If - Mar. 4

If— by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
   But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
   Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
   And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
   If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
   And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
   Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
   And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
   And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
   And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
   To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
   Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
   Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
   If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run--
   Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Alone - Mar. 3

Aloneby Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

We Real Cool - Mar. 2

We Real Cool
by Gwendolyn Brooks

The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon. 

To a Poor Old Woman - Mar. 1

To a Poor Old Woman
by William Carlos Williams
munching a plum on the street a paper bag of them in her hand They taste good to her They taste good to her. They taste good to her You can see it by the way she gives herself to the one half sucked out in her hand Comforted a solace of ripe plums seeming to fill the air They taste good to her

The Tyger - Feb. 28

The Tyger
by William Blake
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare sieze the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears, And water'd heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Practice Post

Dreams
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow. 

Now complete a practice post for this poem!
You will earn a class participation grade for completing a practice post that responds to the 3-part prompt.

Example Poem

This Is Just To Say

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

Click on the title of the post in order to navigate to the poem you have been assigned. 
(This post, for example, is called, "Example Poem.")
Then you will respond to the assigned poem by typing in the "Post a Comment" section.

About this Project

Welcome to our class poetry blog!

The Basics:
Each student will sign up to explore and discuss one of the poems posted by Mrs. Pastore.
Student responses to poems will be posted on the blog for classmates to read.
Conversation among students via the blog is encouraged!


The Details:
Each student will sign up to explore and discuss one of the poems posted by Mrs. Pastore.
An example post is provided as a model of Mrs. Pastore's expectations for your analysis.

Students will all complete a practice post in the computer lab on the day the project is introduced--if you have questions about blogger, come after school for extra help!

You will earn a test grade for the completion of your post.  Your work will be assessed according to completion of ALL criteria listed in the assignment directions.  Sentence structure, grammar, and spelling are important to the clarity of your ideas, so pay careful attention to these things when proofreading your post.

You will copy and paste your post, and submit your response to turnitin.com for record of this activity in your digital portfolio.  You will earn a homework grade for completing this on time.

Remember, this is a school AND public domain, so information that you post reflects you, your teacher, your school, and your community.  It is important to demonstrate responsible digital citizenship.  It is equally important to post only your own original ideas.  Think before you post!



The Directions:

PART 1:  Write a brief  (4-6 sentence) response to the poem that:

-Identifies the speaker (voice) of the poem

-Identifies who the speaker is addressing

-Identifies the setting of the poem

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) that proves the setting

b.      Explains how this evidence conveys the idea of the setting

             -Identifies one of the following literary devices:

        imagery, personification, onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, repetition

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) of that literary device

b.      Explains how this literary device impacts the poem

PART 2:  Write a thorough (8-12 sentence) response to the poem that:

- Introduces the title and name of the poet

- Summarizes the main idea of the poem

- States the mood of the poem

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) that demonstrates mood of poem

b.      Explains how/why this evidence conveys this mood

       - States the tone of the poem

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) that demonstrates tone of poem

b.      Explains how/why this evidence conveys this tone

       - States the theme of the poem

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) that demonstrates theme of poem

b.      Explains how/why this evidence conveys this theme

         - Sums up the ideas you explore in your paragraph

       - Draws a general conclusion about the meaning/intent of the poem

PART 3:  Write a brief (4-6 sentence) response to the poem that:

- Expresses your overall opinion of the poem

a.      Offers evidence (quoted word, phrase, or line) of what you like/dislike

b.      Explains why this makes you feel a certain way about the poem

      - Poses a question to your classmates about the poem or a question that the poem makes you wonder about