Monster Project – Phase 3 Imagist Monster Poem Today you will begin a rough draft of an imagist poem describing your monster and its current surroundings. This is also your introduction to using text in Photoshop as once written it will be laid out on a background you design to be part of a spread in a poetry book. Imagery – writing that speaks to the sense: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. We will be watching three videos of imagist and narratives poems together in class and you will be asked to write about each one. 1. Watch “In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound. This poem in an imagist poem. It has only fourteen words, but so many images come to mind when you read it. - If you were there, what would you hear? See? What might you smell? Taste? Touch? 2. Watch “Oranges” by Gary Soto. This poem is a combination of a lyric poem (a poem dedicated to one idea or image) and a narrative poem (a poem that tells a story) - If you were there, what would you hear? See? What might you smell? Taste? Touch? 3. Watch “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer (be aware that Disney has added dialogue; the poem is narrated). This poem is a narrative poem (one that tells a story). - If you were there, what would you hear? See? What might you smell? Taste? Touch? Write Your Own Poem Now that you have some idea of what imagery is and how poets create images with words, it’s time to try it out. You will be using your monster and landscape for inspiration. 1. Brainstorm for the sense: in this location, what could you hear, see, taste, touch, and smell. Brainstorm until you have at least 3 sounds, 3 sights, 3 tastes, 3 things you could touch or feel, and 3 smells. The more you have, the easier your poem will be to write. 2. Give your monster a character and a story. Does your monster have a name? Has he/she run away from home? Is he lost? Is she looking for someone? Trying to escape something? What does your monster want? What motivates him? Is she going to get what she wants? 3. Determine how your monster got to this place. Was he dropped off? Tossed out of a plane? Is he waiting for someone? Where is this place? Does it have a name? 4. Think about what kind of poem you might want to write. Do you want to tell a story? If so, think about what happened right before this moment in time. What is going to happen next? Remember that a narrative poem should have plot and a clear beginning, middle, and end. If you want to write a lyric poem, you can do that too. It can be a tribute to your monster – a poem of praise. Or it could be a more elegiac poem (one that is sad, melancholy). Rules to Remember about Writing Poetry  There are no rules, as long as you can explain WHY you are making the choices you are making you are in good shape!  Your poem CAN rhyme, but it DOESN’T HAVE to rhyme.  You poem can have any tone or mood, but make sure it fits with the location you’ve chosen.  Poems are broken into stanzas (prose is divided into paragraphs).  On this first draft, MORE IS BETTER. It’s a lot easier to cut out words that you do not need than to try to add because something is missing. 
Most importantly, have fun! Writing poetry is really about creating images with your words – tell the story of your monster, how it feels, what it is looking for, etc. Elements to be Graded  Your responses to each video  Your imagery brainstorm  First draft of your poem