In-Class Writing Prompts
Below are a few prompts to get us putting our brains on paper: what can
we say about ___?
Huh?
Describe the situation of the poem: what is literally going on?
Who is in the poem? What are they doing? Where are they? When
is it?
Sensational
Writing
Poetry often deals with the senses. Choose a line or word
that evokes a specific sense, and write about what it brings to the
poem or how it connects to a broader idea or theme in the poem.
Watch Your Tone
Young Man/Woman!
This is sometimes tough to suss out. Is the speaker being
ironic? Jaded? Whimsical? Melancholic? Joyful?
Choose a word or line, label its tone, then explain why
you believe your reading of the tone is valid.
"Elementary My
Dear Watson!"
Take one element of the poem -- metaphor/simile; rhyme;
repetition/patterns; form -- and write how/why it contributes to the
poem.
Camping Out
Explaining how a word or line
in a poem connects to an idea,
emotion, or theme is central to writing about poetry.
One way of working on this is by pulling out
a specific word or phrase and really thinking it out.
Consider the example below.
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“broke” connects to the idea of
the weakening of religion by
conveying to readers that the church is literally falling apart. It is being destroyed not
be time but by
man’s devotion to violence. Windows
are
used to protect people from the elements: here the window is broken –
people
are exposed. And
the exposure here is
not to religious revelation. God
curses
man and suggests that the revelation may not ever come.
The window can stand in for the world itself,
which is broken because it continues to pursue its violent course,
unbowed by
religious doctrines of peace and understanding.
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“____” connects to ______ by
______
“____” suggests ______ by
______
______ becomes clear through
the word/phrase “____.” It/they
suggest/demonstrate/evoke/appear/describes/etc.
Words for
Explanation
Use a verb from the following list when commenting on quotes.
They can also come in handy when introducing a context quote.
add
agree
analyze
answer
argue | believe
charge
claim
comment
conclude
consider | criticize
declare
describe
define
discover
emphasize | explain
feels
illustrate
imply
indicate
list | maintain
mention
note
observe
object
offer | point out
reinforce
report
reply
respond
reveal | show
stress
suggest
support
think
write |
© David Bordelon 2015
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