Name poems - This is what I call myself

Today we'll work with names - we'll consider all of the ways we are known, all of the things we are called, and the ways we refer to ourselves.

We'll read these two poems:

• "My Name" - Sandra Cisneros
• "My Name's Not Rodriguez" - Luis Rodriguez

Ode poems

Today we will explore a particular type of poem - the ode. An ode poem is a celebration of a thing, a person, a place - just about anything from the everyday to the unique. The ode offers details and examples and stories and expresses a sense of what your thing means to you, the writer.

I'll start us off with some brainstorming, then I'll share two very different examples of odes.

Here's one from the poet Pablo Neruda: "Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market"

Here's one from Run DMC: "My Adidas"

Exploring poetry

Some of you know a lot about poetry, some of you have studied poetry, some of you know little about it, and some of you express a dislike for it. You may fall into several of those categories, or other ones not mentioned, but have you ever explored poetry as a writer?

Today we will start our look at poetry by putting each one of us in the driver's seat.

Go here: The "Poems" section of the Poetry Foundation website

Then, start exploring. When you click "explore poems" you can filter poems by topic, form, school / period, and geographic region. Play around. Read lots of poems today.

While you are reading / browsing, I want you to find a poem for each of these categories (you can use each poem only once):

• A poem with ideas you connect with - it makes points or asks questions or shares observations about things you care about
• A poem with images that appeal to you - anything from an object to a setting to a description of a person that resonates with you
• A poem that uses language in a way that appeals to you - one you may want your writing to sound like in some way
• A poem that uses language in a way you find off-putting - one you want to be sure your writing does not sound like

There should be a copy of this Google Doc in your folder. Take the time to respond to the four poems you choose with a paragraph or so of commentary in each box. We'll share some of this work in class as we go through the week.

words words words

Today we'll explore words - words we love and words we hate.
We'll watch a short film and read the accompanying essay - these will serve as a model for today's work. Your assignment is to write an exploration of a word - it can be in just about any format, as you can see from the example. It should be a page or so long, but the goal is not the length - the goal is the depth of the exploration. Your work will be due at the end of the period, submitted to turnitin.com. Enjoy!




Here is a link to the essay by Thylias Moss