Pick a Poem: Poetry Response Blog

Pick a Poem: Poetry Response Blog

Poetry can make the ineffable effable. It can capture a moment, an experience, a feeling, or a question. It can speak to you, for you, and about you. Poetry is alive, thriving, and ready to be explored. This year, we’ll be taking a look at some poets who are currently writing and contributing to this important genre.

Your task: Each month, choose a poem written by a contemporary poet and post to your poetry blog a careful, thoughtful, well-considered, and well-crafted analysis ofit.

What it is:

The equivalent of one-page of writing that is routine and self-directed
A reflection on, reaction to, or interpretation of one poem of your choice that we’ve studied in class
Proof that you have read and thought carefully about the assigned poems
An opportunity to practice writing consistently over time about poetry

What MUST be in a Poetry Response Blog (PRB):

-Poem’s title in quotation marks

-Poet’s name

-A quotation from the poem that is embedded in your own writing with the quotation properly punctuated and commented upon

-Specific references to the poem

-Careful thought

-Strong voice that narrates your ideas and interpretations

What COULD be in a PRB:

A general statement of the poem’s content
An analysis of the poet’s persona or the poem’s speaker
A discussion of the title’s significance
A detailed response to a specific line or lines
An examination of poetic techniques used, such as rhyme, rhythm, simile, metaphor, personification, allusion…
A close analysis of the poet’s diction, perhaps noting specific word choices, or connotation and denotation
A paraphrase of the poem
An original poem developing in some way from the assigned poem
A discussion of the writer's life and its relevance to the poem (adequately cited)
A statement relating the poem to your experience or ideas
An explanation of problems you had in understanding the poem
Your opinion of the poem, good or bad, supported by specific references from the poem

OFFICIAL DUE DATES for each blog:
9/8
10/6
11/3
12/1
1/12
2/2
3/2
4/13

Grading:

I will not grade usage and mechanics, but in order to receive full credit, your work must be on time, include all required information, and include three fully developed paragraphs.

Otherwise, I will use the following guidelines:

STAR = EXCELLENT, top tier, exemplary

CHECK PLUS = VERY GOOD, top tier

CHECK = GOOD, successfully meets requirements

CHECK MINUS = ATTEMPTED, parts missing, less than satisfactory reasoning

MINUS = UNSATISFACTORY, incomplete, lacks effort

EXCELLENT essays will have clarity of thought and of language.

EXCELLENT essays will demonstrate thorough understanding of poem.

EXCELLENT essays will have a voice that is conversational but thoughtful.

EXCELLENT essays will show evidence of time and effort.

EXCELLENT essays will take intellectual risks.

Here is a mother-load list of some contemporary poets of literary merit.

Whatever poet and poem you choose, MUST be of a writer of established merit, that is a writer who currently writing and is published by a reputable source.

I have included some Twitter handles, but that doesn’t mean that the ones who don’t have them aren’t on social media; you may just have to do a little digging. Pro tip: Check out The Poetry Gods podcast for lots of contemporary poets and readings.

Some contemporary poets of literary merit:

