The Art of Poetic Expression

April is National Poetry Month. The Academy of American Poets (AAP) established this month-long celebration of the literary art of poetry in 1996. The goal of the AAP was to increase the attention students, adults, and the mediato the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines.

The AAP chose April after getting advice from booksellers, librarians, poets, and teachers. April was a month during the school year in which schools and students could participate fully because many other school year months had already been dedicated to other significant themes—February (Black History Month) and March (Women's History Month).

Here are the words of famous poets reflecting on the motivation for, and the art of composing poetry:

• KAHIL GIBRAN: "Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary."
  
  
• OGDEN NASH: "Poets aren't very useful; Because they aren't consumeful or very produceful."
  
  
• THOMAS HARDY: "Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art."
  
  
• ROBERT FROST: "I have never started a poem whose end I knew. Writing the poem is discovering."
  
  
• PAUL ENGLE: "Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words.
  
  
• WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: "All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility."
  
  
• ROBERT FROST: "A poem begins with a lump in the throat, a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where the emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words."
  
  
• SAMUEL JOHNSON: "The end of writing is to instruct; the end of poetry is to instruct by pleasing."

ProQuest BookCarts are an excellent tool to guide your students to learn more about poets, poetry, and motivate them to write it as well. ProQuest has created several learning activity models that you may want to copy and use with your students in the study of poetry:

• Writing Poetry for Fun and Expression (with sample assessment) (MS)
  
  
• Song Lyrics as Poetry (HS)
  
  
• Homer's Epic Poetry (HS)
  
  
• Poetry Power (HS)
  
  
• Investigating Poetic Forms: Sonnets (HS)

Each of these BookCarts is a complete one-stop learning activity that you can customize for your students. This saves classroom time for more teaching and learning because traditional Internet searching (comparison) consumes time in locating relevant information and then evaluating its credibility.

Each Cart includes examples of essential questions that help students to develop 21st Century critical thinking skills rather than just a focus on facts. Each also includes student directions, relevant print resource call numbers, an optional quiz, and an information literacy standard. BookCart learning activities include everything that students need to succeed in inquiry-based learning in one place. Contrast this to traditional research assignments where students have to corral and organize separate instructions and resources.

You can copy, edit, and adapt these models to differentiate instruction for your students. Learn how here, or see a short video.

• Logon to the eLibrary CE TEACHER EDITION.
• Click the BOOKCART ADMIN tab at the top of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the PROQUEST CARTS tab.
• Type "Poetry" in the SEARCH box
• Click the COPY icon (middle one) in the ACTIONS column to the right of this title.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.

Librarians or teachers can edit this BookCart to customize it for their students. To edit this BookCart:

• Click the new BookCart TITLE with the prefix COPY OF.
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the AUTHOR boxes and your initials in the EMAIL box (required info).
• Option: Edit any ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS for your students in the DESCRIPTION box.
• Option: Edit the existing STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click SAVE.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.

Assign students to select a poetry style and then write an original poem in that style. Student should also describe what's unique about that poetic form, give an example of a poet who uses this form, and provide an excerpt of one of the poet's best known works.

1: Click the Topics search tab > English Language Arts > Poetic Forms

2: Click the Topics search tab > English Language Arts > Writing Poetry

There are a variety of poetic forms and language techniques. These make the best poetry entertaining, inspiring, and connect with human situations, emotions, and aspirations. Students can learn more about types of poems and the language techniques that give poetry its power as a unique form of human expression.

Students should address the Study Questions at the end of the Study Unit on Poetry in an essay of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources.

Study Pages > Genre Pages > Poetry

J. D. Salinger, who was considered at one time to be the most important American writer to emerge since World War II, died this year at the age of ninety-one. He was famous for not wanting to be famous, living in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91.

His most famous work, "Catcher in the Rye," published in 1951, has served as a firestorm for controversy and debate. Critics have argued the moral issues raised by the book. Salinger's tale of the human condition is fascinating and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing. The psychological battles of the novel's main character, Holden Caulfield, serve as the basis for critical argument. Caulfield's self-destruction over a period of days forces one to contemplate society's attitude toward the human condition.

Salinger's portrayal of Holden, which includes incidents of depression, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, vulgarity, and other erratic behavior, have all attributed to the controversial nature of the novel. Despite the book being on many banned book lists, it has evolved to the level of a classic, and, as such, is required reading in many high school English courses. Today's students continue to identify with the pressures and life experiences of Holden Caulfield, making it compelling literature for teens to read and discuss.

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words on why "The Catcher in the Rye" continues to be controversial and why today's students continue to identify with the 1950s version of Holden Caulfield.

Type "Catcher in the Rye" in the Search box.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.