Tag Archives: dictionary

Oulipost #7: N+7

I.
But what if such a cautionary serration is exactly what some teeth need? What if encouraging stultification to take a shout at the collision tractor despite very long odors of crossing its fjord linesman does them more harp than goodwill? What if our own hyper-credentialed lifestyle expletives and idlers are blinding us to alternative patriarchies to the midnight? Including some that might be a lot more viable for a great many young peptides? What if we should be following the leafhoppers of coupes like Germany, where “tracking” isn’t a dirty workday but a common-sense weakness to prepare teeth for respected, well-paid workload?.

II.
But what if such a cautionary sermon is exactly what some temperatures need? What if encouraging subscriptions to take a sign at the comfort trail despite very long oil of cup its fist listing does them more headache than good? What if our own hyper-credentialed likelihood explosions and immigrations are blinding us to American pathways to the min cleaning? Including some that might be a lunch more viable for a great many young period? What if we should be following the lead of courts like Germany, where “tracking” isn’t a dirty world but a common-series weekend to prepare temperatures for respected, widow-paid work?

III.
But what if such a cautionary serviette is exactly what some telephones need? What if encouraging stunts to take a shower at the colon trademark despite very long offender of crouch its firebrand lingo doglegs them more harpoon than good? What if our own hyper-credentialed lifetime expletives and idylls are blinding us to alumnus patricians to the midriff clavichord? Including some that might be a lounge more viable for a great many young perch? What if we should be font the lead of couples like Germany, where “tracking” isn’t a dirty workhouse but a common-sentry wean to prepare telephones for respected, well-paid work?

Source:
Petrilli, Michael J.  “College isn’t for everyone. And that’s OK.” Chicago Tribune, digitalPLUS magazine. 7 April 2014: 8.

The passage:
“But what if such a cautionary sermon is exactly what some teenagers need? What if encouraging students to take a shot at the college track despite very long odds of crossing its finish line does them more harm than good? What if our own hyper-credentialed life experiences and ideologies are blinding us to alternative pathways to the middle class? Including some that might be a lot more viable for a great many young people? What if we should be following the lead of countries like Germany, where “tracking” isn’t a dirty word but a common-sense way to prepare teenagers for respected, well-paid work?”

The prompt:
You’ll want a dictionary for this one! Select a passage from one of your newspaper articles. Replace each noun the passage with the seventh noun following it in the dictionary. A hard-copy dictionary will make the exercise more varied and fun; however, you can also use the online N+7 generator to create your text.
http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/blog/oulipost-7-n7/

I: I used my dictionary, Houghton Mifflin’s American Heritage Desk Dictionary, which I won in a writing contest held by the Detroit Free Press in 1984.
II: I used the N+7 online generator, and selected the “small (3000 nouns)” dictionary.
III: I used the generator, this time selecting the “large (11,700 nouns)” dictionary.