Prompts and homework for the week of September 3

I am thoroughly grateful to my friend and colleague Jeff Kass who teaches creative writing at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, MI. Many of these ideas come from him and can be found in his book: Underneath.

Exercise #1: Writers are like archeologists. Our job is to keep digging. This exercise helps to begin to do this. You may not have one perfect poem, but you should have several interesting ideas you may want to explore further. The work here is to keep unpeeling the layers, keep making connections from one idea to the next. The poem will all start the same:
Underneath my shirt is my skin
Underneath my skin is my heart
Underneath my  heart is...

Exercise #2: Go outside and find something which is often overlooked. Take notes, observe small details. Make sure to focus on the sensory: see, hear, taste, touch, feel. Then write a descriptive paragraph from the point of view of that object, answering the question "Who Am I?"  Make sure your paragraph is descriptive, but does not name the object directly.

Homework:
Good writers pay attention. This, on occasion, involves eavesdropping on other conversations. I want you to go to a public place: Hannaford's, the mall, a soccer game, a street in Portland. Then, listen to snippets of conversation. Pay attention to the phrasing and language. Write down your best observations. The snippets won't be long  (3-4 lines maximum) and won't necessarily make sense as a whole story. Bring in your evidence by next Friday, 9/13.

Also, keep writing!! One page a day. I mean it. I'll check in on Friday, 9/13.