Your place of peace and contentment

Think of a place, real or imaginary, that does or would bring you peace and contentment, a place where you imagine being free from stress, totally relaxed. Describe it in some detail, including images that appeal to more than one of your senses.

A Perfectly Pleasant Poetry Poll

Please complete this poll. You're not required to answer all the questions, but be sure to provide a response to the questions marked *.

Fourth quarter blog/recitation option

Fourth quarter you'll have the option to do a poem recitation or post a "solution" to a  poetry problems blogs. I'll be raising the expectations for both the blogs and the recitations (which I'll expand on verbally in class), so pick the one you feel most excited and confident about. If you're interested in doing both, I am open to offering amplified participation credit, in addition to credit for the blog/recitation grade. So, you can either:

• Write/create a blog post within the framework of your group blog. (It’s okay if there are fewer members––the blog can just have as many posts for fourth quarter as there are members who choose the blog option.)  I’ll be giving you new “problems” and deadlines by early next week.
• Recite a poem of your choosing. You also have the option to do a group recitation or a choral reading of a longer poem, if you want to team up with classmates. You'll have the chance to sign up for recitation dates later this week.

Writing on Edgar Lee Masters

Write in your [YourName] googledoc for a few minutes on “Lucinda Matlock”:

1.    Do you like Lucinda Matlock? If so, why? What about her appeals to you? And if not, why not? Do you feel inspired by her? Do you feel judged by her?

2.    When Lucinda Matlock addresses the “degenerate sons and daughters,” is she talking to you? Why do you assume so or assume not? Is she talking to anyone you know?

More on simplifying

First, in third period, I had to move pretty quickly through my mini-lecture on strategies for simplifying prose, so for anyone who would like to take a closer look at those tips and examples, here is the overhead I shared in class.

Also, there was a question in fifth period about nominalizations and examples of converting them back to verbs (or, in some cases, adjectives). This article by Helen Swords offers more detail about the ill effect of nominalizations (or “zombie nouns”) on prose, and she also gives some great examples. I’ve offered a word version I created as a handout for Nonfiction Writing, but you can also read the original article on the New YorkTimes website, if you prefer. You can even watch a graphic version created by TED-Ed, which I stumbled on today: