Poetry Challenges
To complete the Poetry Challenges, you must select and complete 15 of
the following. You must complete a minimum of 10 Writing, 3 Reading,
and 2 Representing (note: some options include more than one – please
check with Ms. Becker for clarification on these).
#1 “This Is a Photograph of Me” (Margaret Atwood) - Writing
 Find or take a photograph which you are in and not in (i.e. when you are in the
frame of the photograph but not visible in the photograph). Write a poem about
the photograph in the style of Margaret Atwood’s “This Is a Photograph of Me”.
#2 “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (T. S. Eliot) - Reading
 Select the most powerful image and in a creative form of your choice, represent
how that image is key in developing an understanding of the poem and how or
why that image affected you.
#3 “Lost Generation” (Jonathan Reed) - Writing
 Using Jonathan Reed’s “Lost Generation” as a model, write your own reverse
poem about a topic or issue that is important to you. You may want to check
out other examples of reverse poems on youtube to get a better understanding
of how they work.
#4 “Jabberwocky” (Lewis Carroll) – Writing/Representing/Reading
 Using Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” as a model, create your own narrative
poem using words that you have made up. Just remember that the story needs
to make sense.
 Create a comic strip representing the plot of Lewis Carroll’s narrative poem
“Jabberwocky”. Be sure that you include all of the plot events and represent all
aspects of the poem.
#5 “To This Day” (Shane Koyczan) – Writing/Representing/Reading/Speaking
 Create your own digital representation of a poem using Shane Koyczan’s “To
This Day” as a model. You may use a favourite poem by someone else or write
your own poem. Your representation needs to include images (still or video)
and voice. You may use images that you find or create your own images.
Remember to cite any sources that you use for text or images.
#6 Hypermedia Poetry Response – Representing/Reading
 Select a poem (a favourite by someone else or one of your own) and use the
hyperlink function in Powerpoint to create links from key words or phrases in
the poem. The links could connect to a personal response, a definition of a
word or a poetic device, an image that reflects the theme or mood of the poem,
an oral reading of the poem, biographical information on the author, a video of
a dramatic reading of the poem, etc.
#7 Poetry Scavenger Hunt - Writing
 Be on the lookout for everyday poetry in the world around you – signs, posters,
media, Internet, bumper stickers, etc. – and gather a collection of everyday
poems. You can write them down, cut them out, take photographs of them, etc.
Choose the one you like best ad explain why you like it.
#8 “Knock, Knock” (Daniel Beaty) – Writing/Speaking
 Using Daniel Beaty’s “Knock, Knock” as a model, write a poem that incorporates
a key word or phrase which repeats and which carries the meaning of the poem.
Optional: Perform your poem on video or live for the class.
#9 “Digging” (Seamus Heaney) - Reading
 Examine the similes/metaphors in Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” – “Between my
finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun” and “Between my
finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests / I’ll dig with it”. Use a graphic
organizer to analyze how a pen (writing) can be like a gun and/or like a spade
for digging.
#10 “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” (Dylan Thomas) - Writing
 Use the form of Dylan Thomas’s villanelle “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good
Night” to write your own villanelle. You may also write about death or choose
another topic.
#11 “Dream Deferred” (Langston Hughes) – Writing/Reading
 Consider “What happens to _________________________?” (fill in the blank with a
word of your choosing), and write your own poem following the model of
Langston Hughes’s “Dream Deferred”.
 Write a multi-paragraph response answer the question posed by the poem –
“What happens to a dream deferred?”
#12 “Goblin Market” (Christina Rossetti) – Representing/Reading
 Create a picture book or graphic novel representation of Christina Rossetti’s
“Goblin Market”.
 Write a multi-paragraph essay comparing Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”
to another text that you have read.
#13 “Acquainted with the Night” (Robert Frost) - Reading
 Describe the mood in Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night” referring to
specific words or lines from the poem to support your explanation.
#14 “Confession” (Ms. B) - Writing
 Using Ms. B’s “Confession” as a model, write a poem that has a twist at the end.
#15 “If Dogs Were Humans” (Ms. B) - Writing
 Using Ms. B’s “If Dogs Were Humans” as a model, write a poem which is
comprised entirely of questions.
#16 “We Real Cool” (Gwendolyn Brooks) - Writing
“Together” (Ms. B)
 Using “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks and “Together” by Ms. B as models,
write a short poem which is comprised of three word sentences where the
sentence breaks happen in the middle of the line.
