourn for the loss of someone or something – it can be a person, a character, an idea, a thing, a dead celebrity – So choose something you are sad to see gone – for me it could be my dad, my youth, it could be chivalry or even properly fitting pants. It could also be something you have not lost, but would miss if you did. Again you can look at your lists of things you would fight for or know to be true and take one of those and imagine it was gone, then write for 10 minutes about how much you miss it and what exactly you miss about it. Examples are Pink's "Stupid Girls" video & lyrics and Alan Jackson's "Sissy's Song" video & lyrics. Don't forget to take this home a draft a poem. Try to write this like a story - see Paul Kelley's "Deeper Water" as well.​
  3. ​Confessional: This one is personal and deals with feelings experiences etc that have happened to you. Again you don’t have to be specific, but it does have to be personal and like you are telling a secret – think Emo music. Pick something – make a list if you have to – and then write for 10 minutes… it can be a fight, your opinion, about a parent like the model “Daddy” – something personal... Cold Play's "Fix You" video & lyrics. Taylor Swift "Back to December" video & lyrics.
  4. Allegory: This uses an extended metaphor to reveal two layers of meaning. Think about Animal Farm which is an allegory about the Russian revolution using animals on a farm to represent the various real people. It can resemble a fable and have a moral. Allegories can be political, satirical, personal, mythical, etc. as long as the imagery used is figurative and represents another layer of meaning. See these famous musical examples and what they're allegorical of. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" video and lyrics;  "American Pie" video and lyrics; "Hotel California" video and lyrics; "I used to love H.E.R." video and lyrics. 
​​Folk Ballad: examples include Simon & Garfunkel “The Boxer” and Poe's "Bridal Ballad" ​(aim for 16 lines minimum)
  • Trying to apply the rules: consistent quatrain stanzaic structure, rhyme scheme, and metric pattern  
  • See ​Sauvé's draft example
Villanelle is a 19 line fixed form poem which has a song-like quality to the pattern of repetition used. It has often been used to treat topics such as obsession, being an outsider, and pastoral or country life / nature. 
  • See the following examples: Sylvia Plath's "Mad Girl's Love Song"; See Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" and others here. 
  • ​​See Sauvé's draft example.
Roundel is a poetic form that circles around a subject and echoes the main point in a refrain.
​Sonnet - Decide between Shakespearean (English) or Petrarchan (Italian) - and draft a whole sonnet (14 lines in iambic pentameter)
Free Verse - Content creates the form. Even a single word can be a line. You have total free reign. Aim for 30 lines min.