I am primarily a poet, although I’ve written and published some short fiction as well. The technique for stimulating inspiration that I’m going to present has been useful (and, I believe, successful) for me in coming up with “flows” of thought. …

Writing Haiku [with Notes on Other Forms] Frank Coffman Prof. of English, Rock Valley College [Retired] The Japanese tradition of Haiku is much more complex than the Occidental notions of “syllable count” and “image poem.” Furthermore, it is much more flexible and versatile than most American teachers of the form…

Writing Haiku [with Notes on Other Forms] Frank Coffman Prof. of English, Rock Valley College [Retired] The Japanese tradition of Haiku is much more complex than the Occidental notions of “syllable count” and “image poem.” Furthermore, it is much more flexible and versatile than most American teachers of the form…

WRITING SONNETS © 1985, 2021, Frank Coffman (all rights reserved) The sonnet is the most versatile and most popular of the fixed forms of lyric verse in English [and all Western Languages for that matter]. Its great popularity can be explained by its tradition dating back to the Italian Renaissance…

THE WAYS POEMS COME TO ME by a Traditional, Verse Poet (Rhyme & Meter) 0 The ways poems come to me (or any poet) Aren’t always easy to articulate. The words below might serve to demonstrate Through verse, in rhyming lines one way to show it. How, from idea’s seed…

Prosody: The Techniques of Verse © 1988–2021 by Frank Coffman, all rights reserved Let us begin with some definitions: Poetry: Language which demonstrates that the author has paid attention to the sound of words as well as their sense, to the music of language as well as its meaning. …

Frank Coffman Professor of English, Creative Writing, and Journalism (retired) Rock Valley College, Rockford, Illinois Rhetorical Figures are recognizable and distinctive patterns of figurative [non-literal] suggestion, or [literal] verbal sentence structure, syntax, or sound. They are not mere embellishments or ornaments of style. Rhetorical figures serve to enhance clarity of…

A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS of John F. Kennedy’s INAUGURAL ADDRESS The Rhetorical Analysis: We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as well as change. [Two PARADOXES in a row, seemingly impossible statements which…

Rhetorical Analysis of the Speech by Frank Coffman, Retired Professor of English and Journalism, Rock Valley College, Rockford, Illinois I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago…