Eng 9- Final Vignette Project

I have pasted a copy of the vignette project handout passed out in class below:

House on Mango Street Final Project

Reading and Writing the Vignette

The focus of your “final” will be the vignette. In House on Mango Street, instead of dividing her novel into chapters, Sandra Cisneros uses a series of vignettes about interrelated topics to tell her story and convey meaning.

For your final for this class, you will analyze at least 3 vignettes in House on Mango Street and write 3 vignettes in the style and form of those in House on Mango Street and (possibly) take a short test (less than 50 questions) on literary terms, your understanding and analysis of Cisneros’ vignettes, and your understanding of writing conventions.

***YOU WILL BE WRITING ON THIS SHEET TO HELP YOU PLAN AND WILL TURN IN p3 and p4 ALONG WITH THE ASSIGNMENT. SO DO NOT LOSE OR THROW AWAY THIS HANDOUT***

Schedule

Thur, May 24	Vignette Project Assigned
	Read: Character Vignette Discussed HW: work on Character Vignette Analysis and try writing a Character Vignette Work on Character Vignette writing
Fri, May 25	Read: Event/ Moment Vignette Discussed HW: work on Event/Moment Vignette Analysis Work on Event/Moment Vignette Writing
Mon, May 28	No school
Tues, May 29	Read: Work on Vignette Analysis or Vignette Writing
Wed, May 30	No class, work on Vignette Analysis or Vignette Writing at home
Thurs, May 31	Setting Vignette Discussed Object Vignette Discussed HW: Work on Setting or Object Vignette Analysis Work on Setting or Object Vignette Writing
Fri, June 1	Rough Draft of Vignette Writing (2 copies) Peer Editing and Writing Conferences
Mon, June 4	Vignette Analyses Due Continue Writing Conferences
Tues, June 5 Wed, June 6	Final Draft early EC turn-in Make-Up Work/ Extra Credit due
Thurs, June 7	Last Day of School Final Draft of Written Vignettes (include rough drafts) due in class and (if you want them posted on the blog, submit via email as well) [House on Mango Street Final Test]

What is a Vignette?

A short piece of writing meant to capture the essence of its subject

               

Ø  A vignette need not tell the whole story but the piece it shows should be vivid and rich. In a vignette it is crucial that one SHOWS not TELLS and relies primarily on the implied not explicit.

Ø  A vignette should be read on the surface level(explicit) and subtext (implicit)

Ø  Does not need to include every detail, but a variety of details that capture what makes the subject vivid, real, complex, and unique

Ø  Uses concrete and specific detail not just adjectives

Ø  Utilizes sensory imagery and figurative language (personification, hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism, simile, etc)

The subject of a vignette may be:

             

I. A Moment -An event or part of an event (usually lasting no more than half an hour, preferably much shorter)

·         Written primarily “in scene” (real time in the moment- not summary)

·         Each action described conveys the meaning of the vignette

·         Most action is shown not summarized

·         Vivid verbs and specific nouns are used, adjectives and adverbs are used sparingly

·         EXAMPLE:

II. A Character -A detailed description of someone that captures the essence of who he/she is, like a portrait or snapshot

·         Includes specific, concrete details

·         Is not just a list of facts or a list of adjectives

·         Should incorporate different aspects of the character (not just physical description or backstory)

·         Does not need to include everything about the character but rather those details that make him/her “real,” complex, and unique

·         EXAMPLE: Marin, Darius & the clouds, Alicia

III. A Setting – A detailed description  of a place or time period that creates mood and sets up a story. A setting vignette is like the beginning of a movie, that long shot of a landscape or cityscape that orients you as to where (and when) you are.

[Setting: the location, time period, and context in which the story takes place. The setting usually sets the mood of the story.]

