Requirements and Rubric

The requirement for this element of Writer's Workshop is to write a collection of poems (3-5 poems). The poems should be related some how as indicated by the title of the collection. Before you begin consider these steps:

1. Consult and consider the sample work on this page
2. Revisit the Sample Work that we looked at as a class and the notes that we took
3. Revisit, consult, and consider the ideas you've been gathering in your Writer's Notebook. Look to it for inspiration
4. Begin your writer's process (plan, draft, revise...)
   • you can use the Resources below to help you get started or if you encounter writer's block. They are there to help you.
   • As you go, consult the rubric on this page, so you are mindful of how your collection will be evaluated.

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Models and Notes

There are several ways you can discuss poetry in order to "get" it, but we are going to talk about poetry using four categories:

• experience
• imagery
• diction
• tone

We can understand these as:
Experience: what is the poem about?
Imagery: what pictures do you see in your head as you read or listen to the poem?
Diction: what are the word choices, line breaks, rhyme choices, punctuation choices in the poem that give it a unique sound?
Tone: what is the overall mood of the poem?

As a class we are going to read Langston Hughes's "Dreams" to identify these four elements.

Dreams
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

We are also going to mimic Hughes's poem to experiment with poetry using these four elements to guide our understanding.

• Hughes's poem operates with:
  • 2 metaphors
  • 2 centra images
  • 2 stanzas
    • all to convey one main idea--dreams

You will mimic this format. Start by choosing an abstract idea. Examples include

• love
• hate
• beauty
• peace
• authenticity
• truth
• friendship
• Use the graphic organizer to get you started and read the teacher model as a resource.
• Write your poem in your Writer's Notebook

Teacher Model

Truth
by Mrs. Forrest

Seek surely the truth
For when truth goes
Life is a sickened sea
without a compass rose

Seek surely the truth
For when truth is gone
Life is a mockingbird
without a song

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Sample Work

To Kill A Mockingbird Found Poem by LittleRachel on TeenInk
Poems and Biography of Nikki Giovanni
Biography and Poems of Emily Dickinson
Biography of poems of Langston Hughes
Autobiography in 5 Short Chapters by Portia Nelson
Maybe dats your pwoblem too by James Hall
The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm by Wallace Stevens
Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Resources

ETTC's: Instant Poetry Forms
ReadWriteThink's Poetry Interactives
How to write a Found Poem
Rhyming Dictionary

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Imagery

There are several poems that have exemplary models of imagery. This means that they paint specific pictures in our heads instead of using telling phrases in order to convey the experience in the poem.
The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop
My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke
"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins

Mark Strand
"Lines for Winter"
"Eating Poetry"

A few key things to remember to help you create effective imagery:

• use the 5 senses
• use strong verbs (not "to be" or "linking" verbs)
• use specific nouns
• avoid vague and over used adjectives ("awesome", "sad", "exciting", etc...)