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by Jay O'Toole

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A place for discussion on poetry, reviews, contests, etc.

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Aug 19, 2019 at 6:15pm

#3288092

DISCUSSION: Persona

by Dave

Your Creative License grants you the power to assume many personalities in your writing. In the blink of an eye, you can become "The High Pompitous" or a simple "Snowflake" .

Just like the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcAq6fRADzI ), poets project an array of voices from the page to relate impressions of the world around them, factual or fictional. The voice for any particular poem may be that of the poet or some imaginary speaker. The voice you choose will determine the relationship between you and your audience. Imagery, tone, patterns of sound, rhythm, and diction all contribute to development of an intriguing embodiment to represent your ideas on the page or computer screen in a way that will resonate with your readers. We have talked about imagery, patterns of sound, and rhythm in other discussions. Diction refers to word choices based upon either direct definition or associative connotation. The tone of a word, complexity of its structure, and formality aspects also influence the impact on your targeted audience.

Your poem provides a lens through which readers can perceive the particular world you are presenting. Various points of view allow the reader to see and hear what is happening from different angles. By manipulating the points of view, you can direct your audience's attention to the specific detail, opinion, or emotion you want to emphasize.

The personal first person "I" voice permits the reader to feel a direct connection with some individual expression of experience. Again, you may disclose your own feelings directly to the reader, as Langston Hughes did in his poem I, Too , or use some imaginary speaker, as he did in Mother To Son .

A more public first person voice uses the plural pronoun "we" to include the reader among the participants in an episode. The implication of shared experience tightens the bond with your audience.

The third person point of view is presented by some external observer, who may be "omniscient" with the ability to report the thoughts and feelings of any or all characters, or "limited" to only exterior actions and dialogue. The more restricted viewpoint can achieve a higher level of realism, because it reflects the way we normally interact in our lives.

The second person point of view uses the "you" and "your" pronouns exclusively to represent one person speaking directly to another person, as Rudyard Kipling did in his poem If . This is rarely applied, because it is difficult to sustain. However, it does provide the most intimate relationship with your audience, because it effectively turns your reader into a co-conspirator in whatever caper you are conjuring: "Is You?" .

Your assignment: Write a poem from a point of view NOT your own, such as a slice of life piece about a documentary filmmaker, trash collector, hospital volunteer, or news reporter. Use your imagination to get inside that person's head and let his or her voice convey a specific effect to the reader.

Let the creativity flow from your soul!