Monday, October 20, 2008

Persona

Write a poem which satisfies the following criteria:

1. The poem is in the first person singular.
2. The poem's title provides information which the reader needs in order to know who is speaking and to understand the situation which the speaker is talking about.
3. The poem should not be end-rhymed, but
4. The language of the poem should sound like conversation (it should be in the dialect of the speaker), but it should be rich enough to qualify as poetry (i.e., actually a little richer than ordinary conversation.)
5. Most of the poem should be a reminiscence about past events.
6. Through the way in which the protagonist tells the story, he or she must inadvertently reveal something about him/herself. In other words, the poem should exhibit some dramatic irony.
7. The speaker should be convincing, sound authentic.
8. The poem's dramatic irony -- the speaker's blind spot -- should have significance beyond being merely a personal foible.

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