Six S's/ Baggage Switch Exercise

Line breaking:

Speed:  Short or long?  Enjambed or end-stopped?

Sound:  Rhyme emphasized?  Emphasize or de-emphasize rhythm?

Syntax:  Does the poem have line breaks that are compatible with its syntactical units?  Where are prepositions placed--at the beginning or end?  If the line breaks are unconventional, what is the effect?

Surprise: When a line breaks at an unexpected place, what is the effect?  What is the strongest position for a word?

Sense: Do the line breaks add to the overall meaning or sense of the poem?  Do they further its argument (logical or sound sense)?

Space:  Do the line breaks represent the timing of the poem?  What do you gather about the poem based on its appearance?  Does the creation of stanzas organize the space of the poem?

Ask Me

Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life. Others have come in their slow way into my thought, and some have tried to help or to hurt: ask me what difference their strongest love or hate has made. I will listen to what you say. You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say. William Stafford

Baggage Switch Exercise:

Make a list of all the verbs used in one of your poems.

Swap your list with a partner.

Replace the verbs in your poem with some verbs from the list you receive.  You can change the tense and number.

DO NOT MERELY CHOOSE SYNONYMS.  LOOK FOR SURPRISING JUXTAPOSITIONS.  FOCUS ON WORD CHOICE (DICTION)!