1. Looking ahead to your Poetry PBA Portfolio, start thinking about your main opinion, or thesis, about your poet’s work. Some good questions to ask yourself as you read:
- What themes do you notice in your poet’s work?
- Where and how do these themes appear?
- Which poems you’ve read most clearly show these themes?
- What techniques (poetic devices, style, language, etc.) does this poet use most often, and how do they affect the poems?
- What effect do they have? In other words, how do they shape and change your reading of the poems?
- What tone, or mood do you get from these poems? How do they make you feel?
Take some notes on your answers to these questions, and start coming up with an opinion about your poet’s work. Ultimately, your thesis will include a claim about your poet and his/her work. Again, this claim should be informed by research but more importantly, informed by what you see in the poetry.
Your PBA will include:
- A 1-2 page mini-bio of your poet.
- A 5-7 page foreword that introduces and analyzes the work of your poet. In this analysis you should demonstrate great control of your poet’s work. (First draft due June 8th!)
- The 6 poems (untouched) chosen for this project.
- Two original poems mirroring your poet’s style.
Entire PBA due June 10th!
2. Final Poem of the Term! Theme: High School. As for rhyme and rhythm, that is completely up to you. Just as you have been doing all term, I want you to put deliberate thought into the creation of each line of verse. The poem must be complemented by either a visual (i.e. painting, drawing, film, dance, photo, etc.), sound (i.e. instrument, beat boxing, etc.), or prose. This is due Tuesday!
3. Index Cards–You will need at least 40 index cards. It is important that the index cards be exactly like the ones linked (i.e. White, lined, 3×5)