HanifAbdurraqib@NifMuhammad

Elizabeth Acevedo@AcevedoWrites

Kelli Russell Agodon@KelliAgodon

Kaveh Akbar@KavehAkbar

Kim Addonizio

Elizabeth Alexander@ProfessorEA

Kwame Alexander@kwamealexander

Sherman Alexie@Sherman_Alexie

Agha Shahid Ali

Kazim Ali

Dick Allen

Eloisa Amezcua@Eloisa_Amezcua

Brandon Amico@amicob

A. R. Ammons

Anthony Anaxagorou@Anthony1983

Raymond Antrobus@RaymondAntrobus

Rae Armantrout

Mona Arshi@arshi_mona

Fatimah Asghar@asharthegrouch

John Ashbery

Sally Ashton

Derrick Austin @ParadiseLAust

Cameron Awkward-Rich

Beth Bachmann@bethbachmann

Peter Balakian

Ari Banias@aribanias

Aziza Barnes @AzizaBarnes

Savon Bartley @SavonBartley

Samiya Bashir

Daniel Beaty@DanielBBeaty

Sabrina Benaim@badass_sab

Joshua Bennett @SirJoshBennett

Charles Bernstein@ChrlesBerstein

Anselm Berrigan@wystandoll

Lillian-Yvonne Bertram

Nicole Blackman@nicoleblackman

Richard Blanco@rblancopoet

Tommye Blount

Roger Bonair-Agard@rogerbonair

Robert Lee Brewer@robertleebrewer

Joseph Brodsky

Ariana Brown

Jericho Brown@jerichobrown

Jenny Browne

Mahogany L. Browne@mobrowne

Stephen Burt

Malachi Byrd@_SeeMalPractice

Gabrielle Calvocoressi

Nathan Wade Carter@purry_

Tina Chang

Victoria Chang@VChangPoet

Colin Channer

Cortney L Charleston@bardsbesidebars

Leila Chatti@laypay

Franny Choi@frannychoir

Sandra Cisneros

Cheryl Clarke

Lucille Clifton

Judith Ortiz Cofer

Donte Collins@Donte_ThePoet

Martha Collins

Kristiana Rae Colón

CA Conrad@CAConrad88

Greg Corbin II@justgregpoet

Rasheed Copeland@sheedemilio

Eduardo C. Corral@EduardoCCorral

Kevin Coval@kevincoval

Morri Creech

Cynthia Cruz

Kyle Dargan@Free_KGD

Kwame Dawes@kwamedawes

Oliver De la Paz@Oliver_delaPaz

Sierra DeMulder@sierrademulder

Carl Dennis

Natalie Diaz@NatalieGDiaz

Deborah Digges

Alex Dimitrov

Thomas Dooley@emotivefruition

Mark Doty

Rita Dove

Stephen Dunn

Cornelius Eady@roughband

Carolina Ebeid@CarolinaEbeid

SafiaElhillo@mafiasafia

Lynn Emanuel

ShiraErlichman

Laura Eve Engel

Aaron Fagan

David Ferry

Nikky Finney

Adam Fitzgerald@HartCrane

Jameson Fitzpatrick@twinkpiece

Carolyn Forché@carolynforche

Vievee Francis

Rudy Francisco@RudyFrancisco

Joseph Frasano

Andy Frazee@andyfrazee

Denice Frohman@denicefrohman

Hannah Gamble@Hannah_Gamble

Deborah Garrison

Ross Gay

Dai George @dai_r_george

Nikki Giovanni

Louise Glück

Carlos Andrés Gomez@CarlosAGLive

Jorie Graham

Laurie Ann Guerrero

Sonia Guinansaca

Robert Hass

Donald Hall

Duriel Harris

Reginald Harris@rmharris

Terrance Hayes

MarwaHelal@marwahelal

Juan Felipe Herrera@cilantroman

Mary Hickman

Neil Hilborn@Neilicorn

Chinaka A. Hodge@chinakahodge

Richie Hofmann

Sara Holbrook@saraholbrook

Bob Holman@BobHolmanPoet

JP Howard@JPHoward_poet

Marie Howe

Major Jackson@Poet_Major

Paolo Javier

Tyehimba Jess@TyehimbaJess

Kima Jones@kima_jones

Patricia Spears Jones@pksjones1

Saeed Jones@theferocity

