Intervention Discussion: Fever 1793, Chapters 27-Epilogue

Ideas for Poetry Creations

Your end product for our poetry unit is supposed to be a piece created by you, but inspired in some way by the poem you chose. Not very specific, is it? There are so many possibilities! This could be overwhelming, but check out some of these beautiful options for turning your poem into a piece of art.

Remember when we talked about the different forms of poetry and I mentioned concrete poems? Concrete poetry—sometimes also called ‘shape poetry’—is poetry whose visual appearance matches the topic of the poem. The words form shapes which illustrate the poem’s subject as a picture, as well as through their literal meaning. Here are some examples:

This poem isn't really about a cat, but it does use the metaphor of a cat, so the cat was a clever choice of an image to use.

This one actually is about drinking coffee, but still a cleverly drawn concrete poem.

You could also draw or paint a picture and then use concrete poetry for part of the image.

Another option I love are these altered book pages. You could use any page from pretty much any book to create one of these works of art inspired by your poem. Check out some of these outstanding examples:

These are beautiful examples of altered book pages. See how the creators of these works emphasized certain words to make a poem? And then they artfully decorated the rest of the page? If this is something you're interested in, let me know, and I'll copy a page out of any book for you.

Another cool option are these art journal pages. Get some inspiration from your poem, and create a work of art paired with words of your own or some of the words from your poem - maybe just a few lines that you love.

Many, many, many more examples here! Check them out - there are seriously tons.

Or you could even record parts of a poem on a physical object that reminds you of your poem. Whatever speaks to you! I love this seashell example!

If you love artful text (I totally do!), you could copy a part of your poem in a creative way and then make an illustration to go along with it. This awesome book of illustrated Walt Whitman poems is a perfect example:

All images found here. Click the link for more!

Whatever you decide to do, just have fun and put as much of yourself into it as you can! This is your chance to truly express your creativity in a really cool and poetic way. Embrace it and find something that holds meaning for you!

Intervention Discussion: Fever 1793, Chapters 24-26

Let's discuss Chapters 24-26 here!

Intervention Discussion: Fever 1793, Chapters 20-23

Let's discuss chapters 20-23 of Fever 1793 here!

Analyzing Poetry - The ARTWARS Method

Please excuse the goofiness of this video! It's a little silly at times, but the maker of this tutorial has some great ideas about how to analyze poetry. This is one of about a hundred methods that you could use to pick apart a poem to discover its meaning. We'll be watching this as a class next week, but feel free to watch it today to prepare yourselves!

Intervention Discussion: Fever 1793, Chapters 16-19

Discuss Chapters 16-19 of Fever 1793 here!

Figurative Language Videos

As you've probably noticed by now, poetry is full of potentially confusing figurative language. Understanding the types of figurative language that poets use most often might help you decipher some of the poems you've been reading. Use the videos below to teach yourself about figurative language!

Similes and Metaphors in pop culture. Hilarious and accurate!

A great video highlighting the difference between personification and anthropomorphism:

Onomatopoeia (sounds represented in word form) is pretty popular in songs, but you might not have noticed before.

Hyperboles are extreme exaggeration, and musicians LOVE to exaggerate. :)

Online Poetry Resources

A list of 180 poems (one for every day of the school year!)

An awesome archive of poetry! On the left side of the page, click a category and read away.

The following links are to some amazing spoken word poetry. Pretty powerful stuff.

• "Shrinking Women" - A powerful spoken word poem about weight and gender roles in a young woman's family
• "To This Day" - A beautifully illustrated spoken word poem about three people's struggle with bullying
• "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" - A poem about a young woman trying to explain her depression and anxiety to her mom, but her mom just doesn't get it
• "For Teenage Girls" - A poem encouraging teenage girls to live fearlessly and passionately. 
• "To the Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter" - A letter to teenage boys (and girls) everywhere from the father of a girl raised with love and strength
• "Rigged Game" - A critical look at how the educational system treats English Language Learners (kids who don't speak English as their first language) 
• "Declaration of Independence" - A young woman's passionate stance on racism in America