The Bop

The Bop is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a refrain or a repeated line, and each takes a different purpose.

The first stanza has 6 lines and presents a problem.

The second stanza has 8 lines and explores or expands the problem.

The third line has 6 lines and either presents a solution or documents the failed attempt to resolve the problem.

Each stanza has 10 syllables per line.

The refrain has 10-15 syllables per line.

 

Here’s an example of the Bop by Robert Lee Brewer titled Wasted Opportunities 

𝑰 π’˜π’‚π’•π’„π’‰ 𝒂 π’ƒπ’π’‚π’„π’Œ 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅 π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’π’π’

𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 π’Žπ’‚π’…π’† 𝒐𝒇 π’ƒπ’“π’π’Œπ’†π’ π’Žπ’Šπ’“π’“π’π’“π’”

𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’”π’‘π’Šπ’π’π’†π’… 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒕. 𝑨𝒕 π’‡π’Šπ’“π’”π’•, 𝑰'π’Ž π’”π’‰π’π’„π’Œπ’†π’… 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆

π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’†π’”, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’†π’”

π’‚π’π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‚π’π’šπ’Žπ’π’“π’†, 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

π’Šπ’” π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔 π’”π’‚π’š 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’˜π’‰π’š π’‚π’“π’ˆπ’–π’†.

 

π‘¬π’—π’†π’“π’š 𝒃𝒂𝒅 π’”π’Šπ’ˆπ’ π’Šπ’” 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’‡π’π’“π’ˆπ’Šπ’—π’† 𝒐𝒖𝒓 π’π’†π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’ƒπ’π’“π’”.


 

π‘Ύπ’‰π’š π’‚π’“π’ˆπ’–π’† π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’•π’‰π’†π’š 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕

π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’† 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’ƒπ’π’‚π’„π’Œ 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓. π‘»π’‰π’†π’š'𝒓𝒆

π’ƒπ’–π’”π’š π’”π’‰π’‚π’“π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’•π’‰π’†π’Šπ’“ π’†π’™π’‘π’†π’“π’•π’Šπ’”π’† π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆

𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’ 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’† π’‚π’π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ (𝒏𝒐𝒕

π’‚π’π’šπ’Žπ’π’“π’†), 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’•π’Šπ’Žπ’†π’” π’Šπ’• π’•π’‚π’Œπ’†π’” π’”π’π’†π’…π’ˆπ’†

π’‰π’‚π’Žπ’Žπ’†π’“π’” 𝒕𝒐 π’…π’“π’Šπ’—π’† π’‰π’π’Žπ’† π’π’‚π’Šπ’π’” 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏. π‘ͺ𝒂𝒕𝒔

𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’π’π’π’” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’Žπ’Šπ’“π’“π’π’“π’”, π’•π’‰π’†π’š 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍

𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’†π’™π’‘π’π’‚π’Šπ’

 

π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š 𝒃𝒂𝒅 π’”π’Šπ’ˆπ’ π’Šπ’” 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’‡π’π’“π’ˆπ’Šπ’—π’† 𝒐𝒖𝒓 π’π’†π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’ƒπ’π’“π’”.

 

π‘»π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑰'π’Ž π’Šπ’ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 π’…π’†π’„π’Šπ’…π’†

𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’π’π’π’š π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 π’Šπ’” π’Šπ’ˆπ’π’π’“π’†

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕 π’…π’†π’”π’„π’†π’π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’‡π’“π’π’Ž 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’Žπ’π’π’ 𝒐𝒏 π’Šπ’•π’”

𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓 π’Žπ’‚π’…π’† 𝒐𝒇 π’ƒπ’“π’π’Œπ’†π’ π’Žπ’Šπ’“π’“π’π’“π’”. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰

π’˜π’π’π’…π’†π’“ π’Šπ’‡ 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’†π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’π’π’† 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆

π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ--π’‘π’“π’†π’•π’†π’π’…π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’π’π’•π’Šπ’„π’†

 

π’†π’—π’†π’“π’š 𝒃𝒂𝒅 π’”π’Šπ’ˆπ’ π’Šπ’” 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’‡π’π’“π’ˆπ’Šπ’—π’† 𝒐𝒖𝒓 π’π’†π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’ƒπ’π’“π’”.


Remember

  • Login to your profile on our website and draft your poem.
  • From the drop down under Prompts choose β€œ#PenMuse-70β€³
  • Attach a cover image for your story in LANDSCAPE with the dimensions: 1200px X 675px. Please use pixabay.com, pexels.com or unsplash.com to source lovely covers in jpg or png. In case your story has a cover of poor quality, is watermarked, or is a graphic image, it will delay the publishing process.
  • Allow your story to be admin approved within 24-48 hours.
  • If you wish to check syllables, then please click this syllable count here.

 Rules:

  • The submitted poem must have a title (Keep it simple with no punctuation marks; all words more than 3 letters must be capitalised)
  • There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit-though only the first submitted poem will be qualified for contention.
  • Previously published or plagiarised works will not be considered for contention.
  • Poems found to have been shared on another platform or blog before the declaration of results stand disqualified from the event, and the writer of such content stands to be disqualified for the next Penmancy event.
  • AI-generated content will not be recognised nor highlighted nor mentioned during the result announcement.
  • In case a poem is received after the submission deadline, it shall be considered as a guest entry and shall not qualify for the event.
  • Entries that don’t follow rules will be published and shared on the page and group but are disqualified for winning.

Winning criteria:

  • The winner will be chosen on the basis of the judges’ scores (out of 10)
    • creativity/content and originality, [12 points]
    • coherence of form and structure (harmony of words, presentation), [12 points]
    • clarity of imagery and language/grammar, [10 points]
    • emotional impact, [10 points]
    • topic/relevance to the theme, [6 points]
  • The entries adjudged through this process shall be binding. No scores will be shared with the participants.
  • The entries adjudged by a panel of judges and event organisers shall be binding. Judges’ scores to be deemed final and may not be contested. Final scores are not disclosed to the participants.
  • All writers are required to read and comment on 5 poems other than their own and encourage their fellow writers with valuable and constructive inputs. Comments like β€œnice”, β€œgood work”, β€œbrilliant piece”, etc. do not provide the necessary critique and are not helpful for anyone.

Timelines:

  • The last date of submission is January  20, 2025
  • Winners shall be announced on January 27, 2025
  • The announcement of winners may be postponed or preponed depending on the number of entries received.

P.s.-The event does not have any book giveaway associated with it.


Below are the submissions