March 28, 2008 Archives

Think of this as an expansion of your previous portfolio. Demonstrate your willingness to revise (drawing from feedback from peers, from classroom instruction, your own research, and from me).

See handouts on Top 5 Resume Tips; content; presentation.

This time, I am also asking for a cover letter and writing sample.

1. Write an original poem -- something that you are willing to revise.
   
2. Include a brief analysis that demonstrates your ability to apply concepts you have learned from Hamilton, the workbooks, and our study of assigned readings.

Poems are meant to be read, not weighed, so I resist giving a minimum word count... nevertheless, I'd like to see about 300 words total. 

I think it's unlikely that you'll be able to get 290 words of good analysis out of a 10-word poem, and if you submit a 290-word poem, I doubt a 10-word analysis will do it justice.

This assignment isn't meant to pass judgment on your poetic talent; rather, I want to see evidence that you know what kinds of effects poems can achieve, that you can set out to reach a specific effect, and that you can state a case for how effectively your poem meets that effect.  (I will share with you a poem I wrote that was an utter failure. You can tell me whether you think it's worth revising at all.)