Courtney Kampa

Sarah Kay@kaysarahsera

Donika Kelly@officialdonika

Nathan Kemp

Michael Klein

YusefKomunyakaa

Ted Kooser

Benjamin Landry

DortoheaLasky@DorotheaLasky

Rickey Laurentiis

Anna Leahy

Li-Young Lee

Harriet Levin

Philip Levine

Ada Limon

CarvensLissaint@carvenslissaint

Timothy Liu

Mario Vargas Llosa

Patricia Lockwood @TriciaLockwood

Rachel Long@rachelnalong

Jessica Helen Lopez

Audre Lorde

Tariq Luthun@turiqLuthun

Travis Macdonald@travmacd

Nathaniel Mackey

Randall Mann

Nate Marshall@illuminatemics

David Tomas Martinez@DTomasMartinez

Adrian Matejka@adrian_matejka

Lauren May

Campbell McGrath

Rachel McKibbens@RachelMcKibbens

Lo Kwa Mei-en@loekwa

Elizabeth Metzger@AnElizabeth2

Janice Mirikitani

Faisal Mohyuddin

Roberto Montes

Paul Muldoon

John Murillo

Eileen Myles@EileenMyles

Kyle Tran Myhre@elguante

Amanda Nadelberg@amandanadelberg

Angel Nafis@AngelNafis

UcheNduka

Aimee Nezhukumatathil@aimeenez

Hieu Minh Nguyen@HieuMinh

JoAnna Novak

Naomi Shihab Nye

Sharon Olds@Old_Sharon

Jose Olivarez@JayOhEssEe

Mary Oliver

Emily O’Neill

Eric Pankey

Gregory Pardlo@Pardlo

Morgan Parker @morganapple

Cathy Park-Hong@cathyparkhong

Willie Perdomo@WilliePerdomo

Lucia Perillo

Jeffrey Pethybridge@jeffpethybridge

Carl Phillips@CPhillipsPoet

Rowan Ricardo Phillips@RowanRicardo

Marge Piercy

Robert Pinsky@RobertPinsky

Carlos Pintado

D.A. Powell@Powell_DA

Nina Puro

KolekaPutuma@KPutuma

Khadijah Queen

SinaQueyras@sinaqueyras

Gabriel Ramirez @gabelifeisreal

Jacques Rancourt

Camille Rankine@camillerankine

Claudia Rankine

Yosimar Reyes@YoSoyYosi

Alberto Rios

Elisavietta Ritchie

Matthew Rohrer

Alison C. Rollins

Patrick Rosal@patrickrosal

Caroline Rothstein@cerothstein

Kay Ryan

Yesika Salgado@yesikastarr

Jon Sands@iAmJonSands

Sam Sax@samsax1

Maureen Seaton

Lisa Sewell

Philip Schaefer

Philip Schultz

Vijay Seshadri

Nicole Shanté-White

Natalie Shapero@natalieshapero

Solmaz Sharif

AnisShivani

Ron Silliman@ronsilliman

Charles Simic

Safiya Sinclair@SafiyaSinclair

Clint Smith@ClintSmithIII

Danez Smith@Danez_Smif

Patricia Smith@pswordwoman

Tracy K. Smith

Christopher Soto @loma_poetry

Gary Soto

Andrew Squitiro

Lyrae Van-CliefStafanon

Nicole Steinberg@nicolebrett

Nomi Stone@Nomistonestone

May Swenson

Scott Topper

Natasha Trethewey@NTrethewey

Leah Umansky@lady_bronte

Mona Van Duyn

Mai Der Vang@maider_vang

R.A. Villanueva@caesura

Ocean Vuong

Alice Walker

Noah Warren@noahwarren

Afaa Michael Weaver

Arisa White

Simone White@simonefonsiba

Jeff Whitney@jeffwhitney2

Ben Wilkinson@BenWilko85

Kimberly Williams

Phillip B. Williams@PBW_Poet

Anne Winters

Jane Wong

Jamila Woods@duhmilo

C. D. Wright

Charles Wright

Jacqueline Woodson@JakieWoodson

Wendy Xu@wendyX

Monica Youn

C. Dale Young

Kevin Young@Deardarkness

Javier Zamora@jzsalvipoet

Matthew Zapruder@matthewzapruder

Rachel Zucker@rachzuck