·         Includes element of story

·         Sets up a distinct mood and tone

·         Makes the place come to life

·         Need not include every detail, but should include close-up details and “zoomed out” details

·         Includes not just visual details but incorporates other senses (sound, smell, taste, touch, and emotional effect)

·         EXAMPLE:

IV. An Object (Objects) –A detailed description of a thing or idea detailing the physical aspect of the object as well as its symbolic meaning or that which makes the object significant (follows all the vignette guidelines above)

·         Detailed physical description of object utilizing sensory imagery and figurative language

·         Symbolic explanation of object implied through concrete details

·         Background of object implied through use of concrete details

·         EXAMPLE:

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Reading Vignettes: House on Mango Street Vignette Analysis

DUE Monday June 4 (50 pts each, 150 pts total)

In House on Mango Street, find an example for 3 of the 4 types of vignettes and answer the following questions in well structured paragraphs:

I. Character

1. Who is the focal character of the vignette?

2. What do we learn about the character in this vignette (subjective)? How do we learn this? (objective- use quotes)

3. What does Cisneros want to communicate about this character? How does she do that? ( use specific details)

I WILL BE ANALYZING __________________

II. Moment

1. What is the action or event described?

2. What is the point or takeaway of this event or action?

3. What specific details and sensory imagery is used and how does this bring the moment to life and convey meaning?

IWILL BE ANALYZING ___________________

III. Setting

1. What is the setting of this vignette?

2. What sensory details does this vignette include to bring it to life?

3. What is the essence of this setting? What point or meaning is conveyed through the use of this setting? (Include specific quotes to highlight your point)

4. What concrete and specific details are included? What do they convey?

5. What mood is conveyed by this setting (use quotes and examples)?

I WILL BE ANALYZING ___________________

IV. Object

1. What is the object being described?

2. Why is it being described or what is the larger meaning conveyed? / Why is this object significant?

3. How does the author use sensory imagery and specific details? (use quotes)

4. How does the author use figurative language?

I WILL BE ANALYZING ____________________

2. Writing the Vignette: Vignette Creation

Write 3 vignettes (you may do one more for extra credit) applying what you learned from your analysis

You will be graded on:

àUse of specific concrete details, sensory imagery, figurative language

àAbility to focus on subject

àAbility to Show not Tell (emphasis on implying meaning using detail)

à Overall effect of vignette

àWriting quality (spelling, grammar, style)

Rough Drafts due: Friday, June 1 (25 pts each, total 75 pts)

Handwritten neatly or typed (2 copies needed for writing conferences)

MY 3 VIGNETTES ARE:

1.

2

.

3.

GRADE:

Conference date and signature:________________________

COMMENTS FOR FINAL DRAFT (continued on back):

Final Draft due: Thursday, June 7 [NO LATE WORK] (100 pts)

Typed in Times New Roman or Courier 12pt font

You may turn final drafts in early for EC hard copy to me on Monday or by email Tues or Wed (10 EC points for each day early)

MY FINAL DRAFT VIGNETTE IS:

GRADE:

3. Vignette Reading/Performance (25 pts)

Read one of your vignettes aloud in class on either Thursday, June 7 or Monday June 4 (Extra Credit)

I WILL BE PERFORMING ON: ____________________

GRADE:

Eng 9 HW and reminder that work is due tomorrow

Tonight's HW:
assignments 1-14 (last set of cw/hw packets for weeks 17-18) will be due tomorrow. I apologize, but I will print them out tomorrow  and pass them out in class.

Do an analysis of a character vignette from House on Mango Street. Below is a list of the vignettes you can do your analysis on:

P62 Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water

 
P65 Geraldo No Last Name
 
P67 Edna’s Ruthie
 
P70 The Earl of Tennessee
 
P79 Rafaela who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays
 
P81 Sally
 
P84 Minerva Writes Poems
 
P88 Beautiful & Cruel

p90 A Smart Cookie

Also work on starting your first vignette. Look back at the descriptions you wrote in the past about people, try answering the following questions:

How does the character look like (use specific details, not just adjectives)?

