Great Poets
February 22, 2000

 Our next project.

1. You will be working in groups of two or three. You can form your own groups or asked to be placed in a group.

2. On your own browse through the Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry and identify two or three poets you personally would like to work on. The short biographies of the poets and their themes as well as the bibliography at the end of the book will be helpful in your making a selection.

3. Meet with your group to discuss the poets each of you has chosen, and choose one poet for your group project. By March 1.

4. Arrange to meet again to discuss all of the poems, trying to come up with distinctive or even contradictory interpretations. Use evidence from the text to support your readings. By March 5.

5. Each of you will write a 3-5 page paper covering at least three of the poems of the author you have chosen. These papers will be revised and strengthened in writing groups when the time comes. Paper due by March 15; writing circles the following week.

6. Prepare one of the poems of your poet to present to the class as a team in a 15-20 minute presentation including questions and discussion. Include an image or two from the poet's life -- picture, town where she grew up, gravestone, etc. -- if you are able to find these. A transparency will be made of any images you want to present. Extra excitement emerges if you can create a dialogue with your group partners about how differently you have read the poem. Presented by March 31.

7. Turn in the final copy of your paper with comments about your writing process. By March 31.