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.