April 11

Share your favorite poem or song lyrics!
5th Period Lyrics




Hand in typed essay on a change you're proposing to make in this school


Extra credit option: Enter a poem in the Willamette bookstore poetry contest.  Writing poetry is an act of letting the soul sing, and we don't get enough opportunities for that in life, do we?

Extra credit:
+2 for entering a quality poem (most, but not all, poems fall into this category if you spend some time)
+1 for a second poem (but you don't get extra points for those)
+5 for best poem in the class
+10 for 2nd or 3rd in the contest (we will probably have one of those.  Will it be you?)
+15 for 1st place

Requirements:
Awards will be given for the following categories:
Best Rhymed Poem, Best Unrhymed Poem, Best Haiku (that pretty much covers it all!)
You may enter up to 3 poems per category (9 total)
30 lines maximum
Original poems only--no reinterpretations and no illustrations
Enter separate poems on separate sheets of paper
Type poems

In upper left corner in a 3x3 box write:
Name
School
Grade
Phone
Poem category

Bring poems to Mr. Isom no later than 2:30 on Friday, April 12
Or email poem to poetrycontest@willamette.edu by 5:00; or hand deliver to Willamette bookstore

Poetry--Aspects of poetry
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Imagery--what you'd see if you were there
     "I know how to pay attention . . . to kneel down"
     "she snaps her wings open and floats away"
     "now she lifts her pale forearms"
     "who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes"
   

Word choice--very descriptive words.  Words with connotation
     "pale" "floats" "complicated" "gazing" "blessed" "











Lyrics to popular music are basically poems, too.  If you need some inspiration, concentrate on the lyrics to some of your favorite songs.
Here's a neat lyrics training program to help you memorize lyrics to songs
Lyricstraining.com