Weekend Project

Okay, here's the project:

Get a piece of paper and find a spot where it's quiet and you're alone. Unless you want to do this in front of some people in which case, just do it wherever.

Here's your source matieral:

I die of thirst beside the fountain
I'm hot as fire, I'm shaking tooth on tooth
In my own country I'm in a distant land


I want you to say the poem out loud. Yes, out LOUD. The point is to see what kind of inflections, etc. you naturally add to it. Pretty much what we did in class today. So go ahead and find a quiet place and recite it aloud. Make sure you say it with intent. Give it some meaning, no matter how silly you may feel.

Now, copy the poem onto your piece of paper. Say it again, and concentrate on what words you are stressing and where your breaks are. What dynamics are you adding?

Now, write them in. Give the poem some musical notation that describes how you are saying the poem. Keep going until you have described your poetry performance to the best of your abilities.

You'll need to turn this in on Monday, so have it ready!

PS: Be sure to read the comments below in the "On Performance" entry. There are some great thoughts being shared!