Writing Exercise - Poetry

EXERCISE: Write a poem about a reflection in the mirror.

Writing poetry - Ideas that may help you to write poetry

· Decide on the subject you wish to write about. Start with a familiar subject and then go on to some obscure subjects that you have previously never given much thought to
· Think about something special or unique to the subject
· List some descriptive words which may provide some clear information to the reader
· Try to create pictures in the reader's mind - your aim is to fire the imagination
· Express your feelings
· Convey your feelings by the tone of your poetry
· Bind the words and ideas together. Connect them by the use of rhyme which will provide your poetry with the element of repetition of identical or related sounds
· Get some rhythm into your poetry - the number of lines and your choice of poetry form will help you with this. Song lyrics are poetry set to music - tap out the beat or rhythm when you are writing poetry, or reading poetry
· Visual patterns - does your written poetry create a good pattern on the page?
· Patterns of Sound - using alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia can create sound effects. (Sorry about the use of these words but were back to the literary terms again!)
· Read your poetry to a friend!
· If you receive some constructive criticism don't be afraid to change your poetry accordingly!
· Enjoy yourself - Writing poetry should be fun!

Definitions:
Alliteration
The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words such as tongue twisters like 'She sells seashells by the seashore'

Assonance
The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, as in the tongue twister "Moses supposes his toeses are roses."

Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words can be found in numerous Nursery Rhymes e.g. clippety-clop and cock-a-doodle-do.

Please refer to website: http://www.poetry-online.org/writing-poetry.htm