Writing Poetry

Evidence of Work

Content

In my English class, we took lots of time to do a poetry unit. We learned many things such as figurative language, sound devices, and how to write our own poems. We wrote five different "Tell the World" poems, each following a prompt. The poems I have chosen to include are my "Tell the World About a Special Place" poem, my "Tell the World How it Feels" poem, and my "Tell the World What You Love" poem. These are three of the prompts given that I enjoyed writing the most and felt proudest about my work.

In the first one, the assignment was to write a poem filled with the sensations: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. I chose to write about a beach, one of my favorite places. In the second one, the assignment was to choose one emotion and write a poem about it. I wanted to use a positive approach and write about joy. In the last one, the assignment was to write an ode about someone or something that you love. I love and have a deep connection with music, so I chose to write and ode to music.

Reflection

Going into this unit, I wasn't too sure about myself and my poetry. I didn't have much experience and was hesitant. But as time went by, I found myself opening up more and feeling better about my writing in each poem. I found it somewhat challenging to write with flow and creativity at first. I was mostly used to writing essays, which is very different. I also sometimes struggled with including figurative language and sound devices we worked with in class into my poems. But I feel that I improved on both of them immensely.

Poetry made me feel almost as if it was a new, special way to communicate and express feelings. I think this unit helped me grow towards Communication, as I explored and shared my emotions through my writing.

At the end of the unit, we participated in a "Poetry Slam". We had to stand up in front of our class and read one of our poems. Our peers listened and observed while judges and teachers scored us. I was nervous at first, but ended up finding it to be a great experience. It helped me improve my public speaking, as well and perform my work.