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“The Writer” by Richard Wilbur
Focus Questions
Speaker and Setting
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who is the speaker? Who is telling the story in this poem?
Where is the speaker when the events in the poem take place?
Which parts are from the present, and which are from memories?
What are the speaker’s emotions?
How do the speaker’s feelings influence the message?
Subject
1. What is the speaker talking about?
2. What is the message in the poem?
3. What is the speaker trying to communicate?
Comparison
1. Listen for and note comparisons in the poem (e.g., places where one object is compared to another).
a. What words and ideas in the poem have to do with ships and boats?
b. How do the words that describe sounds in the poem work (e.g., “commotion,” “stillness,”
“silent”)? What comparisons do they suggest?
c. How is the starling in the poem a comparison?
2. Discuss how accurate the comparisons are and what they tell readers about the speaker and the subject of
the poem.
Think about it…
1. Explain what the poem communicates about writers and writing in general, as well as in the particular
situation that the poem describes.
2. Compare yourself as a writer to the writer in the poem. Find specific details in the poem that connect to
specific information about your own writing.
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Writing Habits Journal Questions
1. What are your best memories about writing?
2. What is the easiest thing about writing for you, and why?
3. What is the most difficult thing about writing for you, and why?
4. What different kinds of writing do you do? Who reads your writing? Where is your writing
published or shared with others?
5. What materials and/or equipment do you like to have on hand when you write? What are these
items for? Why do you have them?
6. What steps do you follow when you write? Outline your writing process, using a simple, informal
outline format.
7. Are you a procrastinator when it comes to writing? What do you try to avoid? What do you
typically do instead?
8. What’s the biggest influence on the way that you write? Why does it make a difference?
9. If someone else were observing you as a writer, what would they notice? What would they see
or hear?
10. Overall, how would you describe yourself as a writer? What kind of writer are you, and why do
you say so?
Writing Metaphor Assignment
After reading and analyzing Richard Wilbur’s poem “The Writer,” consider your experiences as a
writer—the frustrations and the satisfactions you felt as you shaped words into meaning.
For this assignment, choose a metaphor that will tell others about you as a writer. You will build an
extended metaphor, just as Wilbur has in his poem. Your goal is to show others what you are like
as a writer.
Tips
• The metaphor you choose can take the form of an animal (e.g., an elephant, a fox, an ostrich), a
machine (e.g., a bulldozer, a tank, a computer), or something else. Any metaphor you choose will
be correct if you support your assertion.
• Your definition of yourself as a writer is crucial to your metaphor: Are you thinking of yourself as a
paper writer, a letter writer, or something else? If your definition is not implied in the metaphor,
you need to define it early in your project.
• Remember to provide detailed support for your metaphor. Think about specific characteristics of
yourself as a writer that compare to the item you have chosen for your metaphor.
Project Options
• Write a paper that presents your metaphor. Choose the format that works best for your
explanation. You might choose comparison/contrast to work through the ways that you compare to
the object you’ve chosen. You could choose to write a persuasive paper that explains why the
metaphor you’ve chosen is best. Other formats will work as well. Don’t feel limited to these two.
• Create a scrapbook the presents your metaphor to a reader. You can include photos, magazine
clippings, drawings, text, and decorations—whatever makes sense for your metaphor. You can
create a paper-based scrapbook, or work online in PowerPoint, using a slide for each page of your
scrapbook.
• Design the CD cover for a soundtrack for a movie of your writing process. Your soundtrack should
include songs that directly connect to your metaphor. Create the CD cover that includes the song
list with artists’ names and liner notes that explain the choices. The cover should communicate
your metaphor to someone who looks at the details there. If desired, you can burn a CD of your
playlist to include, but including musical files is not required.
• Compose an acrostic poem that spells the metaphor that you have chosen with the first letters of
each word. The poem should demonstrate how the metaphor you have chosen describes you as a
writer. If desired, you may include a short explanation that points out additional details.
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• Write a letter to the class that describes and explains the metaphor that you have chosen. Since
none of us know much about you as a writer, this is your chance to tell us—using first-person,
friendly language—what we should know about you!
• Create a transcript for a cartoon interview with the object/person that you have chosen for your
metaphor. Use some make-believe to guess what the object/person would tell you. If it helps, think
of a Disney version of the interview as you get started. As part of the interview, make sure that the
connections between you as a writer and the object/person are clear. Ask it to share its feelings
about the comparison, for instance.
• Compose a short story that tells the story of you and your metaphor. You might think of any short
story format, but in particular fables or picture books might be a good place to start since they are
often shorter texts that communicate a message quickly. Remember that your story must show
how you as a writer are like your metaphor.
• Write a script for a silent movie that communicates your metaphor. Your script should include
details on the images/actions that will appear on the screen as well as the text that will appear on
the intertitles (the text that appears on screen between the video of actions). If desired, you could
film your movie or create a storyboard mock-up in PowerPoint.
• Compose a song that communicates your metaphor. By reading (or listening to) your lyrics, others
should understand why you have compared yourself to the object or person that you did. You can
compose your lyrics to an existing tune or write your own music for the song. If desired, plan to
perform or record your song in addition to turning in your lyrics (but performance isn’t required).
• Reveal all in a tabloid expose that tells readers about you as a writer. Detail your metaphor in a
newspaper story like those that you see in the checkout line at the grocery store (e.g., The National
Enquirer, Star). If you prefer a more mainstream magazine, pretend you are a celebrity author and
your metaphor is being described in Us or People. To get started, imagine that the magazine’s writer
has secret footage of you writing. Write the story that the reporter would turn in to the editor.