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    • Poetry: Conciseness is a Lost Art Form

      Posted at 11:25 pm by Mrs. Ram Jam, on October 27, 2017

      Another poem for a post.


      Conciseness is a lost art form.  

      Are we just asking them to perform?
      Whether it’s spoken or transcribed,  
      ranting and rambling in a diatribe.

      Gone are the days of the one sentence answer.  

      Causing that answer to spread like a cancer:
      prove it,
      support it with evidence,
      cite it,
      with no checklist for guidance.
      Do not forget your transitions
      and standard English conventions.
      Meanwhile analyze with commentary;
      try to spell without a dictionary.
      End with a conclusion.

      They and we are left in a malignant delusion.
      A meandering, misdirected ruse
      that teachers fisticuff their way on through.  

      I know it’s part of the territory,
      but how did this become mandatory?

      But then again,
      conciseness is a lost art form
      when we ask them to perform,
      overshadowed by fancier tricks on the writing food chain.


      This poem touches on a topic discussed in a prior blog post, Questions, Prompts, Responses, and Answers.

      Posted in poetry, teaching, Uncategorized, writing | 0 Comments | Tagged concise, poetry, poetry about teaching, teaching, writing
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