Writing Anthology
What this project will actually look like:
You are going to write an individual anthology of poems from which you will then choose one to include in the class anthology. For each poem you write you will be asked to communicate the specific choices you chose to make in the writing and your process for writing you poem.
Sample Format for Poem Anthology
Into the Garden , A silhouette
Student Writer
in the front
of the yard
it slowly moves
wondering
where to start?
A hose in hand
steps foward
into the Garden
my hands
grip
to the chains of the swing
The rust on the metal sinks into my palms
so I move them move up on the chain
my feet pump further to the stars
I can feel the breeze
on my legs
as I kick into the air
I feel
the best I can feel
The water,
from the hose
taps each flower
on petals
on stems
on leaves
on hands
on
the swing
my smile broadens
as I swing higher
and higher
my legs stretch towards the sky
feeling bullets of water
and dirt
then I stop
the air halts the swing freezes
and my toes hit the mulch
below the swing
my smile shrinks and the lines on either side slide further into my cheeks,
and the silouette backs up
into the dark again
the hose
turns off.
Intention
(The idea/message I want to communicate to my world. Where this idea/message came from):
At first, I thought I was just writing about playing on the swing while my dad was watering the plants. For some reason, I always thought of that as pretty or poetic- like a nice picture. But then, I was thinking about it and it was more than that because I actually felt something while I was swinging. It was more of a big moment than just casually swinging. So the big idea I wanted to get across was about childhood. Like when you're really little and you think that everything is just fun and games. There is innocence; no one expects you to fall because you’re just a kid and nothing bad can happen to you. Everything is just carefree. The poem is also about growing up. I wrote this poem after thinking back to this specific moment when I was on my swing. Everything seemed so much more fun than now. Like a couple of weeks ago, I went on the swing and I felt like nothing, like what's so fun? And in a way that makes me really sad because you can’t go back to when that was fun and if you try it just isn't the same. I think it has a lot to do with change, from really small to growing up. And there is some pain in that. But you also want to keep moving forward. Some part of you wants to stay a little kid, but another part wants you to grow up. I think when you're this age like thirteen or fourteen- that’s how you feel-- torn between childhood and adulthood.
Process:
(The specific choices I made as a poet to capture and communicate my theme/message. My explanation of why I made these specific choices and what I wanted their effect to be on my reader. First, annotate your own poem in order to identify the choices you made. Then write your process.)
Initially, when I wrote this poem, I capitalized the first word. However, after reading it several times, I realized I wanted to make my reader feel like they were entering a memory. As if there were walking in on a really important moment in my life. I chose to make the first word lowercase because it makes it feel like it’s happening mid-line, as if the reader has walked in on the poem in the middle of it happening, like a photograph. As the poem developed, I started realizing that the setting of the poem, the Garden, was really important.
I made the decision to capitalize the word Garden because I know poets sometimes capitalize words to show importance to their reader. I capitalized Garden because this is the place where I finally realized I wasn’t a kid anymore, literally the place where I finally felt grown up. This was the place where I changed as a person and therefore I wanted to show that importance to my reader by making the word stick out. As I moved deeper in the poem I also wanted to change the speed that my reader was reading at in order to represent my own feelings about growing up, which changed as the poem developed.
In the middle of the poem, when my speaker says, “ from the hose/taps each flower/on petals/ on stems/ on leaves,” I chose to write short quick lines to represents the water drops from the hose. The drops of the water flow out of the hose and create this light and carefree scene. I think those lines really capture what childhood is like, it’s quick and carefree. As I moved deeper into the poem, I started to use less space in my lines, I wanted the lines to crowd together. For example, when the speaker says, “ my smile shrinks and the lines on/either side slide further into my/cheeks” I was trying to get my reader to slow down. The longer lines keep my reader reading without stopping. By not stopping I am changing the tone of my speaker. The speaker is growing more serious like an adult. The last two lines of the poem are really important to me. I wrote “the hose/ turns off.” These lines show my reader the “end” of something, my childhood. The words “turn off” make the reader think of turning off the light, which is what you do when the day ends and night begins. I wanted my reader to feel like something had ended and something new was coming- adulthood.
