Poetic Devices and Poem Comprehension Review

This morning "Oscar" paragraphs were collected.  I would like these handed in by Friday at the latest, so I can read and provide feedback over the weekend.

Students were asked to work through a sheet of poetic device examples, indicating which device they thought was present in the example line(s) of poetry.

Finally, students were given the poem "To the Foot From Its Child" and asked to annotate the poem with their thinking and indicate the poet's use of devices.  The poem was discussed and worked through, with the entire class.

If you were away today, please see me tomorrow to pick up a copy of the poem.  Or, you can access a copy of it here: http://www.motherbird.com/foot_child.html.

Project Preparation

Our entire block yesterday was devoted to project preparation.  We worked in the computer lab.  It was the  final class devoted to this project.  A reminder that they are due on Wednesday February 6th.

"Oscar"

A couple of reminders:

• Voice of the Mind entries (poetry and/or prose) are due before January 31st
• We are working in the computer lab on Thursday
• Poetry Projects must be complete by Wednesday Feb. 6th

We read the poem "Oscar" and discussed the metaphor that is present.  The poet compares Oscar's experience of fighting as a revolutionary in war in El Salvador to the "war" that he fights every day living on the Downtown Eastside.  We discussed many of the subtleties of the poem, and students wrote a paragraph explaining the metaphor.  I also distributed a handout on quotation integration, meant to support students who are still needing some help with this skill.

Paragraphs should be completed for Thursday's class, please.

Happy New Year!

We spent the beginning of today's class writing found poems.  I asked students to write about a person whom they believe deserves recognition or honour, but who has not already received it.  Students wrote paragraphs on this person for about 10 minutes, and then we worked to find poems in the words of the paragraphs students had written.  If this form of poem resonates with you, you are welcome to write one to submit to me as your original poem for the summative assessment portfolio.

We then spent time choosing and analyzing our songs for the poetry project.  Students are reminded that we are in the lab on Wednesday, so it is important that you bring a copy of your lyrics with you, to use as a reference.  Also, you should bring a USB, to save any work you complete on Wednesday.