Structure & Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns

by Michael Theune (Editor)

Structure & Engaging Poetic Turns offers a road map for analyzing poetry through examination of poems structure, rather than their forms or genres. Michael Theune's breakthrough concept encourages students, teachers, and writers to use structure as a tool to see the fundamental affinities between strikingly different kinds of poetry and radically different literary eras. The book includes examination of the mid-course turn and the elegy, as well as the ironic, concessional, emblem, and retrospective-prospective structures, among others. In addition, 14 contemporary poets provide an example of and commentary on their own work.

Genres: Poetry, Crafts, Writing, Nonfiction, Teaching

244 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful craft book with insightful examinations of how poems turn. I enjoyed this thoughtful approach to structure and strategy, the perspectives of so many strong writers and critics, the supplemental poems to each chapter/structure type, and the suggested readings and exercises.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike is an amazing teacher, and this book on the turn in poetry redirects our focus as poets and readers to how shifts and surprises (and even structure) bring poetry alive. I am excited to carry these lessons into my own reading and writing!

[Jeffrey (Akiva) Savett · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most essential books on poetic craft I've read. It's a book I've always WANTED but never knew was out there. Unlike other great craft writers like Tony Hoagland, Kim Addonizio, Robert Pinsky, and Richard Hugo among others, Theune's book isn't exactly inspirational (although the exercises in the back are quite good). But in the end, it inspires in a different way. Rather than driving imaginative content, Theune familiarizes the reader with the various structures so many poems take. As the saying goes in spiritual work, without a vessel, there can be no blessing. So too, Theune ultimately gives us this gift to teach us how to make pots, scaffolds, and towers which can elegantly hold our words.

[Lynn Tait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by Ellen Bass in her revision workshop. So glad I bought and read it!

[J Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your poems waffle or don't finish with a sharp turn, this book is the remedy. A well written craft book worth reading. J

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a worthwhile, informative book for anyone who is interested in the craft of poetry. There are ample (sometimes too many) examples of each "structure" presented. This book is an excellent introduction to how poems "mean", to quote Ciardi. Some structures, such as the "emblem" and "descriptive-meditative" seem quite similar, but the careful separation of techniques has been of immense help to my own investigation of the poetic turn.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theune has done a remarkable job of discussing the value of poetic structure. The book is composed of nine chapters written by poets, each one examining a different structure. Each chapter starts with a thorough definition of the particular structure, some historical context, and then dissection of several poems that utilize that structure. One of the strong points of the book is that both classic and contemporary poems are discussed in relation to the structure used.

My favorite section of the book is titled Endless Structures, in which 14 contemporary poets choose one of their poems and discuss its structure.

[Allegra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous essays on the rhetoric of particular narrative styles, with the overall raison d'être of the anthology a series of stylistic proofs asserting that poetry best succeeds when surprises its reader, proffers more interesting rhetorical strategies and unexpected turns. The example poems are awesome.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone engaged in the art of explaination or understanding what is loosely defined by those outside of poetry as "difficult" poetry.

Excellent for teachers on intro or intermediate poetry courses and those who love to read and be engaged by well-crafted essays on poetry.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting collection of essays about the "turn" a poem takes and how that informs the general structure of the piece. Each essay is written by a poet/scholar who defines a particular structure and provides semi-helpful poetic examples.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was little surprise in this book about poetic structure, and although I can imagine it being a great undergraduate book on thinking about rhetorical and organization structures when writing poems, I had hoped for something a little more fulfilling.

[Megan]

One of my favorite professors wrote this book!

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection of essays about poetic strategies (the use of irony, emblems, elegy, etc.) that work across poetic formats and eras. With a wide range of poems reprinted as examples.

[Amanda Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas about the taxonomy of poetic structure.

[Todor Tchervenkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, but I would have appreciated if more classical poems were included in the examples. Modern American poetry is too often pure prose.