Getting the Knack: 20 Poetry Writing Exercises 20 (Paperback)

by Stephen Dunning (Author), William Stafford (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Introduces different kinds of poems, including headline, letter, recipe, list, and monologue, and provides exercises in writing poems based on both memory and imagination.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814118488
• ISBN-13: 978-0814118481
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,813 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great activities for beginning, intermediate student poets., May 10, 1999

By A Customer

Dunning and Stafford have created a series of engaging, easy to understand activities that will inspire students to write good to excellent poetry. Detailed instructions for writing assignments include: found poems, letter poems, pantoums, question-answer poems, and syllable count poems. Their writing style is breezy and conversational, the examples provided are of high quality yet not out of reach of the typical high school age student. It is an excellent book both for reluctant creative writers and the student who truly wants to be a poet.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Teaching Text, June 4, 2002

By	"gloselle" (Southgate, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This is a cookbook-like approach to the teaching of poetic form. Each chapter presents a different form, a step-by-step guide to implementing a lesson with students (which is clear enough, I've found, to leave for a substitute lesson plan!), and selected examples of successful types. A great work for junior and senior high school general-level classes.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best how-to poetry book out there!, March 31, 2000

By	washbear (Apex, NC USA) - See all my reviews

I hope this book isn't going out of print. It's a gift to be able to take lessons from a master poet like William Stafford, especially now that he has passed away. I don't know of any other poetry technique book that allows a student to really get their feet wet in language. This is a real treat in the exploration and discovery of language becoming poetry. You will get marvelous results working through these 20 exercises.