Ms. K's Website

Alexa Mergen : Poetry Workshop

    ________I was so proud to see you all taking risks in sharing your original work with the class during the poetry workshop that Alexa Mergen presented. Let's take time to reflect upon what we learned. In the comments at this posting, write a message to Alexa that addresses the following questions:

What was your experience? What specific things did you learn about yourself and the process of writing and performing poetry? What exercises were helpful to you?

If I Were....

If I were a car, I would be a lime green volkswagen coming home after a trans-continental journey.

What car are YOU?

Look below the fold for today's journal activity "If I Were". It's due Wednesday, typed, at the beginning of class. Don't forget to answer the questions on "The Stranger" and to study the tips on writing about poetry.

"The Journey" by Mary Oliver: a sample literary analysis

  "One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice...

...a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

...kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper into the world..."

-from Mary Oliver's "The Journey"

Look below the fold for the poem in its entirety, an accompanying literary analysis by Ms. K, and guidelines for your literary analysis papers.

"The Poetry Portfolio" The Structure

"The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail."   —William Faulkner

(image via )

A poetry portfolio is a collection of poems, biographies, and reflections. This portfolio is also includes a visual response: a way of portraying the tone or "mood" of a poem using imagery. The following is an outline of what is expected. Add to it, if you like! :-)

Poetry Portfolio

Other poets:

• Three poems written by two or three poets from your country of origin, along with a sentence or two bio of each. The poems must be submitted in the original language and translated into English, either by you or someone else. Each poem must include a one-paragraph analysis. MM students should check out this site.
• A poem of your choice accompanied by an analysis.
• Five of your favorite poems from the poems we study in class. At least one needs to be illustrated.

Featured Poet

• Three poems by your featured poet
• A two-three page literary analysis on two-three poems on your featured poet.
• A one-page biography, including the poet’s importance in his/her historical time period

Poems as a “response to art”:

• Three “poems as response to art” by other poets. Include a copy of the piece of art.
• One-two “art poem" (a poem as response to art) by you.

Sharing your knowledge:

• A list of 10 poetic terms discussed in class, accompanied by an example of each from the poems we read in class

Original Poetry by you:

• Five-seven additional original poems written by you; three must include graphics/drawings/images/photos that accentuate the tone and or subject of your piece. You could create videos to show to the class

Presentation: Ways to showcase your poetry portfolio:

• Create your own poetry blog which could include original podcasts of your audio.
• Create a hardcopy poetry portfolio in a beautifully-designed binder.
• Create an e-portfolio. (Click on link, then see me for details!)
• Create a website that showcases the elements of your poetry portfolio.
• Suggest another way!

 

Creating the "Hook"

Dear Ms. K,

When I'm writing an essay, I always struggle with creating an interesting "hook" to pull in my reader. Do you have any suggestions on how I can begin my essay in a more interesting way?

Dear Student:

There isn't a magic formula for introductory paragraph hooks. However, I do have a few suggestions to help you in your writing. Here are a few methods:

1. Make a provocative statement of your own.
2. Begin with a quotation from the play and explain it.
3. Describe the situation.
4. Create an atmosphere.
5. Ask a question

Can you think of any others?

You are going to create a mini-essay on Act I of The Crucible. First, however, you are going to write an introductory paragraph for each of the essay prompts, using a different method for starting each paragraph.

Here are the essay prompts. Make sure you write one introductory paragraph for each essay prompt.

1. What prompts Tituba and the girls to claim they've seen the devil at the end of the act?
2. What conflicts are present in the community of Salem at the beginning of the play and what are the causes of them?
3. What kind of character is Abigail? Explain her behavior in this act.
4. How does Arthur Miller create the atmosphere of Salem in the first act of The Crucible?
5. How has the balance of power shifted by the end of Act I? Why does this happen?

So, now it's your turn! Each of you should post one sample introductory paragraph from today's homework. It needs to be posted by 11:00 pm Monday, March 19th. Your digital copy of five intro paragraphs should be in the class folder by 4:00 pm on Monday, and hardcopy printout put under my door. See you Tuesday!

(p.s. We miss you, M. from Japan. And, to "fatandconfused" at MUN in China, I hope you're doing well. BTW, this assignment is for you, too!)

Teeny-Weeny Grammar Lessons

Okay, guys.

I finished correcting ALL of your research papers. (Ms. K takes a bow while the entire class gives her a standing ovation and brings her offerings of expensive European chocolate in gratitude for correcting them all in less than a week.)

I'm quite impressed with some of your research, and I can't wait to listen to the class debates.

I noticed that some of you need a brush-up on your grammar, so to help you out, I'm introducing you to a virtual guest lecturer: Grammar Girl. Her podcasts are quite interesting to listen to, so I've downloaded them into the "temp file share" folder of your class folder. They are in MP3 format, so you can copy and save them onto your ipod or your MP3 player for later use. (Note: when downloading, it might helped to save it first to your desktop, and THEN copy to your ipod.) You can see the text version of her mini-lessons and other cool grammar links at her website.

Today we will be listening to one of her podcasts entitled "Wordiness and Idioms". The neat thing is this: some of you have specific needs in brushing up your grammar, and with Grammar Girl's podcasts, you can simply take five minutes on your own to listen to the podcast that fits your needs.

Now isn't that cool or am I the only one completely jazzed about this?