It's midterm already?!?

Congratulations! You've made it almost halfway through your first (and let's hope last) distance-learning quarter at K. For this class, that means your next assignment is your midterm portfolio. But before we get too far into that, there's also some reading to help you prepare for revision.

From The Poet's Companion, please read "The Energy of Revision" (186-192), and pay particular attention to the very practical numbered tips on how to tackle a poem again as well as Jane Hirschfield's "Possible Questions to Ask of Your Poem in Revision" to help you revise your poems. Take heed Addonizio and Laux's suggestions about what revision is: "a re-visioning of the poem's potential and the strategies it has used so far" (187). Remember that "the more willing you are to let go of your own words, to demand more of your language and push your limits to get to something better, the more likely it is that you will eventually produce a worthwhile poem" (188).

Okay. Now to the nitty gritty. Here's what belongs in your midterm portfolio, due 5th week Thursday, April 30, emailed to me at heinritz@kzoo.edu by noon:

1. Revisions of the three poems you've submitted for workshop: Where I'm From, Color, and your choice from the four journal exercises due this week;
2. Your journal up until this point, including exercises offered as assignments on the blog (writing meditation, observations, etc.);
3. Process Writing (see below).

Process Writing
Along with each poem, include a paragraph or two about how you approached the poem, what you learned in workshop, how and why you decided what to change and what to keep. Write about your process for how you decided what to write about, how you felt about how it was working, and how you revised it. In addition, write a more global "process writing" essay about your writing overall for this course thus far. What have been your challenges and your breakthroughs; what have you enjoyed; what have you struggled with; most importantly, what have you learned about yourself as a writer through the reading, writing, workshopping, and revising you've done so far in this course? About 250-500 words minimum, but no upper limit. Think of this essay as your opportunity to think about the thinking and work in poetry that you've done over the last month--with benign acceptance and a spirit of discovery--a sort of writing you do for yourself, but that I'll be reading, too.

Please put all the revised poems with their accompanying process writings in a single WORD document (including the more global process writing at the end) and the journal in a single WORD document as attachments. If you need an extension, please ask by Monday of 5th week, proposing how much additional time you would like and why.

Make sense? Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to clarify. Revision and thinking through your writing process is a hugely important part of the creative process, and I hope you find it as useful and enjoyable as I do!