I'm not at home at the moment, and my notes and everything I don't have with me, so I can't give you the best answers. not yet... but soon.
Otherwise, Tilly, I was also the only girl doing poetry out of around 40 students. Mostly did critical response and short stories. So i ended up discussing a few things with students on this board. Thankfully i had excellent and reliable teachers who had poetry marker friends, for example, who could really answer all my questions and help me out.
I also have an email of an hsc ee2 poetry marker, I forgotten his email, but it's on my home pc (and I'm not at home) so i don't have it. His last name is sawyer, and I think he'd be happy to answer any serious questions. If you want it just in case, pm me and I'll give it to you as soon as i can. If you have a quesiton, make sure you ask the right people.
Also, don't worry too much about having a strict theme or concept yet. It will develop and continue to be reshaped. Just have an area of interest and read widely. DOn't let it get to you now. I say, survive your first lot of exams, then you have the whole summer holidays to really finalise (if you want to do it that early) your topic. That said, always read. REad the newspaper, literary magazine. Go to literary events. I highly recommend you attend one set of creativ writing classes. it does not necessarily have to be poetry writing classes.
haha, rissie, what are your main ideas you've formulated so far? Which areas?
darl, by this stage i was like "i love dressmaking" so I was gonna draw parallels with the art of writing with the art of dressmaking. Here is a bit of my proposal draft (and no one dare copy this, becaus eI'm sure many markers will read posts on this site. That's just an obvious warning.) but feel free to draw inspiraton and ideas, of your own construction.
Statement of Intention
· I endeavour to compose a series of poems.
o Channels a metaphorical conception, with an underlying comment on the art of writing, throughout the poem.
o The poems are cohered by a single motif: dressmaking, or more specifically, the process and construction of making a garment.
o Integrating Textile & Design’s elements and principles, and techniques of construction.
o The garment is to be haute couture; a piece of fine art, exquisite, rare and delicate. Just like classic writing. (Further research into which type of writing I am attempting to describe.)
o *Maybe metafiction? Reflective within the text, comments from the author (me), corresponding ideas?
o Working title?
o *Maybe incorporate feminism? Dressmaking is regarded by society as a feminine activity.
o I envisage it to be innovative, original and highly creative, through its intertwinement of the discipline of poetry, the precision of haute couture dressmaking, ultimately delivering a comment on the art of writing. (The parallels of the art in poetry, dressmaking and writing.)
There will be three main divisions in the piece. Each section is in an order specific to the process of textiles and design. For example, one- design, two- prototype, three- construction. Or, I can make the construction the focal point, and concentrate on the particulars.
ASsyou can see, in the end, i did nothing of the sort. I ended up writing about Sylvia Plath. But what I'm trying to show is that, draw on your interests and hobbies. Soemthing you won't be bored on researching for months and months.
tillytille said:
Thanks guys : ) I've had a bit of a look through this year's Poetry stuff, it looks like it's gunna be a fun/stressful/challenging/rewarding time. I kind of need to put it all together somehow though, I'd like to incorporate an existing work or something, not with the content but even just a structural thing to kind of add another dimension into it, y'know?
Shimmy&shine I read that you did Plath this year, did you find that that made it easier to hold everything together?
Yes i did. They key is to visualise the structure and order of your poems. It won't be definitive, but it'll help to kick it off the ground. From my experience, I chose to write Moon poems, that worked to premable each new stage of Plath's life. I interspersed in order 9 Moon poems, that at once created the structure. Thenext step was to write the other poems and slot them in.
I wrote a bit about this in another thread. I drew examples from a lot of different poetry major works. I don't want to repeat myself (I've already written a monstrous post, lol) so you'll have to find it in another thread.
I can't stress the importance of structure enough. It gives the reader something to work with, something to feel solid about. I suggest you read all the showcase major works, and identify their structure.
lottoX said:
Remember to take advantage of the form and power of poetry.
That's pretty much all I can think of right now. Just remember to emphasise and use the aspects of poetry which make it so powerful.
Yeah, way to be specific, huh?
you are very correct. take advantage of the form. I don't think you can get away with consistent clever use of alliteration in prose as you can in poetry. But don't over do it. Don't over do any technique. Avoid having the marker go 'omg way too much consonance'. What I mean by this is, if you have done your research into the FORM (so very important, and must mention it in ytour reflection statement) you will not make these mistakes. Poets don't overuse techniques. They use them apporpraitely and to their advantage. I'll expand on this later, but keep this in mind.
Also practice. One can practice poetry. ALthough, I must admit, the abiltity to write quality poetry is innate, so don't fool yourselves, you have to pursue constructive criticism. Personally, whenever someone said 'perfect, i lvoe it', i was really dissappointed. All i wanted to hear was 'what's this? fix this. This doesn't work. I hate this'. I liked and enjoyed working with all sorts of opinions.
dreamer7 said:
Gah! I've only been in the class for a month and already the major work is taking over my life. Every spare moment I find myself thinking, "would this be a good idea?", "what if I change it to this?"
haha, i was like that to.
tillytilly said:
I had my first real meeting with the teacher over it today. I've got a question- what EXACTLY is the differentiation between Journal and 'Workbook'- is the Journal meant to be purely reflective like in History Extension? How much research can you put into the Journal?
I have a perfect sheet of paper to answer this quesotin but it's at home. But i will say, I put everything. Even the program i bought when i went to a Plath stage production. I put EVERYTHING in it. It was so fat. lol. I had four journals. On was a small black diary which i carried everywhere around. So i can quickly jot my ideas around and put snippets of newspaper articles, etc in there. My second was the booklet of plastic sleeves. I put most of my drafts in their. Even horrendous poetry, just so the marker could see that i have developed my poetry throughotu the year. My third was a big VA Diary. huge. I would rant in their about everything. convo's with teachers, my frustrations, my joy, my anger, any disputes any queries answered. anything and everything. My teacher, after she read it she said "omg, it's like your actually talking to me, yabbering on. it is acutally funny, you talk about everything." My fourth was a humoungous, but thin, Va diary. This was like 70cm by 50 cm or something. THis is where i did my big layouts and talked about individual poems. I focussed on the acutal poems here, whilst the other diary was more about the research process.
*Take note these are all my personal opinions derived from personal experiences. But i hope it helps!
*lol, it looks like i'm obsessed. nah, I'm just happy to help, it was my favouraite course so i don't mind talking and helping other people out.
