Creative Thesis Title Quandary
I have just about completed my MFA thesis, which is comprised of two parts:
1) The critical piece, an examination of the influence of haiku on modern short form poetry (done - awaiting sign-off from my advisor);
2) The creative piece, roughly 50 of my poems arranged in some sort of sensible sequence (not quite done). I will be arranging the order soon, and possibly swapping in a few newer poems to round the thing out.
The dilemma: what to entitle my creative manuscript?
Here are a few ideas running around in the old noggin:
The Incredulity Tour
On Spotless Authority
Poems About Death Are Really Poems About Love
There is Something to Be Said For Not Saying Something
Where Were You When the Rapture Didn't Happen?
Hell on Earth, Inc.
And, of course:
The Book of Lewd Enlightenment
Thoughts?
1) The critical piece, an examination of the influence of haiku on modern short form poetry (done - awaiting sign-off from my advisor);
2) The creative piece, roughly 50 of my poems arranged in some sort of sensible sequence (not quite done). I will be arranging the order soon, and possibly swapping in a few newer poems to round the thing out.
The dilemma: what to entitle my creative manuscript?
Here are a few ideas running around in the old noggin:
The Incredulity Tour
On Spotless Authority
Poems About Death Are Really Poems About Love
There is Something to Be Said For Not Saying Something
Where Were You When the Rapture Didn't Happen?
Hell on Earth, Inc.
And, of course:
The Book of Lewd Enlightenment
Thoughts?
posted by Steve Caratzas at 10:25 PM
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5 Comments:
Titling my creative thesis was one of the hardest parts for me! I kept a running list of titles for about a year, but when it came down to actually titling the collection, I took the advice of musician friends and looked for a poem title or part of a line that would work well as a title. I ended up using "The Gravity Soundtrack" (title of the now-first poem in the collection) and pulling little bits from lines to title each of the sections.
In my program, we completed our critical thesis a semester ahead of our creative thesis, so thankfully they did not have to pull together into one cohesively titled unit. My critical thesis was "The Shine on the Light Night Dial: Rock & Roll's Presence in Contemporary Poetry."
I like
poems about death are really poems about love
and
the book of lewd enlightenment.
There's something to be said for not saying something
or
The Incredulity Tour
or
(and I didn't see this one listed)
No Fabulous!
I like "On Spotless Authority" and "The Book of Lewd Enlightenment." I know what you're going through, though. I've been dancing around titles all semester and I'm still not entirely convinced I've chosen one.
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