Abstraction Ladder

READING: Best American Poetry (2008), pages 113-125.

The image below visually and linguistically outlines S.I. Hayakawa's Ladder of Abstraction and demonstrates what we mean when we speak of abstract and concrete language; I hope, to some extent, this will further clarify the issue for all of us. To see a larger version, please click the image:

02.07.11: UPDATE

READING: Best American Poetry (2008), pages 98-110.

WRITING: Continue on with our in-class assignment by completing the following steps: 1) create syntactically coherent connections between today's student line swaps, 2) extricate abstractions from your poems and replace them with concrete language, 3) insert three neologisms into the fabric of your poem, and 4) enjamb all but the final line of your poem.

REMINDER: As you can tell from comparing our progress in-class to that of the tentative syllabus, we are a bit behind. Workshops will, most likely, begin next week. This necessarily means that we will cut a week from on non-fiction section. This should not be too much a worry because many of the concepts we will address in the non-fiction portion of this class will be components of our fiction section as well.

02.02.11: UPDATE

READING: Best American Poetry (2008), pages 86-97.

WRITING: Finish smoothing out the syntax of the in-class stanza and write a corresponding second stanza. Also, prompt 12 on page 137 in The Poet's Companion.

REMINDER: No class this Friday.

02.01.11: UPDATE

READING: Best American Peotry (2008), pages 74-85.

WRITING: For tomorrow's class, please turn in your first revision packet. In this mini-portfolio, you will need a) the original version of each of the 3 poems you revised, b) any written comments or notes you have regarding my revision suggestions (which you should have, as I told you all to write them down during our conferences), and c) the new versions of each of the 3 poems. To receive full-credit on this assignment, all material must be present. Please collate your material in the following order: 1st new poem, 1st old poem, 2nd new poem, 2nd revised poem, 3rd new poem, 3rd old poem, and, finally, your written comments regarding my revision suggestions. Failure to present your material in this order and with proper headings and titles will result in loss of points. The packet will be worth 5 points; no late assignments accepted.

01.28.11: UPDATE

READING: The Poet's Companion, pages 129-134; Best American Poerty (2008), pages 64-73.

WRITING: In addition to working on the revision I recommended for three of your previously composed poems, please complete writing prompt 7 on page 136 in The Poet's Companion. When completing this assignment, use our Best American Poetry (2008) as your source text.