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Cary Academy

ECHOES: great poets inspiring young writers
Curriculum Handouts Helpful Links

Curriculum
Goals
Students will:
  • understand and experience the multi-step process of writing and publishing quality work on the Web.
  • gain an in-depth knowledge of the life and work of one poet.
  • practice research techniques.
  • write their own creative, factual and analytical pieces based on models.
  • read, understand and analyze poetry and prose poetry. 
  • learn about other poets on the Echoes site.
  • explore the world of web design.
Literary Concepts Addressed 
  • simile
  • metaphor
  • extended metaphor
  • personification
  • imagery
  • mood
  • alliteration
  • repetition
  • tone
  • speaker
  • stanza
  • rhythm
  • form
  • line breaks
  • poetic punctuation
  • narrative and lyrical poetry
Skills Developed 
Reading
  • taking reading notes on poetry
  • culling basic meanings from poems
  • identifying poetic devices used by poets

 

 Research
  • finding excellent sources in the library and on the internet 
  • note-taking from sources to avoid plagiarism
  • bibliographic format
  • giving credit for pictures from the internet

Writing

  • writing poetry modeled after published work
  • creating original poems that employ poetic devices explored
  • writing commentary about poems using logical paragraph organization
  • biography writing 

Web Design

  • web design using Frontpage
  • attention to aesthetics in webdesign

 
Texts
These are simply possibilities.  There are plenty of other options out there. 
  • "Reply to the Question: 'How Can You Become a Poet?'" by Eve Merriam
  • "How to Eat a Poem" by Eve Merriam
  • "Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand
  • "Mango Juice" by Pat Mora
  • "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes
  • excerpt from "The Avenue Bearing the Initial of Christ into the New World" by Galway Kinnell
  • "This is just to say" by William Carlos Williams
  • "Fog" by Carl Sandburg
  • "this morning" by Lucille Clifton
  • "Fishing Calamari By Moon" by Sandra Cisneros

Final Product by Students

A website about their chosen poet containing:

  • a biography

  • a list of works published by the poet

  • three sample poems- one accompanied by analysis of a particular poetic device used

  • two original poems inspired by the poet's work (poet's two works included on the same page)

  • two original poems on any topic and in any form

  • bibliography and picture credits

Handouts

1. Project Timeline

2. Student Guidelines

3. Project Rubric

4. Simile Activity

5. Encyclopedia Britannica Definition of Poetry

6. Poetic Terms/ Devices List

7. Samples of poet-inspired work

8. Avoiding Plagiarism

9. Research Worksheet

10. Tips for Writing the Biography

11. Web Design Instructions

 

Helpful Links
Literary Terms  
Literary Terms A-Z  
For Biographies, Poems and Images
Cary Academy on-line sources- Big Chalk and Contemporary Literary Criticism are your best bets.
The American Academy of Poets- biographies and some samples of work, an excellent and reliable source, some photos of poets
Modern American Poetry- an excellent information source on 161 poets
Voices from the Gaps- an educational site on women writers of color
Modern and Contemporary American Poetry- a site compiled for a class at the University of Pennsylvania, varied sources and materials
The Plagiarist.com- while I don't support the concept, this site does have a large collection of poems by the writers included in Echoes
Representative Poetry On-Line- a scholarly resource with biographic info and sample poems by a wide variety of poets.
Poets' Corner- beautiful and expansive library of poetic works
Authors on the Web - Collection of biographical sketches
American Poems- biography, poems and pictures of selected American poets
American Writers - biographies with link to other resources by Donna Campbell at Gonzaga University
Bibliographic Format
Modern Language Association format
Citation Machine- type in the basic info and this site formats the citation for you