How doe they sound? smell?

What is interesting or exciting or unique about them?

What are some things he/she commonly says?

What's an interesting or funny anecdote about them?

Why do you want to write about them?

CW: For reference: Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction

What is Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category. Some self-described markets for flash fiction impose caps as low as three hundred words, while others consider stories as long as a thousand words to be flash fiction.^[1] Other names for flash fiction include sudden fiction, microfiction, micro-story, short short, postcard fiction and short short story, though distinctions are sometimes drawn between some of these terms; for example, sometimes one-thousand words is considered the cut-off between "flash fiction" and the slightly longer short story "sudden fiction".

As in any story, your reader should feel “into” the story, not alienated by it. He should be able to see the beginning, experience the conflict and feel satisfied with the conclusion. Unlike a vignette, flash-fiction often contains the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution. However, unlike a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten - that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline.

Though the form is by definition extremely short, it is not a medium that tolerates fragmented storytelling. The challenge of flash fiction is to tell a complete story in which every word is absolutely essential, to peel away the frills and lace until you're left with nothing but the hard, clean-scraped core of a story.

Do not make the mistake of assuming that such bare-bones writing is less than elegant or beautiful. Sometimes beauty, or even inspiration, can be found in the simplest of things.

What makes a complete story? Lila Guzman, author of "Ask the Author", once told me that a complete story is "A beginning, a middle and end." How difficult is that?

The easiest way to write flash fiction, in my experience, is to let it all hang out. Throw yourself into your writing and crank out a beautiful story, regardless of the length. Then, take a good, long look at it.

Grab a red marker and slash out every adjective and adverb you can find. Your word count will diminish greatly. Run back through the story and read it aloud. Does it still make sense? You'll be amazed at how much emotion and description can be conveyed by a story devoid of descriptive words.

Now grab that red pen again. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is there a definable plot? By this, go back to the comment made by Guzman. Can you identify the three simple parts of this story? Do you have a clear beginning? A strong centerpiece? A definitive ending? If you don't, you've got nothing more than a snippet of a larger story. Start editing.
• Does your story make its point and drive it home, hard? Most flash fiction stories, due to their abrupt beginnings and sudden endings, leave the reader breathless when finished. Though not all stories need to be forceful to fit into this small genre, it is a trend that has followed flash throughout the years. Still, if your story doesn't have that hard-hitting theme and end by smacking into a wall, don't worry; it's not a necessity.
Is every word absolutely essential to the story? Or have you left unnecessary sentences here and there, or maybe a few unneeded descriptives? "The quick brown dog jumped over the lazy fox" is a vivid way of stating the facts, but think of it this way: You're writing this story from margin to margin. Those margins are solid walls -- there's no going past them. Give yourself five lines, or ten if you're less daring, and consider the first and last line your floor and ceiling. To tell your story, you've got to make the most of the space. "The dog jumped over the fox" leaves you with much more room to move forward, to expand.

Guidelines for Flash Fiction

(you will be graded first and foremost on how well the story is written, even if it breaks the “rules” below; however, using the guidelines below, will help you to write a good piece of flash fiction)

