Lucas invited a brilliant woman, Janet Hobson, to join us at poetry club last Wednesday (2-27-08). After some discussion it was decided that she would attend four more club meetings and would provide us with a sort of mini-class in writing poetry from her experience.
The assignment for March 5th was to write a poem in someone elses’s voice, from someone else’s point of view [often referred to as "persona" poems]. She asked that we make enough copies of our poems that we could give each member a copy to read while we discuss them.
Not quite everyone wrote a persona poem. Even among those who did, no one had made copies for others–I guess we didn’t hear that request or forgot it. A few were shared and we discussed intended audience and we discussed titles.
For March 12th she has asked that we revise our poems, creating a second draft, and that we be sure to have copies for all. If you would like me to make copies of your poem for you, you can give the poem to me any time before 6th period on that Wednesday, and I will copy it for you. I estimate that 10-15 copies should be plenty.
Here’s a brief version of the syllabus she provided to us:
March 5: Introduction. Discussion: how can poets help each other? what is “workshopping” a poem? goals and objectives; pros and cons of group work. Share poems.
March 12: Share revised poems. Discussion: how to ask for help; evolving with the poem.
[March 19: Mrs. Hobson is unavailable]
March 26: Share refined/polished poems. Discussion: how can peers help with fine-tuning? offering useful praise.
[April 2: We are on Spring Break]
[April 9: Mrs. Hobson is unavailable?]
April 16: Rehearsal and Performance techniques–what works best with dramatic monologues? How to inhabit and project a character. Group reading (5:00-6:00?)
REMEMBER: As always, things change! So this schedule may not be followed completely. This is especially a concern after spring break since we have our performance of April 25th to be working toward. However, these dramatic monologues/persona poems are also strong options for that performance. Keep in mind that YOU need to be working to memorize (or almost memorize) the poem(s) that you plan to perform or those poems which you want to use at club meetings to become more comfortable with sharing/performing/speaking, even if you don’t actually plan to perform (this time 
). Practicing speaking your writing aloud, sharing it with others in your own voice, and finding your strength behind that voice are powerful, positive, and self-affirming activities. For ALL of you, I want the benefits which I know can come from doing these things.
Above all else as a teacher, I hope to help students know themselves, to find their passions and purposes, and to learn how to believe in their own strength as they face the world. If I can even provide you with a glimpse of these things, a hint of their existence, then I have done for you what I so profoundly needed someone to do for me when I was young.
Filed under: From the Bard--Ms. Julie Hasted, Poetry Club
