Find a word in a classmate’s poem that is weak or expected. Make a list of at least three synonyms and three alternatives for that word. Share these lists with your classmate and challenge them to create lists of your own. Proper diction is one of the hardest parts of being a poet.
For instance, let’s play with a line from Ezra Pound’s “The Tree.”
I stood still and was a tree amid the wood,
Knowing the truth of things unseen before.
Sure, this was progressive for Romantics, but standing as still as a tree is a bit expected now. So, let’s try the exercise. It’s hard to find a synonym for a tree. We have “plant,” but we could also generate several types of trees. Elm, ash, fir, oak, etc. “I was an elm amid the wood / Knowing the truth of things unseen.” Then, we could find something entirely different. A list of three unexpected words: Queen, Militant, Trestle. “I stood still as a queen amid the wood / and knew the unseen truth.”
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