The Best of Creative Computing Volume 1 (published 1976)
Computers in the English Curriculum (poetry software)
LET'S WRITE A WISH POEM
TO WARM UP. TRY PLAYING WITH COLOR WORDS FOR EXAMPLE,
WHAT COLOR DO YOU THINK OF WHEN I SAY APPLE? GREEN
HON ABOUT SHY? BLUE
YOU KNOW. YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO USE THE REAL COLOR
OF SOMETHING IN A POEM YOU CAN USE ANY COLOR YOU FEEL
LIKE EVEN IF IT SEEMS FREAKY OR SILLY. IF YOU DON'T
COUNT RED OR GREEN. WHAT COLOR SEEMS LIKE APPLES? SILVER
CLOSE YOUR EVES AND SEE IF YOU CAN IMAGINE A BIG,
SILVER APPLE. SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE IT GROW OR DANCE OR
DO SOMETHING SILLY. JUST TYPE OK WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED.
? OK
THINGS LIKE APPLES ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS THAT MAKE
PEOPLE THINK OF COLORS FOR EXAMPLE, A THIRD GRADER NAMED
JOHN THOUGHT THAT THE SOUND OF A CAR ENGINE WAS
SCRATCHY RED'
WHAT COLOR IS THE SOUND OF A WHISTLE? BRIGHT BLUE
THE WHISTLE SOUNDS BRIGHT BLUE!
TRY MAKING THE SOUND OF A BALLOON POPPING. WHAT COLOR
IS THAT? ORANGE
WHAT COLOR WAS THE BALLOON? RED
WHAT COLOR DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU IMAGING THE FEELING OF A
BIG ICE CUBE ON YOUR TUMMY? DEEP BLUE
YOU ARE REALLY GETTING IN TO COLOR WORDS!
NOW LET'S TRY WORKING ON A WISH POEM. EACH LINE SHOULD HAVE
A WISH IN IT AND IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN PUT IN COLORS TOO.
JOHN AND HIS SISTER WHO IS IN KINDERGARTEN MADE UP THESE
EXAMPLES TO SHOW YOU:
I WISH FOR A BIG GREEN 1000 DOLLAR BILL
I WISH THAT EVERY DAY WAS MY RED AND WHITE BIRTHDAY
I WISH ALL THE STORES WERE FREE RED BLUE
GET IT? NOW YOU TYPE IN A WISH. MAKE IT LESS THAN
ONE LINE. LONG, OK? WHAT DO YOU WISH?
?I WISH I WAS A BIG GREEN BASEBALL
FAR OUT! TRY ANOTHER ONE. REMEMBER, IT CAN BE CRAZY OR
FREAKY IF YOU WANT IT TO.
? I WISH IT WAS SUPER YELLOW SUNNY
ALLRIGHT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE UP MORE? YES
OK. GIVE ME AS MANY WISHES AS YOU WANT TO. JUST TYPE
STOP WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF WISHES. GIVE ME YOU NEXT WISH.
? I WISH TO WISH
NEXT
? I WISH FOR MORE AND MORE AND MORE
NEXT
? AND EVEN MORE
NEXT WISH
? STOP
NOW I'LL SHOW YOU R NEW WISH POEM
I WISH I WAS A BIG GREEN BASEBALL
I WISH IT WAS SUPER YELLOW SUNNY
I WISH TO WISH
I WISH FOR MORE AND MORE AND MORE
AND EVEN MORE
THAT'S A PRETTY SLICK WISH POEM YOU WROTE' CATCH YOU LATER
DONE
words in the first half of figure 3. After the
warm-up, the student constructs a "wish poem".
Koch suggest dozens of such warm-ups and
many types of poems are illustrated in his book.
There are lie poems, dream poems, being an animal
poems, comparison poems, I used to/but now
poems, and many more. Mine is only a simple
example, and many more such programs could be
written.
Finally, figure 4 shows a conversation with the
program BARTH. This is inspired by John Barth,
who periodically tells the reader to insert words of
his own choice at various points in his stories. For
instance in the story Title (5) we find this
sentence:
A person who can't [verb adverb] ought at
least to speak correctly, or more esoterically:
Why do you suppose it is, she asked [long
participle phrase of the breathless variety
characteristic of the dialogue attributions in
nineteenth-century fiction] that literate
people such as we talk like characters in a
story?
lt was my original intent to build the example
in Figure 4 around an existing poem, with various
LET'S WRITE A STORY. YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE ME SOME WORDS.
