7th LIT – Poetry Unit

To prepare for our Poetry Cafe in March, we have begun our study of various types of poems and poetic elements.  We will be writing about 2-3 poems per week.  Each poem should by typed/neatly handwritten in cursive and illustrated.  These poems will be transfered to Powerpoint presentations which will be shown and recited to the class and invited guests (parents and staff) during the three days of Poetry Cafe.

The first poem we wrote – the “Me” poem – was inspired by Walt Whitman’s excerpt from “A Song of Myself”, Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody”, and Walter de la Mare’s “Me”.  This poem describes the author without saying his/her name and was written with at least three stanzas with no specific rhyme pattern.

The poem we are currently writing is the “Virtue” poem.  This poem was inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “The Courage That My Mother Had”.  The requirements are as follows:

• Title: “The (VIRTUE) That My (RELATIVE) Has/Had”
• 3 stanzas, 4 lines each, with an abab rhyme pattern
• Must include at least ONE SYMBOL that represents the quality/virtue of your adult relative
• Due FRIDAY, JAN. 23rd!

7th graders,

If you are interested in seeing some sample Poetry Cafe presentations, please see me during recess/lunch!

Happy writing! =)