A word about sestinas.....and some other things

All of you did an excellent job with the sestinas. This is an incredibly difficult form, and some of you executed this form very, very well. This is often how it goes with creative work, though. The poems (stories, paintings, songs, etc.) we have to work hardest on creating, the ones that force us to look at word choice and stay on track, are often the best poems (stories, etc.). I really appreciate all the hard work you guys are putting into this class. And I do hope you see what that hard work is producing.

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Our next two weeks in class cover forms that I think are a lot of fun. Granted, our ideas of fun could vary, but I think you'll like them, too. We're going to do a lot of experimenting with the forms on the next two Tuesdays, but I'm going to give 100% of the Thursdays to workshop. (If needed, we might make the second Tuesday a half workshop.) We've been through the class list 1.5 times, and I'd really like to get through it another 1.5 times in the next three weeks. That would mean everyone would be workshopped 3 times before the final project workshop. Hopefully we can make that happen.

After those two weeks, we're on to a week of William Matthew's book (which is a wonderful mix of completely hilarious and incredibly moving), elegies, aubades, and pastorals.

After that, if you can believe it (and I couldn't so I had to recheck the calendar), is SPRING BREAK! So, enjoy that thought for a moment.......

After Spring Break we'll be doing the group presentations and the final project workshops. I've met with all of the groups, and it sounds like all of you have some wonderful ideas. Very fun AND useful!

You really don't have to worry about any of that stuff now (except what's due next week), but it should be encouraging that we are almost halfway through the semester!

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Also: EVERYONE turned in guardian comments this week, and I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened before. I'm marking down bonus points for everyone!

Have a great weekend!

Line of the Week

Marshall's line: I've learned to savor blinks.

Wow. Lovely word choice. Like I said in class "savor" is such an excellent choice. Something weaker like "appreciate" or wordier like "look forward to" would have really taken the punch out of this line. And the line does a nice job conveying the extent of this lack of sleep.

Well done, Marshall.

Best Overheard Line

"She's like Beethoven. And I'm like Houdini."

What?! I love this line because then it makes me wonder what it would be like for these two guys to meet and talk.....