:
Objectives
To write from memory using "lists" models
To gain confidence with writing poetry
Practices your writing muscles
 Writing is hard work.
 Know that there is pleasure in difficult
work.
 The way you make things is piece by
piece, bird by bird.

Repeating lines of phrases
 Often long, almost prose-like lines
 Have an iterative quality

› Iteration means the act of repeating a process
usually with the aim of approaching a desired
goal or target or result. Each repetition of the
process is also called an "iteration," and the
results of one iteration are used as the starting
point for the next iteration.

A decent intro + complexity and detail

When my teacher tells me to write a poem tonight.
When my mother tells me to clean up my room.
When my sister practices her violin while I'm
watching TV.
When my father tells me to turn off the TV and do
my homework.
When my brother picks a fight with me and I have
to go to bed early.
When my teacher asks me to get up in front of the
class and read the poem I wrote on the school bus
this morning.
“Forms of Love” by Kim Addonizio
 from "The Split" by Susan Wheeler
 I Remember by Abigail Maskill

1) The writer is telling you something-pointing something out--saying, "Look at
this," or, "Think about this.“
 2) There's a beginning and end to it, like
in a story.
 3) The list is arranged with stylistic
consistency and the words are arranged
to create a parallel structure.

Start a fresh page in your WNB. Make
sure it is NOT the back of another page
on which you have written.
 This will be private writing, no one else will
read it.
 Do NOT speak during this activity. Please.
Just hold back. Talk to the paper. Let
others have peace in which to write.

Write a list poem for 8.5 minutes in which
the first words of each line are “I’ll never
tell.”
 Don’t hold back; list your secrets; tell your
truths; see what happens.
 Again, please do not speak. Write. Keep
writing. Don’t stop. Go back and choose
better words when you think you are
done. Keep being a poet.

If you wish to keep your poem private,
fold your paper in half the long way to
leave enough showing so that I can see
you did this activity. I will give you credit.
 You may decide to use this poem, or
parts of it, as one of your 3 poems later.
 You decide to keep or throw away this
poem after I have given you credit.

Start a fresh page in your WNB; label it
AW 12.
 As we read three more examples of list
poems, listen by “pointing” with your
pencil.

› Jot down pieces of language that you are
drawn to, as many as you can.
“My Friends and Enemies” by Carley
Moore
 “I remember”

What did you notice?
 Notice the details
 Notice the good use of sounds
 Notice that poetic language arises from
common, everyday speech
 Notice how comparison vivifies
language

One controlling thought or concept
(remembering, telling, saying goodbye,
a history of friends and enemies)
 Specificity – adjectives, dialogue,
details, imagery, proper nouns, very
concrete, declarative statements,
sometimes full sentences)
 ADJECTIVES ARE THE ENGINES OF
DESCRIPTIONS

Start a fresh page (still AW #10)
 You will not have to share everything,
but everyone will share a few things.
 For 6.5 minutes, write an “I remember”
poem. Every line starts with “I
remember…”


Look over what you wrote and select 3
items to share with the class. Put brackets
around the three lines.
› Ex: [I remember laughing until I hurt every
time I talked to Sarah until I found out she
wasn’t cool enough to be friends with.]

Rank the three in order of preference
with 1’s being your favorite choice.




No disclaimer rule
Start with the 1’s; when it seems as if all the 1’s
have been shared, start with the 2’s.
Silence is no big deal.
If more than one person starts, just wait and let
one go.
› Do not discuss.
› Do not say anything about who should go at all.
› Do not apologize.


Only the text from the poems should ring in the
room.
Absolutely NO other talking.
Often autobiographical
 From memory
 Something about the structure that is
immediate
 Shows more than tells
 Often funny or poignant or both
 Never bad
