This week, we’ll begin by taking Lorde’s direction to scrutinize and illuminate the fertile void within each of us. We'll consider the writing process from this inside-out (rather than outside-in) perspective, read examples of the ars poetica form, and write our own.
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We’ll use what Lorde terms "disciplined attention" to choose our best material and gather—or create—the language we need to shape it. We’ll specifically look at two, related shaping-tools—diction and compression—in the work of Lucille Clifton and Brigit Pegeen Kelly, then we’ll use these tools to write (or revise) our own poems.
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In this module, we turn the lens on what Audre Lorde calls, the "revelatory distillation of experience. "We’ll focus on the literary devices syntax and apo koinou, exploring Lorde’s use of these strategies in two of her poems. Then, we’ll use them to write our own revelatory distillations of experience.
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Finally, let's consider Lorde’s mandate that poetry not be a luxury—mere decoration—but rather a transformative power, first for the individual and through the individual, for an ever-widening circle of impact.