FIRST, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? SHOES,
OKAY, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NOUN? PICKLE
NOW GIVE ME A DARK, SINISTER ADJECTIVE? HOARY
AND WHAT IS THE MOST EVIL COLOR YOU CAN THINK OF? FLECKY GREEN
BY THE WAY. WHAT IS YOUR FIRST NAME? LARRY
ALLRIGHT LARRY, WHAT IS THE SWEETEST, MOST DELICATE FLOWERS? ROSE
NOW I NEED AN ADJECTIVE. IT SHOULD BEGIN WITH AN 'S' SOUND
AND SHOULD BE REFINED AND GENTLE. IT COULD EVEN BE A NONSENSE
WORD IF IT SOUNDED NICE? SWEET
NOW I WILL NEED A COLOR WHICH YOU FEEL SYMBOLIZES INNOCENCE? BABY BLUE
OKAY, WHAT IS ANOTHER ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? SHIRT
NOW, GIVE ME A PLURAL BODY PARK? TOES
FINALLY, I NEED TO KNOW WHICH ANIMAL SEEMS MOST COMICAL TO YOU? MOOSE
ALLRIGHT, THAT SHOULD DO IT. HERE IS OUR STORY
THE LEGEND OF LITTLE RED RIDING SHOES
THERE ONCE WAS A GIRL CALLED LITTLE RED RIDING SHOES. ONE DAY
HER MOTHER GAVE HER A BASKET OF PICKLES TO GIVE TO HER GRANDMOTHER.
ON THE WAY, A HOARY, FLECKY GREEN FROG NAMED LARRY SAW HER. THE
FROG DECIDED TO GET TO GRANDMOTHER'S FIRST!
WHEN THE FROG GOT THERE, GRANDMA WAS TENDING HER ROSE
GARDEN, DRESSED IN SWEET, BABY BLUE SNEAKERS. SHE WAS SWEET AND
GENTLE AS COTTON SO THE FROG ATE HER UP, PUT ON HER SHIRT AND
JUMPED INTO HER BED.
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THE REST TO THE STORY RIGHT? THEY GO
THROUGH THE 'MY WHAT BIG TOES YOU HAVE' THING FOR A WHILE. THEN
LARRY KISSES RED, THEY BOTH TURN INTO MOOSES, THEY ARE MARRIED
AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
SIGH ... A HAPPY ENDING
words left open to the user, but I was unable to do
so. Instead, I invented the "story" which is shown.
Note how easily this sort of program could
lead into explicit discussion of formal aspects of
poetry. Even in Figure 4, we see examples of
allusion, metaphor, alliteration, tone, and
euphonia. The following list illustrates the manner
in which a similar program might be extended:
a) Onomatopoeia: Give me a verb which
sounds like wood breaking.
b) Rhyme: Give me a noun which rhymes
with cow or give me a two syllable
adjective which rhymes with turtle.
c) Alliteration: Give me an adjective that
begins with an "sh" sound.
d) Assonance: Give me an adjective with an
"a" sound in the middle.
e) Consonance: Give me a noun which ends
with "tS".
f) Euphonia: Give me a smooth, pleasant
sounding adverb.
g) Cacaphonia: Give me a rough, harsh
adverb.
h) Meter: Give me a 3 syllable adjective with
the accent on the second syllable.
i) Imagery: Give me a bright red object (to
be used in a visual metaphor). Obviously,
non-visual images may be used as well.
j) Metaphor: Give me a soft noun (to be
used in a metaphor).
k) Synecdoche: What do you consider the
essential part of a tree to be?
l) Or even Barth's long participle phrases ala
nineteenth century fiction!
This list was culled from an introductory
poetry text, Perrine (6). Note that all of the formal
concepts illustrated by a story such as that of
Figure 4 do not have to be supplied explicitly by
the student, e.g., the allusion to red riding hood.
The above list could easily be extended by
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