Poetry -- Writing & Analyzing

We started class by brainstorming all the different types of writing we could do for our multi-genre project (be sure to get those notes from someone). Then we had 15 minutes of writing time. If you were stuck for ideas, Mrs. Gilbert suggested doing a timeline of important event/people in your life and then picking a genre for writing about each one (like we did with Malcolm X a couple days ago).

Then we analyzed "My Papa's Waltz" and talked about the conflicting tone in it and how the imagery/details are used to make the reader feel the moment instead of just summarizing it in a boring way. Then we had another 15 minutes to write and use imagery/details in our own writing.

We wrapped up by listening to "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes and noting how he uses the metaphor of the stairs to explain life. We went looking for ways to use metaphors and similes in our own writing.

Homework: Chapter 9: pages 148-10, 153-158, and 161-164.