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A Left-Brained Writing Prompt from WritingFix

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Simple Formula Poem:
The Cinquain

This writing prompt generator was one of the first interactive poetry prompts offered on this website from the Northern Nevada Writing Project.

Writer Instructions:

There are two different types of cinquain commonly seen and used:

The traditional 5-line cinquain format:

line 1 - 2 syllables
line 2 - 4 syllables
line 3 - 6 syllables
line 4 - 8 syllables
line 5 - 2 syllables

The modern 5-line cinquain format:

line 1 - one word (noun) name of the subject
line 2 - two words (adjectives) describing the
line 3 - three words (verbs) describing an
            action related to the subject
line 4 - four words describing a feeling about
            the subject or a complete sentence
line 5 - one word referring back to the subject
            of the poem

(an example of a traditional cinquain)
Tucson Rain
 The smell
 Everyone moves
 To the window to look
 Work stops and people start talking
 Rain came

(an example of a modern cinquain)

Tall, Green
Growing, reaching, standing
Witness to the past

Challenge yourself by devoting a page in your journal or your writer's notebook to cinquain poems.

Write about a topic of your choice using a CINQUAIN.  A cinquain is a five-line poem (it doesn't rhyme) that matches either the traditional format or the modern format.

Here is a cinquain template for both types of cinquain. It might help you create the perfect cinquain.

Don't have a topic to write to?  Are you sure?  If you really don't, press the button below until you find one that intrigues you enough to write to it.

Cinquain Topic Ideas:





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