8th Grade Poetry Project

May 2017

Instructor: Ms. Gunn

 

Objectives: Students will (1) identify 3 poems by a single author; (2) generate and create a new poem using both a generator and blackout poetry; (3) analyze the poems in a well-written paragraph

 

Part 1: Identifying (3) poems

Use www.poetryfoundation.org to select (3) poems. These poems must have a common theme. You WILL discuss the poems at a later point, therefore, you must read and think about the poems and not randomly select them. Do not pick a poem you don’t understand.

 

Part 2: Creating a “New” Poem

1. Go to the Poetry is a Virus website and select “Diastic Poem Generator:” http://www.languageisavirus.com/diastic-poem-generator.php#.WQnSpCQppME
2. Enter the full text of your (3) poems into the two fields (2 poems in “Source” text and (1) poem in “Seed” text.
3. Hit “Generate”

 

Part 3: Create a “Blackout” Poem

1. Copy and paste the text of your “new” poem from Part 2 into a Notability document.
2. Manipulate the text so it looks like a block of words (see example). You do NOT want a lot of white space showing—think paragraph, not poem
3. Consider the common theme from your original (3) poems. Read the words from your generated poem. Select a series of words that bring the theme to life in a new way. Blackout words that do not fit. The remaining words are a blackout poem!

 

Part 3: Analyzing your (4) Poems

            In a well-written paragraph, analyze the (4) poems. You must:

• Identify the author of the original poems, and include the titles of the (3) poems
• Create a name for the blackout poem, and credit yourself as the author
• Clearly discuss the theme all (4) poems share. You may wish to quote lines directly from the poems to support your ideas
• This paragraph should be typed and free of grammatical, spelling and capitalization errors. 

 

It is strongly suggested that you review the sample poem and analysis paragraph!