1. You only have room for one main character, so choose her well. What’s more, in a flash piece, this character has only one compelling need. Because flash fiction is about focus, all of her qualities focus themselves on supporting her single compelling need.
2. You only have room for one scene, so choose it well. Actually, it’s more like a half a scene, or even a quarter scene. There’s not enough room to tell the character’s life story. One setting, one moment, one change. What is the most important change that occurs in the character’s story? That is her defining moment, and that is what the scene must focus on.
3. You only have room for a single plot. This single story thread you spin directly from the main conflict. No secondary conflicts. No subplots.
4. You only have room for a single, simple theme. I love stories that actually say something. And a novel can say two or three different things. It can explore interrelated themes with multiple interpretations. But not a flash story. You get to make one simple point on one theme, and everything else you need to leave for other stories.
5. Get to the main conflict of the scene in the first sentence. This is your hook. You don’t have time to lallygag around, so get right into it. In as few words as possible, why do I care? Start with a bang and then increase the intensity. Don’t worry about running out of things to talk about or tiring out the reader; you’re more likely to encounter the converse problems.
6. Skip as much of the backstory as you can. The reader usually doesn’t need to know how the character got to this point. And if he does absolutely need to know some part of the backstory, keep it as simple as possible, and imply as much of it as you can through its relation to the story. In a flash piece, you don’t need to explain everything to the reader. Let him figure it out himself through logical deduction.
7. “Show” anything related to the main conflict. That is, “show”; don’t “tell” it. This is where you use up the bulk of your words. Ping-pong the primary plot. (I.e., write it in MRU’s.) Focus the story’s intensity here, and don’t let up. The story is too short to require easy-going interludes. Except…
8. “Tell” the backstory; don’t “show” it. That is, any part of the backstory that you couldn’t get rid of, and you couldn’t leave to the imagination, because it actually builds the main conflict or explains a key plot point… If you have to go off on a tangent, at least gloss over it as quickly as possible.
9. Save the twist until the end. Or rather, as soon as you’ve laid enough groundwork for the story’s climax, do the deed and get out of there. Skip the epilogue; you don’t need one. (Or if you absolutely must write an epilogue, try: “And they lived happily ever after.” But that’s an extra 6 words you probably didn’t need.)

10. Eliminate all but the essential words. Get out your editor’s pen, and cross out any word that isn’t absolutely needed. If that means shorter, choppier sentences, that’s just fine, because it increases the tempo.

Flash Fiction Resources and Publishing Opportunities

There are many online publications that worship flash fiction. There are also many print magazines that accept the genre. Here are a few market listings that may help you in your search:

Flash Fiction Online

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/

The Green Tricycle

http://greentricycle.com/main/guidelines.html

SmokeLong Quarterly

http://smokelong.com/

The Vestal Review

http://www.vestalreview.net/

Other Resources:

Writing Flash Fiction, by G.W. Thomas

http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/flashfiction.html

	Sudden Fiction: American Short-Short Stories. Edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas. Layton, Utah: Gibbes M. Smith, Inc., 1986.
	Sudden Fiction (Continued): 60 New Short-Short Stories. Edited by Robert Shapard, James Thomas, 1996.
	Sudden Fiction International: 60 Short-Short Stories. Edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard. New York-London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989.
	Fast Fiction: Creating Fiction in Five Minutes. Roberta Allen. Cincinnati: Story Press, 1997.
	Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories. Edited by James Thomas, Denise Thomas, & Tom Hazuka. New York-London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992.

Flash Fiction Example:

"Reconstruction Work" is a flash fiction short story by Bruce Holland Rogers. It first appeared in the December 2007 issue of Flash Fiction Online and won the inaugural Micro Award in 2008.^[1][2] The story is of a conversation between a funeral home employee and the granddaughter of a deceased woman next to her casket. The story is 655 words long.

 Story

::Next to the casket, I leaned on my cane and admired the work my brother practitioners had done on Elizabeth Fordham Roth. She had died at 80, but she did not look a day over 60 and might have only been sleeping. Physical reconstruction. Cosmetics. Those are the easier mortuary arts. It is the work of an afternoon to sew eyelids shut with invisible stitches, to close a slack jaw, to smooth out wrinkles and rouge pallid cheeks back to seeming life. My branch of the discipline is far more subtle and is never finished in a single afternoon.

The young woman I was waiting for entered the chapel. I looked away from her but was aware of her approach as she came up the aisle. She hesitated, as if to give this elderly man, this stranger, whatever time he needed with her grandmother. I waited. And waited. I was not going to give her solitude. At last, she came to stand beside the coffin. We stood in silence together.

“She had quite the life,” I said at last.

The granddaughter said nothing. She set her mouth in a hard line.