Sample Format for Poem Anthology
Into the Garden , A silhouette
Student Writer
in the front
of the yard
it slowly moves
wondering
where to start?
A hose in hand
steps foward
into the Garden
my hands
grip
to the chains of the swing
The rust on the metal sinks into my palms
so I move them move up on the chain
my feet pump further to the stars
I can feel the breeze
on my legs
as I kick into the air
I feel
the best I can feel
The water,
from the hose
taps each flower
on petals
on stems
on leaves
on hands
on
the swing
my smile broadens
as I swing higher
and higher
my legs stretch towards the sky
feeling bullets of water
and dirt
then I stop
the air halts the swing freezes
and my toes hit the mulch
below the swing
my smile shrinks and the lines on either side slide further into my cheeks,
and the silouette backs up
into the dark again
the hose
turns off.
Intention
(The idea/message I want to communicate to my world. Where this idea/message came from):
At first, I thought I was just writing about playing on the swing while my dad was watering the plants. For some reason, I always thought of that as pretty or poetic- like a nice picture. But then, I was thinking about it and it was more than that because I actually felt something while I was swinging. It was more of a big moment than just casually swinging. So the big idea I wanted to get across was about childhood. Like when you're really little and you think that everything is just fun and games. There is innocence; no one expects you to fall because you’re just a kid and nothing bad can happen to you. Everything is just carefree. The poem is also about growing up. I wrote this poem after thinking back to this specific moment when I was on my swing. Everything seemed so much more fun than now. Like a couple of weeks ago, I went on the swing and I felt like nothing, like what's so fun? And in a way that makes me really sad because you can’t go back to when that was fun and if you try it just isn't the same. I think it has a lot to do with change, from really small to growing up. And there is some pain in that. But you also want to keep moving forward. Some part of you wants to stay a little kid, but another part wants you to grow up. I think when you're this age like thirteen or fourteen- that’s how you feel-- torn between childhood and adulthood.
Process:
(The specific choices I made as a poet to capture and communicate my theme/message. My explanation of why I made these specific choices and what I wanted their effect to be on my reader. First, annotate your own poem in order to identify the choices you made. Then write your process.)
Initially, when I wrote this poem, I capitalized the first word. However, after reading it several times, I realized I wanted to make my reader feel like they were entering a memory. As if there were walking in on a really important moment in my life. I chose to make the first word lowercase because it makes it feel like it’s happening mid-line, as if the reader has walked in on the poem in the middle of it happening, like a photograph. As the poem developed, I started realizing that the setting of the poem, the Garden, was really important.
I made the decision to capitalize the word Garden because I know poets sometimes capitalize words to show importance to their reader. I capitalized Garden because this is the place where I finally realized I wasn’t a kid anymore, literally the place where I finally felt grown up. This was the place where I changed as a person and therefore I wanted to show that importance to my reader by making the word stick out. As I moved deeper in the poem I also wanted to change the speed that my reader was reading at in order to represent my own feelings about growing up, which changed as the poem developed.
In the middle of the poem, when my speaker says, “ from the hose/taps each flower/on petals/ on stems/ on leaves,” I chose to write short quick lines to represents the water drops from the hose. The drops of the water flow out of the hose and create this light and carefree scene. I think those lines really capture what childhood is like, it’s quick and carefree. As I moved deeper into the poem, I started to use less space in my lines, I wanted the lines to crowd together. For example, when the speaker says, “ my smile shrinks and the lines on/either side slide further into my/cheeks” I was trying to get my reader to slow down. The longer lines keep my reader reading without stopping. By not stopping I am changing the tone of my speaker. The speaker is growing more serious like an adult. The last two lines of the poem are really important to me. I wrote “the hose/ turns off.” These lines show my reader the “end” of something, my childhood. The words “turn off” make the reader think of turning off the light, which is what you do when the day ends and night begins. I wanted my reader to feel like something had ended and something new was coming- adulthood.