Visionary Poem Assignment

 

Pts. possible: 4

Draft due: _______
Finished version due: ______

 

 

Write a poem in the visionary or surrealist mode. Your poem should be at least 40 lines long, and include genuinely strange, startling, vivid language, images, and insights. Especially in surrealism, your metaphors and similes should be very unexpected, you should include uncanny juxtapostions, and you should allow illogical connections and ideas into your poem.

 

Don't confuse this sort of poem with fantasy or sci-fi, which tend to rely on formulaic images and tropes. weird. Be unpredictable. Review our Power Point on the visionary and surrealist modes!

 

Also review our readings, including the Surrealist Sampler.

 

Purpose: to practice writing your own poetry, to better understand the genres we’re studying through first-hand experience with the art, and to learn more about poetry generally.

 

Audience: anyone interested in quality poetry and especially the surrealist tradition.

 

Criteria and Grades: your lyric should have lots of detail, clarity, fresh language, and startling images. It's especially important in this lyric that your writing is strange, original, and surprising. Avoid clichés, sentimentality, stock images from sci-fi or fantasy, and predictable sentiments or rhymes. Write at least 40 lines. Also be sure to proofread your work.

Very Good = A= 6 pts.. Meets all of the stated criteria and instructions exceptionally well. Excels in inventiveness, originality, and energy, relative to work produced generally in 222. Well-edited and proofed. Possibly publishable.

Good =B =5 pts. Meets all of the stated criteria and instructions, or meets several of them exceptionally well, despite a weak performance with others.. May be especially striking in spots, despite noticeable flaws. Very competent, but may lack originality or inventiveness, relative to work produced generally in 222. Good attention to style and mechanics. Clear attention to assignment.

Fair = C =4 pts. Meets some of the stated criteria, or meets all of them only partially. Uninspired but minimally competent; or very inspired but lacking competence in key areas.. May show some inattention to, or misunderstanding of, instructions. Weak proofreading and editing.

Poor = D =3 pts. Meets few of the criteria. May not not heed or understand instructions. May be sloppy, unproofed, unedited, and/or very perfunctory and uninspired.. An unsatisfying lyric, saved by at least minimal attention to at least one facet of the piece.
Unacceptable = F = less than 6 pts. Lyric either fails to meet any of the stated criteria, or demonstrates severe oversights or weaknesses in significant areas.


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