https://soundcloud.com/user-576757335-915565222/the-game-of-catan/s-Ld28rzd68b6
The Game of Catan
I taste sweet victory, sweet glory.
Just one round away, just one more good turn.
My poker face is ready.
Someone could easily take this win.
Another player could steal my longest road.
Or worse, roll a seven.
I need the dice to roll in my favor.
Just one more resource card.
No one will trade with me now.
I am too close to winning.
I will have to wait another round and risk it.
They are close too, just a few points behind.
Some of them have ports to trade with.
Multiple unused development cards.
This could be it. The game could be over.
But it is not.
Brick and wood are not needed now.
Someone could play a knight and stop me.
But they don’t know how close I am.
Just one more Victory Point to win.
I love the way you build the anticipation throughout this story. You utilize different words to give us the "vibe" within your poem. I feel like there is so much going on within this poem and it doesn't feel overwhelming. Overall, I find that that you wrote this poem rather well. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Hi Sarah!
I think he gameplay comes across really clearly in your poem. There's quite a bit of tension too. For me, I think you could use some indirection. One of the easiest ways to approach indirection is to weave three narrative strands together. The game play could be one strand. The other strand is a story about something entirely different like a crab at the shore. And the third strand might be a submarine mechanic going down with the ship. This use of disparate strands forces the reader to try put them together and draws in a reader. I wonder what other storylines might interrupt the straightforwardness of this poem.
hey sarah,
I liked how you put so much tension and anticipation in the poem but were still able to make it lighthearted and fun. I think you did a good job of incorporating a lot of emotion in the poem. I could definitely feel the tension rising as the poem progresses. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to find out if the speaker won or not though, I didn't really know what to do with all the anticipation that had been building up and it felt somewhat unresolved. I can also see how excluding the ending from the poem shows that things don't always get a clean ending or how the end results of the game aren't always the most important thing. As for adding more voice maybe you could add a line where the speaker makes a gloating comment about one of the other players. Overall its a really good poem that I enjoyed reading!
hi sarah! i too have never played catan before but i think you did a good job describing it for those who haven't played. i think you can definitely elaborate on emotion in the lines like "no one will trade with me now" and "they are close too," everyone knows the stress of playing a game and wanting to win and i feel like adding more detail in between these lines could help with emotion.
Hi! i feel like this poem was well written but could've used more in depth details. It felt too simple to me. It felt very back and fourth, maybe put more emotion into your words and more visuals! Otherwise, great job! Thanks for sharing! :)
Hi Sarah,
I have never played Catan before but I thought the poem definitely made sense to those that didn't know how to play. I thought you had a lot of great details and imagery that made it flow nicely. Maybe you could add some emotion of like the stress getting closer to that victory point like you're overthinking or sweating thinking about your next move, overall it was a great poem!!!
Where could I add more emotion and voice? Is there enough indirection in the poem? Is the poem unclear to those that haven't played Catan before?