Collaboration... fun words.

Here's the link for the video, "Bulbous Bouffant," that we watched in class on Friday in case you wanted to watch it again and didn't want to be caught writing down the address in class: http://fireball20xl.com/slapdash/bb.swf. And, you'll be pleased to know that all your abandoned words have found a home in my new poem:

"A Story of a Dog, Boy, and Flower-Decorator"

Another day under the cotton-headed-niggy-muggin sun
as Francisco and his corpulent pug walk past the stop sign
on the corner of Hey and Poop!

past the neurotic flower decorator
always sniffing for a good unamerican burger.
Francisco slows, his addidas shoes pad the pavement
like tum-tum-tum.

The flower lady, all supercalifragilisticexpialidocias
and pretty says,
"I like your sweater."
The dog's blubber heaves
and ripples under the red cotton,
and Francisco replies, "You're a sweetie.
I made it for my Accordagoitia myself."

The dog squats,
she yells, "Criminy!"
and Francisco looks devoid of zinc.
"Get out of here!" she screams,
waving her phallic flowers in his face. "Get lost!"

The dog yarks on her sidewalk.
"Now that's onomatopoeia," Francisco mutters.

Thwuck. A rosebud flops on Francisco's ear.

"No, that's onomatopoeia," she retorts,
as she confusticates the open and closed sign.

He leaves, but not before a giddy giggle and tapdance.

Problem Solving?

This is probably a reminder to most of you, but I wanted to say it again: please don't navigate around this blog through the link on Blackboard or an email from me. Open a new browser, type in the address, and see if some of your posting/responding problems are solved.

Thanks to Kayla for pointing this out.

Ask the Experts

Poetry is an alternate genre that we've been looking at during this unit; it's not as straight-forward and easily digestable as other genres, but that's what makes it fun. And we're breaking it down even further: on Wednesday, 11-7, come ready to share your expert knowledge on your assigned poem genre.

You should be able to:
1. define the genre according to experts and in your own words
2. describe its conventions (what makes a ______ a ______? ex: what makes a sestina a sestina?), such as # of lines, rhyme scheme, rhythm, and others
3. provide an example (at least one) of a published poem in this genre

You will have time on Wednesday to talk in your groups for a few minutes, and then you'll break off with members of the other groups and share your expertise. By the end of the day, you'll be experts on five of different poetry genres. Riveting, isn't it?

Here are your groups:

SESTINA
Sonja, Kayla, Kristina, Melissa, Rob

VILLANELLE
Brittanee, Stacie, Nathalie, Carrie, Nate

ERASURE
Hannah, Josh, Nick, Mark, Rachael

PANTOUM
Lauren, Steven, Phillip, Tucker, Taylor

HAIKU
Travis, Hailey, Ashley, Brittney, Kelsey

If you feel so inclined, you can also post your example as a comment on this blog (or as a supplementary post on your own!) for your classmates to see.

Let me know if you have questions about your genre; happy reading!