“A good life,” I said. “And comfortable.”

Still no reaction, though a muscle jumped along her jaw.

“Are you family?” I said.

She nodded.

“I knew her when she was a girl,” I said. “My family had money, too, in those days. But not like the Fordhams. Riding stables. Servants. The lawns and gardens. There was a maze of hedges. Heaven for a child.”

“Well,” she said. And that was all.

I said, “And of course her father doted on her.”

The granddaughter turned to look at me. “Her father — ” she began. She squinted. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No,” I said, and bowed my head as if I had just given her my name. “Nice to meet you.” Age purchases a right to eccentricity, to vagueness. She didn’t ask directly for my name.

“Francis Fordham,” she said, “was not such a good...” She looked at the coffin. “He did things to her.”

“He did things...” I let my words trail off. Then I shook my head and sighed. “Not that old nonsense....”

“What do you mean, old nonsense?”

“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business, really. But in the last few years, your grandmother’s memory wasn’t... Oh, dear. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to speak ill of dear Lizzie. But her father was a gentleman, in an era when the word still meant something. He would never...” I waved my hand, dismissing the idea that Francis Fordham could have ever done anything improper to his daughter.

“He did. She told me.”

“Ahhh,” I said, doing my best to convey scepticism. I looked away as if I were considering whether it was my place to go on. Then I said, “The memories of an old person are sometimes confused, my dear.” I made a point of looking at the coffin and shaking my head.

That should be sufficient. I nodded and took my leave, saying again as I went, as if in sorrow for the delusional state of my departed friend, “Poor Lizzie.”

There were many guests on the Fordham estate in the heyday of Fordham wealth and power. A long-time friend for Elizabeth was certainly plausible. She knew so many people. What grandchild would know all of her grandmother’s friends?

The young woman might still believe the version of events that Elizabeth Fordham Roth once told her, but I had at least planted a seed of doubt. In my profession, we had been planting seeds of one kind or another about Francis Fordham ever since his death. That’s what we do. We’ll continue to work on the remembrance of this man until the mortuary endowment runs out. It’s a healthy endowment. As I said, mine is hardly the work of an afternoon.

---

For Reference: Poetry

1.  Acrostic Poem- Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a word or message when read in a sequence.

Example:

                                An Acrostic

Elizabeth it is in vain you say

"Love not"—thou sayest it in so sweet a way:

In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.

Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:

Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,

Breath it less gently forth—and veil thine eyes.

Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried

To cure his love—was cured of all beside—

His folly—pride—and passion—for he died.

                                                                -Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

2.  Ballad- A narrative (tells a story) poem that is about a subject that is very important to the poet.

Example:

The Ballad of Reading Jail

In Reading Jail by Reading town

  There is a pit of shame,

And in it lies a wretched man

  Eaten by teeth of flame,

In a burning winding-sheet he lies,

  And his grave has got no name.

And there, till Christ call forth the dead,

  In silence let him lie:

No need to waste the foolish tear,

  Or heave the windy sigh:

The man had killed the thing he loved,

  And so he had to die.

And all men kill the thing they love,

  By all let this be heard,

Some do it with a bitter look,

  Some with a flattering word,

The coward does it with a kiss,

  The brave man with a sword!

                                -Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

3.  Blank Verse Poem- A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.[1]

Example:

                                The Second Coming

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre

    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

    The best lack all conviction, while the worst

    Are full of passionate intensity…

                                                -William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

4.  Burlesque Poem- Poetry that treats a serious subject in a humorous way.

Example:

                                Burlesque

Watch the fire undress him,

how flame fingers each button,

rolls back his collar, unzips him

without sweet talk or mystery.

See how the skin begins to gather

at his ankles, how it slips into

the embers, how it shimmers

beneath him, unshapen, iridescent

as candlelight on a dark negligee.

