Pre-University: Lab 12 (Poetry)

In the United States, April is National Poetry Month. For your lab this week, I want you to choose and share a poem.

1. Go to one or more of the following poetry websites:

• Poets.org ( http://www.poets.org/audio.php )
• BBC Arts – Poetry Out Loud ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/ )
• Plagiarist.com – (http://plagiarist.com/poetry/poets/ )
• Poetry X – ( http://poetry.poetryx.com/ )

You may also use other poetry resources you know of: books or other websites.

2. Browse. Read or listen to some poems.

3. Choose one poem you like. (Please do not choose song lyrics.) Print it out or copy it by hand.

The poem does not need to be originally written in English, but if it isn’t, you need to provide a translation.

Also remember to include the poet’s name (the author of the poem).

4. Be prepared to describe, orally, why you like the poem. Use detail and examples! (If you would like to prepare this as a written paragraph, that is acceptable but not necessary.)

Do you like it because of…

• the subject matter? (does it remind you of something?)
• the message/meaning?
• the way it sounds? (rhythm, rhyme, alliteration)

5. Bring the poem and your paragraph or explanation to class Friday, April 23.  You will share your poem in class and tell us why you chose it.

For an example of a poem I chose for this assignment, see here.

6. Bonus: on April 29, Poem in Your Pocket Day, if you show me a poem you are carrying in your pocket, I will give you one homework bonus point!

Pre-university: Narrative structure activity

In class on Monday, we started an activity which included listening practice and a discussion about narrative structure (stories). We are watching the PBS Nature documentary “The Wolf that Changed America.”

If you would like to watch the beginning of this 45-minute film, you can go to the PBS video page here. (This is optional.) On Monday, we watched the first three segments of the program. On Wednesday, we will finish it.

Some elements of a story:

• Characters (the people and/or animals in the story)
• Conflict (the problem or problems for the characters)
• Climax (the highest action in the story, where the story “turns”; usually takes place near the end)
• Conclusion (helps you understand the theme or purpose of the story)

Vocabulary for this film:

• bounty
• assassin
• naturalist
• “piece of cake”
• far-fetched
• demon / demonize
• “throw caution to the wind”
• adversary
• villain vs. hero
• regret

Questions:

• What is the setting of the story? (Time and place)
• Who are the main characters?
• What are the conflicts in the story?
• What is the climax of the story?
• What do you think is the theme or purpose of this story?

If you are interested in reading more about the history of wolves in America,  there  is a  good article here: “Wolf Wars: America’s Campaign to Eradicate the Wolf.”