read write prompt #24: jargon
by Tom Adam
We live in a world of increasing specialization. Just about every little things has an entire field of knowledge dedicated to it, and each of those little fields has its own vocabulary.
Science uses a whole lot of Latin, psychology uses the word “affect” in a very strange way, and unless you happen to be a carpenter (or blacksmith) there are a million types of “hammers” you wouldn’t know the name for. Within poetry we use our own jargon referring to rhyme schemes and forms and tropes and all that.
The problem with all this specialized vocabulary is that the people who don’t know it have no idea what you’re talking about (and this is why most people don’t talk to me about computers) and just nod their heads politely. There is a prompt in here, really.
We’re also in National Poetry Month here in the U.S. (as if any of the read write poem readers would have missed that). I think there is a bit of a tendency to write our poems as if our poems were all in some other world, kinda similar to this one, but distinct. This is not a thing that’s a good thing or a bad thing, it just is.
But this month, I think it would be interesting to root our poems in the worlds we inhabit on a daily basis, and write a poem using the jargon of a specialized area. For the professional poets, we’ll know what you’re talking about, but if we have any structural engineers … the trick will be to use the vocabulary we deal with every day in generally not very poetic environments and make it meaningful to the readers of our poems, even if they have no idea what DHCP tables or eurocodes are.
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Wear it loud, wear it proud! Display the Read Write Poem badge on your site. Just click here or on the image above to get the code! read write poem news- yes, yes, here’s another virtual book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 6, 2010 | 11:37 amFind the latest tour stop for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace at Jillypoet, Jill Crammond Wickham’s blog, where you can find an interview with Pamela that discusses how she creates manuscripts.
Previous stops include Daniel Romo at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies and James Brush at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- the best of the web is in our ranks
February 6, 2010 | 11:35 amSarah J. Sloat’s poem,”Attending the Tasting” (published in The Literary Bohemian) has been selected for Best of the Web 2010. Congratulations, Sarah!
- another (w00t!) read write poem member on the joe milford poetry show
February 6, 2010 | 11:34 amOn the Joe Milford Poetry Show tomorrow (Feb. 6): W.F. Roby at 9 AM (PST). Find the show here!
Joe describes Will as a “great language poet and bad-ass.”
- ‘literary podcasting made simple with wordpress.com’
February 6, 2010 | 11:33 amDave Bonta has published a how-to article that might be of interest to WordPress users: “Literary Podcasting Made Simple with WordPress.com,” based on his and Beth Adams’ experience at Qarrtsiluni.
Thanks, Dave, for continuing to help make the community aware of technological resources that can expand our art.
- the latest (virtual) book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 3, 2010 | 3:53 pmThe latest tour stop has been posted for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace. Find out how Daniel Romo responded to the work at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies.
James Brush provided our first tour stop at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- planning for napowrimo in april, and you are invited!
February 2, 2010 | 6:12 pmHello, hello dear Read Write Poem community members! We are in the planning stages for NaPoWriMo. (What? Is that a groan I hear, or an excited exclamation?)
We are planning another prompt-every-day for those folks who love to write a daily poem in April (which is, as most of you know, National Poetry Month in the United States — although there is an international following of writing poetry every day in April, too, so it is not just about the States).
Anyway! This is a call for prompts because we want to run your ideas, one every day, in April. So here’s what to do:
- Prompts must be no more than 250 words, and we will take the first 30 that we receive.
- Include “NaPoWriMo Prompt” in the subject line of your email as well as your username (e.g., the name you use when you log in) so we can match you up with your prompt and give you the link love.
- Email your submission (in the body of the email — no attachments please) to prompts (at) readwritepoem (dot) org!
We’ll let you know when we’ve got the 30, but don’t delay because it takes a lot of time to format the posts and we want to be ready come April Fools’ Day. Woohoo!
- new senior contributors at read write poem
February 2, 2010 | 11:51 amWe are thrilled to announce that Ren Powell and Dave Jarecki are moving into the senior contributor role at Read Write Poem. Both have been writing feverishly for the site, as well as providing ideas for content and for the community as a whole. In short, they make this site a more lively, and better, place.
Ren and Dave will fill the roles vacated by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham, who have moved into the manager role.
Everyone please thank Ren and Dave for their hard work and commitment to Read Write Poem.
- rounding out the virtual book tour of sarah j. sloat’s ‘in the voice of a minor saint’
January 31, 2010 | 1:53 pmOur last stop on the Virtual Book Tour of Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint is with Ren Powell. Find Ren’s review at More Babel.
Joseph Harker provided our first stop in December, and you can find David Moolten’s review at Edible Detritus. David’s was followed by Dave Jarecki’s. Dave’s review is at his blog. Find Jill Crammond Wickham’s at Jillypoet: Mom Trying to Write.
In case you missed the introduction, we are (virtually) hosting Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint. For complete tour information, such as how you can get your own copy of the collection or how you can get involved in future tours, read this post.
- make your own book: get off the computer and onto the paper
January 30, 2010 | 4:19 pmBeth Adams has posted her latest project at The Cassandra Pages. “A Handmade Book” may not explicate all the details of bookbinding, but Beth shows readers the “Secret Belgian Binding.” It’s a beautiful as well as inspiring post.
If you would like more detailed instructions, Google “secret Belgian bookbinding” and find sites such as this one. Or look for a local book arts class for hands-on instruction.
As Beth says, ” … it did me good to get away from the computer and feel my hands at work!”
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oh…..
this has really got me fired up.
great prompt!!
I think I’ll try it too. Thanks!
I’m going home to the Adirondacks this weekend. There is most definitely a particular jargon there. I’ll have to carry a little notebook around at the family party.
[...] (Note: You may have noticed that my limerick contains some legal jargon. For more on poems containing specialized jargon, check out Read Write Poem.) [...]
I don’t know what it will look like, but I know it’s going to be hilarious. Let the irony fest begin!
Certainly, Katherine, there is a great opportunity for irony and entendre here. I’m looking forward to see how people work with that.
[...] 28, 2008 by watermaid This week the theme at Read Write Poem is ‘jargon’. I have managed to produce anything for them this month although I very much wanted to use the [...]
http://thebadpoetsociety.blogspot.com/2008/04/volcano.html
PoetMouse: Volcano