Maybe you’d like to write a poem about your new baby brother or your favorite pet rock. You can also focus on a specific event like your last birthday party, or a theme like love, anger, or sadness. If you're having trouble choosing a subject, try closing your eyes and visualizing events, people, or objects that are meaningful to you.  Select one that stands out, particularly if it is one that you have an emotional connection to. Are you going to write from a certain point of view, like first person or third person? Are you focusing on the specific scene or are you going to write more generally about a certain theme?  It can be helpful to decide ahead of time what you want to say about the topic; if writing about a beloved deceased pet, your goal may be to recapture the pet's personality and character in your poem. You may also want to consider how you can choose certain wording or phrasing to describe the subject, situation, or theme you are trying to portray. If you are trying to describe a fight scene, for example, you may want to use short words with sharp consonants like cut, bash, hit, kick, punch, jab, jump. Keep in mind longer words with soft sounds, as well as breaks between lines or words, will cause the reader to slow down. Because you don’t need to be too worried about rhyming, meter, or structure, feel free to explore your topic and write down as many images and descriptions as you can think of.  For example, if you are describing your last birthday party, you may start by describing who was at the party, the gifts you received, and how you felt during the party. Or you may decide to write a poem about your pet rock and imagine how the rock would see the world. If you’re stuck on how to describe a certain event or feeling, use sensory descriptions that explore sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound. So instead of simply writing, “I blew out the candles,” you may want to include sensory details like the heat of the candles on the cake, the smell of burning wax, and the way the candles on the cake looked right before you blew them out. Use the list of keywords to help you describe a scene or explore a theme. Focus on using devices like metaphor, simile, alliteration, and personification. These devices will help you to create a stronger, more effective free verse poem. Don’t worry too much about creating a perfect first draft, as you will edit and revise it in your next draft. Read your first draft out loud and take note of any lines or sections that have a certain rhythm or tone, as well as any lines where a word or phrase sounds off or flat.  Look at places where you could expand or improve on a description. For example, instead of telling the reader, “they were happy” you could use a more visual description, such as “they were wearing big smiles.” Also remember that poetry does not necessitate the use of complete sentences, so "they were wearing big smiles" might be shortened to "wearing big smiles." A poem can have logic without using complete sentences. Think about how the breaks between words or lines affects the meaning of the poem. If you’re describing a roller coaster ride, maybe you want to play around with the line structure and have words move up or down the page. Or if you’re describing a moment where you felt trapped or claustrophobic, perhaps you want to condense the lines so they appear as one block of text. It can be difficult to view your poem with a careful eye, especially if you have been working hard on it and have created several drafts. So don’t be afraid to read it aloud to a willing audience and listen to their feedback. The goal is to create a free verse poem that explores your subject or theme in a unique way that sounds good and has emotion or feeling. Be sure to ask your audience if they think your poem has all of these elements.
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One-sentence summary -- Choose a subject or theme. Think about how you may want to approach the topic or subject. Write down a list of key words or images that relate to your subject or theme. Create a first draft. Revise and edit the draft. Read your final draft to someone else before you hand it in.


Once you've installed a new catalytic converter, one thing you'll want to do immediately is double-check to make sure there aren't any leaks in the exhaust system on either side of it. Depending on where it is, an exhaust leak can cause a variety of problems for your vehicle, including reduced fuel efficiency and long-term damage. There are several ways to find an exhaust leak. One is to simply be observant while you drive — if your car sounds louder than normal when it runs or seems to "rumble" more, you may have a leak. You can also check for leaks by jacking your car up, starting it in park, and carefully moving a lit candle along the length of the exhaust tubing. Leaks which are invisible to the eye should cause the flame to waver or blow out. One problem that can occur in faulty catalytic converters is that they can become "backed up" with soot, debris, and other exhaust byproducts or broken apart inside the converter. In this case, the engine's ability to rid itself of exhaust is hampered, which can cause a vehicle's fuel efficiency to plummet and can even cause the engine to stall in severe cases. Luckily, performing a backpressure test is simple — just screw a pressure gauge into the oxygen sensor's hole before the converter in the exhaust manifold in most vehicles. The pressure reading should be less than 1.25 psi when the vehicle's engine is running at 2,000 RPMs. The worse the congestion is, the higher the pressure reading can be. Very bad backpressure readings can approach 3 psi. If your car's converter is old and worn, one simple test can tell whether it needs to be replaced very quickly. Simply grab a rubber mallet (or similar tool) and give the converter a firm hit. If you hear any sort of rattling, your converter needs to be replaced — this indicates that the metallic catalyst within has begun to corrode and crumble.  However, if you don't hear a rattle, this doesn't necessarily mean that your converter works well. There may still be other problems with it. To be clear, this test can only tell you if you have a bad converter, not if you have a good one. Catalytic converters can be tricky parts — if you're in doubt about whether or not yours is functioning properly even after performing the tests above, don't hesitate to take it to a mechanic or specialist. These professionals will have access to the type of equipment that can be used to perform more advanced tests, like delta temperature tests, oxygen storage tests, and CO2 tests.  Most auto shops that offer smog testing will be able to perform these sorts of emissions tests.
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One-sentence summary --
Check for exhaust leaks. Measure back-pressure in the exhaust system. Perform a mallet test for old converters. Consider more advanced tests.