Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Fiction and Poetry

by Knorr, Jeff; Schell, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780131787858
• ISBN10: 0131787853
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-20
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This guide to creative writing explores the two genres of poetry and fiction, and defines the basic elements of each. It offers a hands-on approach to writing, and includes essays from noted authors that enable readers to witness the creative evolution of poems and stories.Clearly written and organized, it also contains student writing samples and an easy-to-use guide to the workshop. The section on poetry covers such topics as imagery, lines and stanzas, sound, rhyme and meter, voice, and point of view. The fiction section looks at point of view, plot, character, setting, dialogue, style, tone, voice, and theme.For aspiring writers who view the writing process as a dynamic one, and are looking to improve their editing and critiquing skills.

Author Biography

Jeff Knorr teaches creative writing and literature at Sacramento City College Tim Schell teaches literature and writing at Columbia Gorge College

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
I Poetry	1	(150)
1. Getting Started	1	(7)
2. Imagery	8	(13)
"Laying Bare the Bones: A Meditation on Imagery" by Lisa D. Chavez	13	(8)
3. Lines and Stanzas	21	(10)
"Hey, Good Lookin', Haven't We Met Somewhere Before?" by Beckian Fritz Goldberg	25	(6)
4. Sound and the Poem	31	(10)
"Degas in Vegas: Some Thoughts on Sound in Poetry" by Alberto Rios	36	(5)
5. Rhyme and Meter, the Music of Poems	41	(13)
"Meter and Rhyme" by James Hoggard	47	(7)
6. Voice and How We Create It in Poems	54	(10)
"Voice: What You Say and How Readers Hear It" by Kevin Stein	58	(6)
7. Point of View in Poems	64	(7)
"Point of View in Poetry" by James Hoggard	66	(5)
8. Fixed Forms: Creating Our Poetic World	71	(10)
"Form in Poetry" by Lynn Hoggard	74	(7)
9. Putting It All Together: The Whole Poem	81	(12)
"Lorca's Duende, The Art of Zingers in Poetry Workshops, or How to Teach Students to Energize Their Poems" by Virgil Suarez	85	(8)
10. Revision	93	(15)
"Moonsheen and Porchlight: Revision as Illumination" by Gary Thompson	100	(8)
11. The Poetry Workshop	108	(3)
12. Workshopping a Free Verse Poem	111	(8)
13. Workshopping a Fixed Form Poem	119	(9)
Poems for Further Reading	128	(23)
On Reading Poetry	128	(2)
The Eagle by Alfred, Lord Tennyson	130	(1)
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson	130	(1)
I Think I Could Turn and Live with Animals by Walt Whitman	131	(1)
On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phyllis Wheatley	131	(1)
She's Free by Frances E. W Harper	131	(1)
Killers by Carl Sandburg	132	(1)
Sonnet: 14 "If thou must love me..." by Elizabeth Barrett Browning	133	(1)
In Which She Satisfies a Fear with the Rhetoric of Tears by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz	133	(1)
The Movies by Florence Kiper Frank	134	(1)
A Winter Ride by Amy Lowell	134	(1)
The Fathers by Gary Thompson	134	(1)
An American Tale of Sex and Death by Kevin Stein	135	(2)
The Passing House by Beckian Fritz Goldberg	137	(1)
At A Wedding in Mexico City by Lisa Chavez	138	(1)
Nureyev's Feet by Scott Hightower	139	(1)
Found Map of Spain by Gaylord Brewer	139	(2)
Anniversary by Teresa Leo	141	(1)
Waking by Albert Garcia	142	(1)
Unsent Message to My Brother in His Pain by Leon Stokesbury	142	(1)
Sermon of the Fallen by David Bottoms	143	(1)
Those Riches by Robert Wrigley	144	(1)
Funeral by Harry Humes	145	(1)
Song of Napalm by Bruce Weigl	146	(1)
Fish by Tom Crawford	147	(2)
Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, an Intelligent Well-Read Person, Could Believe in the War Between Races by Lorna Dee Cervantes	149	(2)
II Fiction	151	(234)
14. Surrounded by Stories: Where Our Stories Come From	151	(13)
"The Second Story: How a Promising Single Episode Might Find Its Fullest Use in Our Fiction" by Ron Carlson	154	(10)
15. Point of View	164	(10)
"Touching the Elephant" by Melissa Pritchard	169	(5)
16. Plot	174	(13)
"Fairy Tales Always Come True: Plot and Imagination" by H. Lee Barnes	179	(8)
17. Character	187	(9)
"A Character's Skin" by Tracy Daugherty	190	(6)
18. Setting	196	(11)
"Take Place" by Valerie Miner	200	(7)
19. Dialogue	207	(7)
"On Dialogue" by Diana Abu-Jaber	209	(5)
20. Style, Tone, and Voice	214	(9)
"Voice in Fiction" by Amy Sage Webb	216	(7)
21. Credible Surprise on the Path to Resonance	223	(7)
"Mystery and Surprise" by Craig Lesley	225	(5)
22. Theme	230	(3)
23. Revision	233	(4)
24. Participating in the Workshop	237	(3)
25. Workshopping a Story in the First Person	240	(31)
26. Workshopping a Story in the Third Person	271	(34)
Stories for Further Reading	305	(80)
On Reading Fiction	305	(2)
The Ordinary Son by Ron Carlson	307	(14)
Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason	321	(12)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver	333	(10)
Araby by James Joyce	343	(5)
Sweet Feed by Melissa Pritchard	348	(5)
Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck	353	(9)
The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich	362	(8)
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez	370	(6)
The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara	376	(7)
Yours by Mary Robison	383	(2)
Glossary	385	(4)
Contributors' Biographies	389	(2)
Credits	391	(2)
Index	393