Month: January 2015

For an education class that I am in I had to make something called a “literary timeline,” or a timeline of types of books I have read throughout my life.  It got me thinking about all my favorite authors.  My all time favorite author has to be Ellen Hopkins.  She writes prose in poetry form.  She takes advantage of white space, of creating images with her words.  My favorite book by her is titled “burned.”  It is about a Mormon girl who acts out against her religion.  If you are looking for something poetic to read but not necessarily poetry, Ellen Hopkins is a perfect choice.  Her imagery and writing style apply particularly to the senses.  I have attached an excerpt from “burned” when the narrator realizes her father is sending her away for the summer as punishment for acting against her religion.

In our recent class we were told to write down some of the strengths and weaknesses we have in our writing.  I find some of my weaknesses to be meter and rhyme.  I have never been very interested in writing in meter and therefore have never worked to improve my ability to write it.  I think that I would benefit from practicing writing in meter but I’m not sure how to start.  Any suggestions?  Rhyme, on the other hand, is something that I do enjoy adding to my poetry.  I believe it can help the movement of the poem and make reading more enjoyable for the reader.  I usually have trouble finding words that rhyme without it sounding forced.  I was wondering if anyone had any techniques for rhyme, or if it is something that easily comes to them?  Thanks a lot!