Using The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Found Poetry Found poetry is poetry that you create using words from non-poetry sources. Newspaper articles Novels Short stories Advertisements

How It Works Read something that has words in it. Look for words, phrases or short passages that you find powerful, moving, or interesting. Note especially examples that evoke strong feelings about your subject matter (slavery). When you come across a word, phrase or passage that catches your attention, write it down on a post-it note. You want to end up with a minimum of 18-20 post-it notes.

How It Works continued….. Play with your words. Move your post-it notes around and look at the words in a different order. You could possibly look for patterns or a story. Go through your words and eliminate everything that is dull, or unnecessary, or that just doesn’t seem “to fit” for a poem about slavery. Get a piece of scrap paper and lay out all of your post-it notes in the order that you like the best. Think about the overall feeling (tone) of your final list.

How It Works continued….. Make any minor changes necessary to create your poem. You can change punctuation and make little changes to the words to make them fit together (such as change the tenses, possessives, plurals, and capitalizations). If you absolutely need to add a word or two to make the poem flow more smoothly, to make sense, or to make a point, you may add a few words. Most words chosen are articles (a, an, the) or prepositions to help with flow or rhythm. Choose an appropriate title.

Sample: Passage from Novel from Holes by Louis Sachar There was a change in the weather. For the worse. The air became unbearably humid. Stanley was drenched in sweat. Beads of moisture ran down the handle of his shovel. It was almost as if the temperature had gotten so hot that the air itself was sweating. A loud boom of thunder echoed across the empty lake. A storm was way off to the west, beyond the mountains. Stanley could count more than thirty seconds between how far away the storm was. Sound travels a great distance across a barren wasteland.

An Example: Holes There was a change For the worse. The air became humid Beads of moisture ran down The handle of his shovel It was almost as if The air itself was sweating Thunder echoed across the empty lake A storm beyond the mountains. Thirty seconds between the flash And the thunder Sound travels a great distance Across a barren wasteland