#17 “Not Death” (Ms. B) - Writing
 Using Ms. B’s “Not Death” as a model, write about something (you may write in
verse or prose) describing that thing by what it is not instead of what it is.
#18 “Do You Like My Poem?” (Ms. B) - Writing
 Explore your own beliefs about what poetry is and what makes a poem good.
Write a multi-paragraph essay or a longer poem expressing your ideas /
opinions.
#19 “Conversations with Jann” (Ms. B) - Writing
 Write about a conversation with someone you admire but have never met. Your
conversation can be shared as a poem, a short story, a fictional memoir, or a
dialogue script.
#20 “Chrysalis Diary” (Paul Fleischman) – Writing/Speaking
“The Catnap” (Renee La Tulippe)
“Beautiful Devastation” (Ms. B)
 Find or write another poem for two voices. With a partner, present an oral
reading of the poem to the class. The presentation can be live or by video.
#21 “Litany” (Billy Collins) - Writing
“You Are Everything” (Jann Arden)
 Choose a person who is important to you. Using Billy Collins’s “Litany” and
Jann Arden’s “You Are Everything” as models, write a poem which uses other
things to describe that person.
#22 Spine Poetry - Writing
 Select a collection of books with interesting titles that can be manipulated to
form a poem. Stack the books and take a photograph of the spines in order to
capture the poem, as represented in the image below.
#23 Page Poetry – Writing/Representing
 Take a page from a discarded book. In a creative way, highlight words on the
page to create a poem, as represented in the images below.
#24 “You’re” (Sylvia Plath) - Reading
 Try to solve the puzzle presented by Sylvia Plath’s poem “You’re”. Who or what
is she describing? Support your answer with details from the poem.
#25 Poetry Painting – Writing/Representing
 Use words to create a visual image on the page, as represented in the images
below. The words you select must explain or expand upon the idea that you are
representing with the visual image.
 Combine word and image to create a coherent message, as represented in the
images below.
#26 Magnetic Poetry - Writing
 Use the words from the magnetic poetry kit (or the paper copies in one of the
envelopes) to create a poem.
 Cut words from a magazine and arrange them into a poem.
 Use the WordMover app on your ipad to create a poem.
#27 Poetry in Motion - Representing
 Select a poem (you may use one of your own or a favourite by someone else).
Using only motion (no words), portray the poem for the class. You may use
dance, miming, dramatization, etc. to represent the meaning of the poem. You
may use instrumental music to enhance the performance. Please include a
brief written piece explaining the connections between your performance and
the poem. Check out the shadow dance example at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvQBUccxBr4
#28 “Tiny Things (Paradelle)” (Dianne Hicks Morrow) and “Paradelle for Susan”
(Billy Collins) - Writing
 The paradelle is a poetic form invented by Billy Collins which uses the following
form: four six-line stanzas in which the first and second lines, as well as the
third and fourth lines of the first three stanzas, must be identical. The fifth and
sixth lines, which traditionally resolve these stanzas, must use all the words
from the preceding lines and only those words. Similarly, the final stanza must
use every word from all the preceding stanzas and only those words. Using
Dianne Hicks Morrow’s “Tiny Things (Paradelle)” and Billy Collins “Paradelle for
Susan” as models, write your own paradelle.
#29 “What the Dog Perhaps Hears” (Lisel Mueller) – Writing
 Using Lisel Mueller’s “What the Dog Perhaps Hears” as a model, write a poem
that describes what some non-human creature or object might see or hear.
#30 “Should You Ask” (Julie Bruck) - Writing
 Using Julie Bruck’s “Should You Ask” as a model, write a poem that states your
beliefs about a variety of things.
#31 Random Acts of Poetry – Writing/Representing
 Without defacing any property (i.e. no actual writing, painting, etching, etc. on
walls, floors, doors, etc.), perform random acts of poetry by placing poetic bits
around the school (or around your community if you want). Take photographs
of your random acts of poetry and use the photographs to create a visual
representation. Be sure that your messages are positive, appropriate, and
uplifting. You may use your own poems or favourite poems by others. If you
are using the poetry of others, be sure to include the poet’s name.
#32 Poetry Reconstruction - Writing
 Select one of the poems listed below. Cut the lines of the poem into strips and
re-arrange them into a new poem of your own. You may change the
punctuation as necessary. Write a brief explanation of the choices you made in
arranging the lines to create new meaning.
o “Where the Sidewalk Ends” (Shel Silverstein)
o “Eating Poetry” (Mark Strand)
o “Languages” (Carl Sandburg)
o “Mirror” (Sylvia Plath)
o “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” (Emily Dickinson)