1. Week 1 Class 1

2. Agenda
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•
•
•
•
Adding the Class
Syllabus/Green Sheet
Website
Terms
In-class writing

3. Adding the Class
• I will take 32 students
• If you are on the waiting list, you can stay. I
won’t hand out add codes until Monday of next
week, and then, only if there is room.
• As we go over the syllabus, consider whether
you will stay in the class. If you want out, please
let me know, so I can offer your seat to another
student.
• If you are not on the waiting list, it is unlikely you
will get into the class.

4. The Green Sheet
• What you will find here
– Course Requirements
• Assignments and values
• Participation
– Required Materials
– Class Policies
• Plagiarism
• Conduct and Courtesy
– The Class Website
• How to sign up for an
account
• How to post your
homework.

5. Texts and Required Materials:
• Reading assignments will be posted on the
course website. There is no text book for you to
buy.
• College-level dictionary
• A stapler, USB flash drive, loose-leaf paper or a
notebook for notes and drafts, and pens or
pencils. Alternatively, you may use your
computer for drafting.

6. Requirements:
• Active participation in class discussions and regular
attendance. You will earn real points for your
participation in activities.
• Keeping up-to-date on the assignments and
reading.
• Formal writing: a poetry project, two fiction
projects, and a drama project (small groups).
• A series of creative writing posts to the class website
• Terms tests, reading quizzes, and in-class
assignments.

7. Grading

8. Class Policies
• Writing Submissions:
• All out of class work to be submitted to me electronically
before the class period in which it is due. Work must be
submitted as an attachment in Microsoft word. No other
saved forms are acceptable. If you do not have Microsoft
word software available, leave yourself time to save and send
your work from a library computer. All work must be in MLA
format (poetry is an exception). I will read and return work, in
the order I receive it, with comments both in the text and in
the margins. To see comments and suggestions, go to “view”
and click on “mark-up.” You may revise from this electronic
document. Remember to accept or discard comments and
remarks as appropriate.

9. Attendance:
• Attendance is a significant part of this course, and success
in this course depends on regular attendance and active
participation. Participation points will be part of our daily
activities. If you are not in class, you cannot earn these
points. You should save absences for emergencies, work
conflicts, weddings, jury duty, or any other issues that
might arise in your life.
•
• It is your responsibility to talk to me your absences or
other conflicts. Work done in class cannot be made up. If
you must be absent, please arrange with a classmate to
get assignments and notes. Also, please arrive on time, as
you will not be able to make up work completed before
you arrive, including quizzes.

10. • Tests:
– We will have several terms tests during the quarter. I will
offer one opportunity late in the quarter to retake (or
make-up) one of the first three terms tests.
• Late Work
– I do not accept late work. I do, however, extend an
opportunity to revise one assignment for a better grade. If
you miss a due date, you may submit that work when the
revisions are due on the last day of the term. This does
disqualify you from revising another piece.

11. Conduct, Courtesy, and Electronic Devices:
• In this class, we will regularly engage in the discussion of each
other’s work. Because writing is so personal, I ask each of you
to be both kind and honest. Do share helpful critiques so each
writer may grow. Courtesy will allow each person to have the
opportunity to express his or her ideas in a comfortable
environment.
• Courtesy includes but is not limited to politely listening to
others when they contribute to class discussions or while they
give presentations, not slamming the classroom door or
walking in front of classmates giving presentations if you do
arrive late, and maintaining a positive learning environment
for your fellow classmates. To help maintain a positive learning
environment, please focus on the work assigned, turn off all
cell phones and iPods before class, and do not text-message in
class. If your behavior becomes disruptive to the learning
environment of the class, you may be asked to leave and/or be
marked absent.

12. CLASS POLICIES:
• Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism includes quoting or paraphrasing material
without documentation and copying from other
students or professionals. Intentional plagiarism is a
grave offense; the resulting response will be
distasteful. Depending upon the severity, instances
of plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the
paper or the course and possible administrative
action. All assignments will be scanned and
scrutinized for academic dishonesty. Please refer to
your handbook for more information regarding
plagiarism.

13. Syllabus
• The syllabus is a tentative schedule of agenda.
• It may be revised during the quarter.
• Use it to determine how to prepare for class.
Current
Project
What we
will do in
class 
Homework due
before the next
class  

14. The Quarter Plan on the Syllabus
• Sections are identified by color
–
–
–
–
Project 1 is poetry: lavender
Project 2 is fiction: blue
Project 3 is fiction: light blue
Project 4 is drama: orange
• Exams and paper due dates are written in bold
• Holidays are marked in green

15. Website:
• Our class website is http://palmoreewrt30.wordpress.com. In
order to do the homework, you must establish an account. To
make your own FREE Word Press account, go to wordpress.com
and click on the large, orange button that says, “Get started here.”
The system will walk you through a series of steps that will allow
you to set up your own user-friendly Word Press blog, sign up for
just a user name or sign in with your Facebook account. Make
sure you sign in with YOUR Word Press username before you post
on our class page so you get credit for your work.
• If you prefer not to use your own name, you may use a
pseudonym. Please email me your username if it is significantly
different from your real name.
• If you cannot establish your website and username, please come
to my office hours as soon as possible, and I will help you with the
process. Much of our work will take place online, so establishing
this connection is mandatory.

16. On the Website
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•
•
•
•
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Writing Assignments
Reading Assignments
The Green Sheet
The Syllabus (The Daily Plan)
Writing Tips
Helpful Links
Your Daily Homework Assignment (which is
where you post your homework.)

