11.05 - Poetry Out Loud

Today's class was focused on starting Poetry Out Loud. To do this we took a look at two poems and how they convey a meaning and message. We looked at Robert Burns' "To a Mouse" and E.E. Cummings' "me up at does".

Next, we took a look at how best to select a poem which people will be analyzing, memorizing, and reciting. Since this is also a national competition we looked at what to consider when selecting a poem based on whether it was for competitive purposes or class purposes (see handout).

I then showed everyone how to navigate the Poetry Out Loud website to search for a poem. People had the next twenty minutes to look for a poem. The idea was to spend this time reading poems and, even if you found the poem you want to recite, keep reading poems just to get a sense of how your poem compares to other poems and for the sheer enjoyment of reading poems. We will continue working with this next class.

Handouts:

Poetry Out Loud - Choosing a Poem

Homework:

Work on the formal analysis of your TED Talk (due this Friday, 11/7)

TED Talk Analysis assignment