tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12793452.post5457329610127535059..comments2023-10-24T09:17:18.260-04:00Comments on Working On It: Only one great lineAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14830332078593192792noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12793452.post-55333108400170776852007-02-15T01:50:00.000-05:002007-02-15T01:50:00.000-05:00Jenni, I am so glad you don't torture your student...Jenni, I am so glad you don't torture your students with on the spot writing assignments. The only thing worse than that is when the teacher makes you read them out loud immediately after. You have no time to edit or realize that what you wrote is completely horrible.<BR/>Looping sounds preety cool. Maybe I could try it as a mega blog entry. Hmm...Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14830332078593192792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12793452.post-66901665154666518542007-02-14T07:01:00.000-05:002007-02-14T07:01:00.000-05:00I started reading your story about the assignment ...I started reading your story about the assignment and immediately felt horrified because I gave the very same assignment to my AmLit 10th graders... AND MY FRESHMAN! I thought to myself, how many countless lives have I ruined?! How many creative geniuses have I crushed and shattered? Then I read on and realized that your teacher had only given it as an in-class assignment. Oh no, no, no! See, there's the problem. Poetry is always-always-always a take-home assignment. And it's always-always-always followed up by Ms. Lamb's poetry jam, in which each and every student volunteers (and they all will volunteer eventually) to read their poem. Immediately following the reading of the poem, there is an instantaneous eruption of poetry jam snapping and/or golf clapping (a distant cousin of the poetry jam snap, but for members of the crowd who are too uncoordinated to snap repeatedly), such that teachers from down the hall tip their ears and say "Oh, it's Lamb and another one of her poetry jams." I especially like the students that, eschewing the 12-15 line requirements, write things like "I / like / all / birds / and / they / like / me. / Nature / is / good. / Yes, / truly / good." And tell me that they were inspired by e.e. cummings. How can you fail with that sort of tenacity?<BR/><BR/>Also, I just did a fun activity with my freshman called looping. You write for 5 minutes on a set topic, then reread and pick your favorite/best line (your "one great line" for that piece, I suppose), then you rewrite that line down below and use it as your prompt to write for another 5 minutes. Reread, pick the best, rewrite below, use as the new topic, repeat. Freshman can only do it for 3 rounds before complaining, but I bet as an adult writer you could fill pages. Maybe you can try this activity with that one line?<BR/><BR/>Lastly, I feel uncomfortable with the phrase "one great line" since you have so many more than one! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com