![]() ![]() What Are the Basic Properties of Blackout Poetry? Rhyme Structureĭadaism, but there are isolated examples from earlierĬurrently popular in classroom settings and in digital formįound poetry is the larger genre under which blackout poetry falls. Understanding blackout poetry would be difficult without a passing understanding of found poetry, so we’ll briefly discuss the broader genre first. This does affect the general feel of the poem, but you should go with an understanding that they’re roughly in the same genre. Many people also treat blackout poetry and erasure poetry as interchangeable terms since the only difference is essentially in the words either blacked out or whited out. This is usually done with a marker or similar instrument in order to only leave a poem behind. The basic premise behind blackout poetry is taking a preexisting article or excerpt and literally blacking out words. Once you’ve crossed out everything you want to, step back and look at how your blackout poem has taken shape.8 What Are the Most Important Types of Poems? What Is Blackout Poetry?īlackout poetry, also called redacted poetry, is a subgenre of found poetry that relies on the concept of “poetry by subtraction”. Just let the creativity flow, and don’t hold back. It may help to think of your redactions as part of a distillation process-the more you boil away the excess, the more powerful your finished product will become.ĭon’t be afraid of surprises, and know that it’s okay not to have strong end goal in mind. No matter your process, be sure you are eliminating at least half of the words on the page to dodge any possible plagiarism issues. Some people like to cross out words in a fury, while others like to move slowly and meticulously. go back to step four.Īre you happy with the words you kept? Feel free to refine your blackout poem as much as you’d like by continuing to remove words that don’t fit. For added flair, you can draw doodles, lines, or even paint over the redacted text instead. Use a black marker to redact, cross out, or cover up any words you don’t need. Now it’s time for the blackout part that of blackout poetry. ![]() You can always cross out more words later. You can be liberal here and box in as many words as you like. You may want to hang on to a few transition words and prepositions to help you create complete sentences (though complete sentences aren’t required for a blackout poem). choose some connecting words.įeel free to jump around, but go through and mark words that you think tie in with, flow well with, or relate to your anchor words. You don’t necessarily even need to know why these words resonate with you, but they will eventually capture the main idea or feeling of your blackout poem. Choose words or phrases that strike a chord with you emotionally, intellectually, or philosophically. choose one or two anchor words.Ĭhoose a few key words or phrases to “anchor” your poem. Lightly underline your favorite words or phrases with a pencil. Think of it as a treasure hunt: you’re looking for the most valuable words in a sea of text. The poem you make in the end doesn’t necessarily have to have anything to do with what the original text was about. Just glance at it to let a few phrases or ideas jump out at you. look over the page.ĭon’t worry about reading it too closely. If you’re incredibly attached to a piece of text but still want to make a poem out of it, don’t fret-you can make a photocopy. It can be an old book, a newspaper clipping, an advertisement, or any other piece of paper with words on it. The first step, and probably the hardest, is to choose a piece of print media to transform. Kleon usually used newspaper for his blackout poems, but you can use whatever print media you like. The idea of the blackout poem is attributed to artist and bestselling author Austin Kleon, who used this activity to help him through severe writer’s block. Blackout poetry is a great exercise for writers, as it asks us to focus on selecting a limited number of words to create new meanings. Push the limits of your creativity and make a frame-worthy piece of art by creating a blackout poem. ![]()
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