Humorist Richard Armour Has Written a Collection of What He Calls Shrink Lits Highly Condensed

“Shrink Lit”

Humorist Richard Armour has written a collection of what he calls “shrink lits” – highly condensed versions of classic literature in the form of poems. Here are two examples of how he has “shrunk” some books. Note how he has drawn a thumbnail sketch of the main character, capsulized the plot, alluded to the theme, and even suggested his response to the book – all in four or five short stanzas with a highly regular rhyme scheme and rhythmic pattern.

You might begin by clustering or otherwise brainstorming some of the key elements in the chapter you’ve read, such as: character, character traits, key events, conflicts, mood, theme, your response, etc. Then you might want to think about the flow of ideas in your stanzas. For example: stanza (1): introduce character traits and/or precipitating incident; stanzas (2), (3) and (4): subsequent developments in the plot; stanzas (4) and (5): overall response of statement of theme. Then you can play around with trying to use various rhyme schemes and patterns (Armour’s use of rhyme and rhythm seems to heighten the humorous effect).

A successful “shrink lit” that also earns full credit: (1) consists of four or five short stanzas (a stanza is a group of lines in poetry), (2) demonstrates that you have understood the chapter well enough to condense it to its essence, and (3) is titled: “Lord of the Flies, chapter ___”

Call of the Wild

Jack London

Buck is dognapped,

Kicked around,

Sold to roughnecks

Klondike-bound;

He becomes a

Tough sled hound.

Lashed by Arctic

Cold and fog,

Blood and ice his

Footsteps clog,

Shouldn’t happen

To a dog.

Primal urges,

Stir his hide,

Buck becomes

Transmorgrified!

(Lassie, better

Come inside);

Wolfish, howling,

Man-reviled,

Scary! He will

Drive you wild.

You should read it,

As a child.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

School was crummy,

Classmates mean,

Holden Caulfield,

Aged sixteen,

Dropped out to the New York scene.

There he wandered,

Sorrow’s son,

Overgrown

But underdone,

Seared by girls…it wasn’t fun.

Broke, disheartened,

Home he slid,

Sister Phoebe,

(Perky kid),

Buoyed him up, she really did.

Only for the

Moment, though;

Down the skids

Alas, he’ll go,

Landing in a shrink chateau.

Ah, what torment

Must be his

Who Goddamns

But feels Gee Whiz!

Youth is rough – it really is.