Ms. Schonhar
English I: Poetry Portfolio Assignment
DUE APRIL 10-11, 2013
For our unit on poetry, students will both compose and critique poems by applying skills and techniques
learned in class.
Common Core Standards:
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RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.
RL.9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone
W.9-10.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique [and] well-chosen details
W.9-10.1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.
W.9-10.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
W.9-10.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing
on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W.9-10.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a
single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
L.9-10.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Components:
A. Poem Composition: Four original poems (complete and typed)
1. Persona Poem (written from the point of view of a well-known person)
2. Figurative Poem (written with metaphors and/or similes to add depth to meaning)
3. Sound Effects Poem (written with purposeful repetition, rhyme, rhythm to add meaning)
4. Structured Poem (written in the structure of a series of three haiku, a sonnet, a villanelle, or blank
verse)
B. Poem Criticism: Three constructed responses (minimum ½ page each, typed, titled, and double-spaced)
1. Choose two poems dealing with the same topic (theme). Compare OR contrast the poems’ speaker
and tone. Explain how the poems are alike or different in these two areas, and explain how the
speaker and tone of the poems influence the theme. Use textual evidence to support your claims.
2. Choose one poem with vivid imagery. Explain what images the poet uses, and what effect those
images have on the reader and the meaning of the poem. Use textual evidence to support claims.
3. Choose one poem to analyze using the TP-CASTT model. See template on webpage.
C. Portfolio Assembly: Collect your original poems and responses, with their rough drafts and feedback, into
a neat and orderly packet. Creatively construct a cover page for your portfolio, write up a table of contents,
and bind your materials in a neat and organized manner. Be ready to present one composition and one
criticism from your portfolio to the class.
Assessment:
60 % Content—does the student demonstrate understanding of poetic devices, structures, and
meanings?
20% Grammar/Style—does the student use proper language for each audience/purpose?
10% Appearance—is the portfolio assembled in an organized and creative manner?
10%  Presentation—does the student demonstrate understanding of appropriate spoken/physical
language during a formal presentation?
Ms. Schonhar
English I: Poetry Unit 2013
Unit Goals:
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Understand and apply poetic elements (vocabulary for the unit) in analysis of poetry
Create poems with careful attention to speaker, figurative language, sound effects, and structure
Come to a greater familiarity with and appreciation for poetry as a genre of literature and an art form
Assessments:
MAJOR
• Poetry and Daily Edit Test
• Poetry Portfolio
MINOR
• Poetry Terms Quizzes
• Deadlines for Portfolio
• USA Test Prep Assignments
Poetry Unit Assignments/ Deadlines:
Mon/Tues Mar 11-12
Poetry Terms Quiz: Speakers, Figurative Language, Sound Effects
Wed/Thurs Mar 13-14
Persona Poem due (for portfolio)
Fri Mar 15
USATP HW #2
Mon/Tues Mar 18-19
Poetry Terms Quiz: Structure, Diction & Tone
Wed/Thurs Mar 20-21
Compare/Contrast response rough drafts due—teacher feedback (for portfolio)
Fri Mar 22
USATP HW #3
Mon/Tues Mar 25-26
Imagery and TP-CAST response rough drafts due—peer editing (for portfolio)
Wed/Thurs Mar 27-28
Poetry/Daily Edit Test
Fri Mar 29
USATP HW #4
Mon/Tues April 8-9
In-class reflective essay emailed to Ms. Sho (30 pt)
Wed/Thurs April 10-11
Poetry Portfolios due
Fri April 12
USATP HW #5
Ms. Schonhar
Poetry Portfolio Component Information
A. Poem Composition: Four original poems (complete—at least 12 lines—and typed)
1.
Persona Poem (written from the point of view of a well-known person)
According to The Poetry Archive, a “persona, from the Latin [word] for mask, is a character taken on by a poet to speak in a first-person poem.”
Your assignment is to research a well-known person, decide upon a central moment in his/her life, and write about that moment from that person’s point of view (1 st
person). You can write in free verse (no set rhyme/ meter), or using a particular rhyme scheme. Attempt to use sound effects, figurative language, and strong emotion in
your poem. See the examples below for inspiration.
“Hermes in Retirement” by Stan Sanvel Rubin http://www.poemeleon.org/stan-sanvel-rubin/
After I stole the big one, I took off
for my estate outside the capital.
Here elephants are drenched in sunset
so red you would not wonder
if god’s heart was bleeding into it
the way a thief’s heart bleeds
when he is taken from those he loves.
But it’s too late then to regret.
Like Piaf, I regret nothing, not one
tie I severed or trick I used to pull it off. All
required ingenuity, luck, and cunning.
(The first is sure, the second
a cousin to the third.) All
satisfied an urgency of time, my need
to be alone. What keeps you flexible,
keeps you strong. Don’t worry,
I have aged into this solitude
of stealth, still ready
for action, game for anything
that comes along. All I wish
is practice, a deft plan close at hand,
new stratagems to fill the mind,
and time, so I can run, rich with hunger and
alert with fear, past all of them again.
2.
“Mirror” by Sylvia Plath http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/sylvia-plath/mirror/
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful ‚
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
Figurative Poem (written with figurative language to add depth to meaning)
Your next poem should include figurative language, including metaphors/similes, personification, and alliteration. You might also consider including hyperbole,
onomatopoeia, oxymoron, or idioms to your poem. You can try an extended metaphor like “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duffy, or you can simply use metaphors and the like
within the poem.
3.
Sound Effects Poem (written with purposeful repetition, rhyme, rhythm to add meaning)
The sound effects poem will use repetition of a word, phrase, or line, in addition to a set rhyme scheme, to draw attention to the meaning of the poem. You may decide to
try to write in a set meter (i.e. iambic pentameter), but that is not required.
4.
Structured Poem (written in the structure of a series of three haiku, a sonnet, a villanelle, or blank verse)
This poem should be self-explanatory. Ask Ms. Sho if you need help.
B. Poem Criticism: Three constructed responses (minimum ½ page each, typed, titled, and double-spaced)
1.
Choose two poems dealing with the same topic (theme). Compare OR contrast the poems’ speaker and tone. Explain how the
poems are alike or different in these two areas, and explain how the speaker and tone of the poems influence the theme. Use
textual evidence (quotes) to support your claims.
Some possible poem pairs to consider:
Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America”
Pablo Neruda’s “A Dog Has Died” and Billy Collins’ “The Revenant”
Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”
Michael McFee’s “Spitwads” and Matthew Rohrer’s “Childhood Stories”
2.
Choose one poem with vivid imagery. Explain what images the poet uses, and what effect those images have on the reader and
the meaning of the poem. Use textual evidence to support claims.
Some possible poems to consider:
Seamus Heaney’s “Blackberry Picking”
Edwin John Pratt’s “The Shark”
William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud”
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”
3.
Choose one poem to analyze using the TP-CASTT model. See template on webpage.