Poetry Apprenticeship: Modeling as a Method for Teaching

Poetry Writing

Rose DaumCRWP Teaching Demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMgRBV6WzR8

"The apprenticeship with master in the field is still

the best model for learning."

- Penny Kittle, Write Beside Them (p. 8)

An Example of an Emulation

Original Poem: 

ways you are not like oedipus 

for Michael Glaser you have spared your fatheryou pass the spinx withoutanswering       you recognizedyour mother in timeyour sons covet onlytheir own kingdomsyou lead your daughterseven in your blindnessyou do not wander farfrom your own good houseit is home and you know it - Lucille Clifton

An Example of an Emulation

Emulation Poem: 

ways you are not like odysseus                        in honor of Lucille Clifton you have ignored your godyou meet the siren andhesitate       you disregardedyour promise with timeyour son judges thosenot like himselfyou forget old friendsthough they still rememberyou cannot comprehendtheir longing for truththey thirst and you are silent  -  Rose Daum

An Example of an Emulation

 ways you are not like oedipus  for Michael Glaser you have spared your father you pass the spinx without answering       you recognized your mother in time your sons covet only their own kingdoms you lead your daughters even in your blindness you do not wander far from your own good house it is home and you know it  - Lucille Clifton

ways you are not like odysseus                        in honor of Lucille Clifton you have ignored your godyou meet the siren andhesitate       you disregardedyour promise with timeyour son judges thosenot like himselfyou forget old friendsthough they still rememberyou cannot comprehendtheir longing for truththey thirst and you are silent  -  Rose Daum  

 Original Poem: 

Lobocraspis griseifusa

 This is the tiny moth who lives on tears,who drinks like a deer at the gleaming poolat the edge of the sleeper’s eye, the touchof its mouth as light as a cloud’s reflection. In your dream, a moonlit figure appearsat your bedside and touches your face.He asks if he might share the poor breadof your sorrow. You show him the table. The two of you talk long into the night,but by morning the words are forgotten.You awaken serene, in a sunny room,rubbing the dust of his wings from your eyes.

 - Ted Kooser

 Emulation Poem: 

Axiothella antarctica for Ted Kooser This is the tiny worm who lives on nothing,who burrows in soil as dry and cold as bonesand is stranded for years, awaiting the arrivalof a trickle of water to maintain its pulse of life. In your barrenness, a man comes to meet youand warms your cupped fingers with his breath.He offers to share with you the deep waterof his vitality.  You hold out your cup. You both drink deep in a suspended moment,but by the next day the taste is forgotten.You look around, in a valley of brittle bones,your parched throat gasping for his breath. -Rose Daum

 

Lobocraspis griseifusa

 This is the tiny moth who lives on tears, who drinks like a deer at the gleaming pool at the edge of the sleeper’s eye, the touch of its mouth as light as a cloud’s reflection.  In your dream, a moonlit figure appears at your bedside and touches your face. He asks if he might share the poor bread of your sorrow. You show him the table.  The two of you talk long into the night, but by morning the words are forgotten. You awaken serene, in a sunny room, rubbing the dust of his wings from your eyes.

- Ted Kooser

Axiothella antarctica  for Ted Kooser This is the tiny worm who lives on nothing,who burrows in soil as dry and cold as bonesand is stranded for years, awaiting the arrivalof a trickle of water to maintain its pulse of life. In your barrenness, a man comes to meet youand warms your cupped fingers with his breath.He offers to share with you the deep waterof his vitality.  You hold out your cup. You both drink deep in a suspended moment,but by the next day the taste is forgotten.You look around, in a valley of brittle bones,your parched throat gasping for his breath. -Rose Daum

Questions before Emulation

1. What is your initial gut reaction to the poem?

2. What does the poem seem to be about?

3.  Who is speaking in the poem?  Who is the poem addressing? 

4. What does it make you think of?  Does it remind you of anything in your own experience?

5. What parts of the poem do you like best?  Specific lines?  Vivid images?  Interesting word combinations?  

6. What poetic devices are in the poem?  Identify them.  

Guiding Ideas for Emulation

1. Pay attention to the structure of the poem.  How many lines/stanzas/words? Where are the line-breaks and punctuation?

2. Who is speaking in the poem? Adopt a similar point of view for your emulation.  

3. What is the subject matter of the poem? Consider adopting a related subject.  

4. Or, consider opposites.              Ex: It is cold, bitter as a penny.  ("Who Will Know Us?" by Gary Soto)    5. If it is a poem about a memory, what kind of memory?  A childhood memory?  Of a big event?  Of a moment?  Does the poet just simply tell the memory, or do they tell it and then arrive at a universal truth? 6. Is the poem about a place? What places do you know well?    

Group Share       

1. Have each group member read his or her emulation poem out loud.  

2.  After you have read your poem, explain your process to the group.  What was your thought process for the task?  What do you think you did well?  What did you struggle with?  

3.  As a group, decide on your favorite emulation from the group.  

4.  Have one member paste the emulation into the appropriate slide of the shared Google Presentation.

Now, it's your turn...