Rancho Oso Poems Assignment Sheet

Here it is:

You will be writing two poems based on your "dude ranch" experience. Specific directions are as follows:

1. Just like in horseback riding, tempo is everything. Accordingly, one poem must be conventional, using a consistent rhyme scheme and consistent rhythm and obeying traditional capitalization and punctuation.

2. Ironically, though, just like in life, no matter how smooth you think your ride is going, something, perhaps a startled horse, may throw you off the saddle. With this in mind, the second poem should be in free verse; that is, it should not adhere to standard conventions. It should not have a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme, and it may take liberty with capitalization and punctuation. A concrete poem (one in which the form echoes the topic) may even be used.

However you choose, one poem should be about life's certainties, its knowns, comforts, and familiarities. The other should be about the opposite, about life's uncertainties, unknowns, discomforts, curve balls. In any event, each poem must be a minimum of 14 lines, must be titled, and must employ poetic devices, including sense imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, etc.), and alliteration.

After the poems have been returned to you, you will revise them and return them with an illustrated cover.

1. The cover should be an illustration that captures the essence of your two poems. Accordingly, your illustration should reflect the duality of life.
2. The illustration may be computer generated, hand-drawn, or even a photograph, but it MUST be a quality product.
3. In addition to the illustration, your cover must include the following information: your name, September 2007, and an original title.
4. Obviously, the cover and the two poems must be bound (stapling is fine)
5. The cover is not due until the finished product is due, the date of which will be announced.

Both poems are due October 15th