Easing into PoetryThinking About Language Poetically Instead of Intellectually&Creating Poems from Other Sources

BackgroundRosemount High School

◦Demographics: American Indian 0.5% Asian 6.1% Hispanic 4.1% Black 6.7% White 82.7%

Free/Reduced Lunch 15.7% Special Education14.1% English Learner 1.3%

◦Total Population = 2,174

Background (cont.)RHS operates on a 7-period day

scheduleApproximately 50 minutes per

classThree trimester terms to the yearEnglish is required every

trimester

Background (continued)RHS English Sequence

◦English 9 or Honors English 9◦English 10 or Honors American Lit 10◦English 11 or AP Language and

Composition◦English 12 plus Two Electives

Or

◦AP Literature and Composition Or

◦CIS Fiction and Composition

English ElectivesContemporary Prose (11-12)Comparative Mythology (11-12)Reading Lab (10-12)Critical Reading and Writing (12)Advanced Composition (11-12)Creative Writing (11-12)Journalism and Media Studies (11-12)Critical Communication (11-12)CIS Intro to Public Speaking (11-12)Intro to Broadcast Journalism (10-12)

Creative WritingIn any given section of Creative

Writing, one might expect to find:◦Students enrolled by choice because they

have a strong interest in creative writing.◦Students enrolled by choice because they

(mistakenly) believe that they won’t have to do any reading.

◦Students who were placed in the class by counselors or case managers, sometimes for no other reason than to earn a required credit.

And so…When the time to start poetry comes

around, there will be a wide range of student enthusiasm. Many will be excited, but several others will be very apprehensive.

Even those who are excited for poetry are stuck in very limited mindsets of what poetry should look like, sound like, and be about.

The following activities would take place as we are just beginning poetry – after a quick refresher on poetic devices but prior to any writing of poetry on their own.

FirstYou’re going to answer a few

questions on paper.Ready?

Look at this picture.

Do a quick sketch of each shape on your paper.It doesn’t need to be perfect, just enough for you to know which shape is which.

If each shape had a name, which would be Kepick and which Oona? Label each shape with the appropriate name.

If they have genders, which is a woman and which is a man?

If one is a brand of gasoline and the other a type of oil, which is which?

Listen to them. Which one is a drum and which one is a violin?

Listen to them some more. Which one is a saxophone and which a trumpet?

Listen to them one more time. Which one is the wind and which one is a dog barking?

Let’s go back through the results.

Did you come up with…

• OonaKepick

• FemaleMale

• OilGasoline

• ViolinDrum

• SaxophoneTrumpet

• WindDog Bark

According to Stephen Minot, the author of Three Genres, 19 out of 20 people will come up with the same answers to those questions. Why do you suppose that is?

How I Approach Poetry“Poetry is language at its most distilled

and most powerful.” ~ Rita Dove

Being most comfortable as a prose writer, I use that as my entryway to poetry.

My poems are the result of a reduction process, like a bucket of seawater left to evaporate so the salt can crystallize along the rim.

One Approach to Seeing in New Ways and DistillingWhile some forms of Found

Poetry have been around for years, Austin Kleon has built a career around Newspaper Poetry (sometimes referred to generically as Blackout Poetry).

Kleon Video

By Austin Kleon

“Salesmanship” by Austin Kleon

My quick example:

First, I scanned the letter for interesting words and phrases and gently underlined them with a pencil.

Once I had done enough, an idea to tie them together emerged.

Some of what I initially underlined was discarded if it didn’t fit.

Then I carefully boxed in the words for my poem.

Then I filled in the rest. The more solidly you fill it in, the easier it is to read the poem.

Your TurnChoose a newspaper, handout,

magazine, or other piece of text you have available to you and create your own blackout poem.

Alternatives to Simple Blackouts

ResourcesThree Genres by Stephen Minot

(now in its 9th edition – might be out of print)

http://www.AustinKleon.comhttp://newspaperblackout.com