Poetry Project

1. Three short essays (2 pages) based on your personal research of THREE poets’ visions of poetry. These essays may be developed from reading about poets, from videotaped interviews, or from personal interviews with, for example, a local poet. These must include reference to what the poet himself/herself says and examples of his/her poetry. You should also include personal comment on your agreement or disagreement with each poet’s philosophy about poetry. Include Works Cited page for each essay.

• One poet must be from before the 20th Century.
• Diversify your choices.
• Not life of poet…you may need to research this to understand the poet’s philosophy of poetry, but it should not be the focus.

2. One longer essay (4-5 pages) in which you explain your own newly developed vision/philosophy of poetry. Include references to those specific learning experiences that helped you to develop this vision, both over the next several weeks and other life experiences outside this unit that have contributed to your personal philosophy on poetry.

3. A collection of favorite poems that you feel illustrates your poetic philosophy. It should include a minimum of four poems from several different poets, a short analysis of each poem, and your personal comments on why you chose each of these poems.

4. Your own poetry. This may be a series of short poems, two longer poems or a book of poetry ready for publication.

Start your project today!