17. Posting Homework
• On the front page of the website, you will find the
homework post after each class.
• Below that post on the right, are the words “Leave a
comment.”
• Click there and a comment box will open. Post your
homework in the comment box and click “Post
Comment.”

18. Is this
class too
hard?
Will I be a famous
writer soon?
Is this class
History 10?

19. TERMS

20. Haiku
The haiku is composed of 17 sound units divided into three parts - one with 5 syllables, one
with 7 syllables and another with 5 syllables.
Alliteration
The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words. Example:
"Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood." Hopkins, "In the Valley of the Elwy.”
Assonance
The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as in "I rose
and told him of my woe." Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" contains
assonantal "I's" in the following lines: "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, /
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself."

21. Convention
A customary feature of a literary work, such as the use of a chorus in Greek
tragedy, the inclusion of an explicit moral in a fable, or the use of a particular rhyme
scheme in a villanelle. Conventions of the Haiku include the line and syllable
count, the use of a word that marks a season, and the “phrase and fragment” style.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words to imitate the sounds they describe. Words such as buzz and crack
are onomatopoetic. The following line from Pope's "Sound and Sense"
onomatopoetically imitates in sound what it describes:
When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labors, and the words move slow.
Most often, however, onomatopoeia refers to words and groups of words, such as
Tennyson's description of the "murmur of innumerable bees," which attempts to
capture the sound of a swarm of bees buzzing.

22. Let’s get ready
to write!
Haiku

23. “Haiku show[s] us the world in a water
drop, providing a tiny lens through which to
glimpse the miracle and mystery of life” (National
Endowment for the Humanities).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypergurl/514534462/
Attribution, Non Commercial

24. What is Haiku?
• It is a traditional form of
Japanese poetry
• It describes nature, every
day life, or the human
condition
• It is based on personal
reflection
• Its value is in sudden
discovery or revelation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ionushi/434663959/
Attribution, Non Commercial, No Derivatives

25. The moment two bubbles
are united, they both vanish.
A lotus blooms.
-Kijo Murakami (1865-1938)

26. Why Haiku?
• It is a great mode of selfexpression
• It demands both brevity and
clarity in writing
• It captures one moment and
its emotions perfectly
• It expresses complex ideas
through simple observations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeysox/2778127854/
Attribution, No Derivatives

27. Writing Haiku
• Writing and understanding
Haiku requires multiple
skills:
–
–
–
–
Close observation
Careful reflection
Concise word choice
An open mind
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcomagrini/698692268/
Attribution, Non Commercial, No Derivatives

28. Traditional Haiku
The crow has flown away:
swaying in the evening sun,
a leafless tree.
-Natsume Soseki (1867-1916)

29. Writing Haiku: Form
• A Haiku traditionally has three lines with seventeen
syllables:
– Five
– Seven
– Five
--Three
--Five
--Three
• This form is strict in Japanese
• Sometimes it varies in other languages or in
translation. This is true in English. You may use
fewer syllables.

30. Writing Haiku: Structure and
Language
• A haiku consists of two parts: The description and the
reflection.
• Each part depends on the other for meaning.
• In Japanese Haiku, the break is marked by a “cutting word.”
In English, the break is often marked by punctuation (e.g.
colon, long dash, ellipsis)
• A haiku usually includes a kigo, a word that indicates a
season. This does not have to be a traditional season like fall
or winter. It could be baseball season or voting time; the
reader just has to be able to determine when the event takes
place.

31. English Haiku
• Road from Banbury
a man spilled from his
crushed car
dead eyes full of rain
Jane K. Lambert
open boxcar doors:
the evening sun slips
into a swarm of gnats
James Chessing
• the rhythm
of her old brown hands
weaving thin wet reeds
Elizabeth St Jacques
1991 Charles B. Dickson International Haiku
Contest--winners

32. Write Your Own Haiku
–Try the five, seven, five syllable form
–Try the three, five, three syllable form
–Include a kigo to indicate the season
–Use both a description and a reflection.
–Remember to identify the break between
the two with punctuation.

33. Billboards . . .
wet
in spring
rain . . .
Eric W. Amann
old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water's sound
Matsuo Bashô
(1644-1694)
Sign says "no parking";
it wasn't there
yesterday;
my favorite spot.
Paul Brown
the nail box:
every nail
is bent
Ozaki Hôsai(18851926)
pausing
halfway up the stair-white chrysanthemums
Elizabeth Searle Lamb

39. Works Cited
• Natural Endowment for the Humanities. EDSITEment. Can You
Haiku? May 2002. 10 October 2009.
<http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?ID=250>.
• Toyomasu, Kei Grieg. HAIKU for PEOPLE. 10 Jan. 2001. 10
October 2009. <http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku>.
• Herrlin, Jackie. HA-KU. 2004. Internet Archive. 10 October
2009. <http://www.archive.org/details/cie_haku>.
(Attribution, Non Commercial, No Derivatives)
• Russo, Dave. North Carolina Haiku Society. Unknown. 10
October 2009. <http://nc-haiku.org/haiku-misc.htm>.

40. Homework
• Make your Word Press Website or establish your user
name
• Post #1: 2-3 Haiku
• Bring a copy of your work to our next meeting.
• Reading: Blank Verse-All (on the website under
“course readings,” “poetry,” and “blank verse”).
• Study Terms 1-5