First period began the last section of poetry for the week: imagery. We looked at one particularly amusing poem called “The Country” by former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins (Wikipedia overview).

I particularly like Collins’ work. His poetry is very accessible and yet has a certain calm depth to it. I use “The Country” for a couple of reasons. First, it’s in the book — an obvious reason. Second, there’s an animated version that kids enjoy and that really highlights Collins’ use of humorous imagery.

the-country-billy-collins-animated-poetry

The original is available at “Billy Collins, Action Poet.”

After a quiz on the reading for the day, second period looked at Odysseus’ slaying of the suitors and how that ties into the ever-present theme of hospitality in the Odyssey.

Fourth period finished up figurative language and worked together as a group to create two things:

1. a step-by-step guide for how to write a poem;
2. a poem (by following the guidelines as we write).

The poem we initially created reads:

Writing a poem is easy: all you need is a topic.
It takes no artistic ability.
It takes time.
It takes alliteration and onomatopoeia.
It takes courage and effort.
You’ve got to have heart.
Don’t settle. It can always be better.

A bit of revision brought about this:

Writing a poem is easy. It takes no artistic ability.
All you need is a topic.
a good minute,
alliteration and onomatopoeia,
courage and effort.
You’ve got to have heart.
Don’t settle. It can always be better.

We realized this is starting to look like a recipe, so we might head that direction tomorrow with the additional revisions.

Sixth period had a quiz on the language in “The Concrete Mixers”, then followed fourth period’s lead.

Their poem so far reads,

Writing a poem is like riding a bike.
You ride through the lines like writing through the rhymes.
When you mess up you get back up.
No matter how hard it is you must not give up.
You never forget how to ride a bike and you never forget how to use words
Because they always fly through your head like birds.
Your pencil is your pedal. the words are your wheels, and
the paper is the road. That’s how I feel.
The closer you get to the end, the harder things get.
The bigger the bike the bigger the words.

We’ll begin revising tomorrow.

Homework

• First period: none.
• Second period:
  • finish the Odyssey;
  • answer questions 1-4 on page 950.
• Fourth period: none.
• Sixth period: none.