Mooring Against the Tide

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.

List of contents

Preface.
 
PART I.  POETRY.
 
1. Getting Started.
 
2. Imagery.
“Laying Bare the Bones” by Lisa Chavez
 
3. Lines and Stanzas.
“Hey, Good Lookin', Haven't We Met Somewhere Before?” by Beckian Fritz Goldberg.
 
4. Sound and the Poem.
“Degas in Vegas: Some Thoughts on Sound in Poetry” by Alberto Rios.
 
5. Rhyme and Meter, the Music of Poems.
“Meter and Rhyme” by James Hoggard.
 
6. Voice and How We Create It in Poems.
“Voice: What You Say and How Readers Hear It” by Kevin Stein.
 
7. Point of View in Poems.
“Point of View in Poetry” by James Hoggard.
 
8. Fixed Forms: Creating Our Poetic World.
“Form in Poetry” by Lynn Hoggard.
 
9. Putting It All Together: The Whole Poem.
“Lorca's Duende, The Art of Zingers in Poetry Workshops, or How to Teach Students to Energize Their Poems” by Virgil Suarez.
 
10. Revision.
“Moonsheen and Porchlight: Revision as Illumination” by Gary Thompson.
 
11. The Poetry Workshop.
 
12. Workshopping a Free Verse Poem.
 
13. Workshopping a Fixed Form Poem.
 
Poems for Further Reading.
The Eagle  by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Because I Could not Stop for Death  by Emily Dickinson.
I think I could Turn and Live with Animals  by Walt Whitman.
On Being Brought from Africa…  by Phyllis Wheatley.
She's Free  by Frances Harper.
Killers  by Carl Sandburg.
Sonnet 14  by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
In Which She Satisfies a Fear…  by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.
The Movies  by Florence Kiper Frank.
A Winter Ride  by Amy Lowell.
The Fathers  by Gary Thompson.
An American Tale of Sex and Death  by Kevin Stein.
The Passing House  by Beckian Fritz Goldberg.
At A Wedding in Mexico City  by Lisa Chavez.
Nureyev's Feet  by Scott Hightower.
Found Map of Spain  by Gaylord Brewer.
Anniversary  by Teresa Leo.
Waking  by Albert Garcia.
Unsent Message to My Brother…  by Leon Stokesbury.
Sermon of the Fallen  by David Bottoms.
Those Riches  by Robert Wrigley.
Funeral  by Harry Hume.
Song of Napalm  by Bruce Weigle.
Fish  by Tom Crawford.
Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me…  by Lorne Dee Cervantes.
 
PART II.  FICTION.
 
14. Surrounded by Stories: Where Our Stories Come From.
“The Second Story: How a Promising Single Episode Might Find Its Fullest Use in Our Fiction” by Ron Carlson.
 
15. Point of View.
“Touching the Elephant” by Melissa Pritchard.
 
16. Plot.
“Fairy Tales Always Come True: Plot and Imagination” by H. Lee Barnes.
 
17. Character.
“A Character's Skin” by Tracy Daugherty.
 
18. Setting.
“Take Place” by Valerie Miner.
 
19. Dialogue.
“On Dialogue” by Diana Abu-Jaber.
 
20. Style, Tone, and Voice.
“Voice in Fiction” by Amy Sage Webb.
 
21. Credible Surprise on the Path to Resonance.
“Mystery and Surprise” by Craig Lesley.
 
22. Theme.
 
23. Revision.
 
24. Participating in the Workshop.
 
25. Workshopping a Story in the First Person.
 
26. Workshopping a Story in the Third Person.
 
Stories for Further Reading.
The Ordinary Son  by Ron Carlson.
Shiloh  by Bobbie Ann Mason.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love  by Raymond Carver.
Araby  by James Joyce.Port de Bras  by Melissa Pritchard.
Chrysanthemums  by John Steinbeck.
The Red Convertible  by Louise Erdrich.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings  by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The Lesson  by Toni Cade Bambara.
Yours  by Mary Robison.
 
Glossary.
Contributor's Biographies.
Index.

Summary

For beginning and intermediate creative writing courses (General/Fiction/Poetry) that use a workshop approach.
 
Message:  This workshop-based textbook offers a hands-on, interactive approach to writing fiction and poetry.
 
Presenting the fundamental elements of both genres, the text illustrates the creative writing process and guides the students through several drafts of various student sample writings as if they were participating in an actual workshop. Clearly written and organized, it also includes student samples, class-tested exercises, and an easy-to-use guide to the workshop process.

Product details

• Authors: Jeff Knorr, Tim Schell
• Publisher: Pearson Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2005
• EAN: 9780131787858
• ISBN: 978-0-13-178785-8
• No. of pages: 416
• Weight: 540 g
• Series: Longman; Longman
• Subject: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career