Come, look at him, at all his goods,

how his whole body becomes song,

an aria of light, a psalm’s kaleidoscope…

                                                -Amaud Jamal Johnson

5.  Carpe Diem Poem- Latin expression that means ‘seize the day.’ Carpe diem poems have a theme of living for today.

Example:

                To the Virgins, to make much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying.

That glorious lamp of Heaven, the sun,

The higher he’s a-getting

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer,

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry:

For having lost but once your prime,

You may forever tarry.

                                -Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

6.  Concrete Poem- A poem typed in a way that reveals a shape that the poem focuses on.  This can either be through re-arrangement of letters of a word or by arranging the words as a shape.

Example:

                                                                                        Triangle

I

am

a very

special

shape I have

three points and

three lines straight.

Look through my words

and you will see, the shape

that I am meant to be. I'm just

not words caught in a tangle. Look

close to see a small triangle. My angles

add to one hundred and eighty degrees, you

learn this at school with your abc's. Practice your

math and you will see, some other fine examples of me.

7.  Elegy- A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual or a thing.

Example:

                Elegy of Ages

poets of centuries,

their words ever so

-eloquent

whisper their lives

which

Result in catastrophe

but preserve them forever

-in elegy

                -Sakura Tomoko

8.  Found Poem- Poetry created by taking words, phrases, and passages from other sources and reframing by adding spaces, lines, or by altering the text with additions or subtractions.

Example:

National Laureate                

California

I can stand here all day and tell you how much

I honor, admire, how brave you are.

Nevada

Treat your Mommy nice

and take her to Las Vegas—

she'll think you're swell.

New York

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye.

Oregon

And you pretty much gotta trust Her,

even if that means twiddling your thumbs

while she makes Her way through Her medley—

                - Robert Fitterman

9.  Free verse (vers libre)- Poetry written in either rhyme or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical (rhythmic) pattern.

Example:

                                lifedance

the area dividing the brain and the soul

is affected in many ways by

experience--

some lose all mind and become soul:

insane.

some lose all soul and become mind:

intellectual.

some lose both and become:

accepted.

                                -Charles Bukowski (-1983)

10.  Haiku-  A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, usually dealing with human nature (life) or nature itself.

Example:

Epiphany

Oh, she wants me to

love her the way she would love

her if she was me.

-Kent Foreman

11.  Imagist Poem- A poem that focuses on a specific image or moment and describes it in detail.

Example:

                                The Act

There were the roses in the rain

“Don’t cut them,” I pleaded.

“They won’t last,” she said.

“But they’re so beautiful where they are.”

“Ah, we were all beautiful once.”

And then she cut them

and gave them to me in my hand.

                                -William Carlos Williams

12.  Limerick- A short sometimes vulgar, humorous poem consisting of five anapestic lines (unstressed, unstressed, stressed syllables). Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm. The 3rd and 4th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm.

Example:

There was a young man from Japan

    Whose limericks never would scan.

        When asked why this was,

        He replied "It's because

    I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever possibly I can."

13.  Ode- A poem that praises someone or something.

Example:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

                                -Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

14.  Sonnet- A lyric poem that consists of 14 lines which usually have one or more conventional rhyme schemes.  The three main sonnet types are Shakespearean (abab cdcd efef gg), Spenserian (abab bcbc cdcd ee), and Petrarchan (abba abba cde cde).  For the Petrarchan, however, the final six lines can have a varied rhyme scheme.  

Example:

America

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,

And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,

Stealing my breath of life, I will confess

I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!

Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,

Giving me strength erect against her hate.

Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.

Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,

I stand within her walls with not a shred

Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.

Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,

And see her might and granite wonders there,

Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,

Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

-Claude McKay (1889-1948)

---

[1] iambic pentameter- There are two kinds of syllables, stressed ( / ) and unstressed (u).  An iamb is an unstressed syllable, so an iambic line starts with an unstressed syllable.  Pentameter means 5 (penta) meters.  A meter is a unit of length for measuring a poetic line.