Poet-A-Day (Bellwork)

Day 1: Poetry Presumptions New bellwork! Day 1: Poetry Presumptions Answer these 2 questions by restating. 1.What do you think of or how do you feel when someone mentions poetry? 2.What are some poems that you know already?

Poet #1: Edgar Allan Poe Birth and death: Style: Famous poems: 1809 – 1849 Where’s he from? Born in Boston, MA Style: Mysterious, morbid, horrifying poems and short stories Famous poems: “The Raven”, “Annabel Lee” First Impression?

Poet #2: Phillis Wheatley Birth and death: 1753 - 1784 Where’s she from? Kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston Style: Narrative poems about life in the colonies Famous publication: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral First Impression?

Youtube reading of poem

Poet #3: Henry David Thoreau Birth and death: 1817 - 1862 Where’s he from? Concord, MA Style: Nature poems and political essays Famous publications: Walden and “Civil Disobedience” First Impression?

O Nature! I do not aspire To be the highest in thy choir, - To be a meteor in thy sky, Or comet that may range on high; Only a zephyr that may blow Among the reeds by the river low; Give me thy most privy place Where to run my airy race. In some withdrawn, unpublic mead Let me sigh upon a reed, Or in the woods, with leafy din, Whisper the still evening in: Some still work give me to do, - Only - be it near to you! For I'd rather be thy child And pupil, in the forest wild, Than be the king of men elsewhere, And most sovereign slave of care; To have one moment of thy dawn, Than share the city's year forlorn. Nature

Poet #4: Langston Hughes Birth and death: 1902 - 1967 Where’s he from? Joplin, Missouri Style: Wrote poems, plays, and newspaper articles Invented “jazz poetry” Famous publications: The Weary Blues First impression? “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.” —Langston Hughes

“The Weary Blues” video “Dreams” read by Langston Hughes

Poet #5: Maya Angelou Birth and death: 1928 - 2014 Where’s she from? St. Louis, Missouri Style: Won many awards. Lots of personality in her poems Famous publications: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (autobio.) “Just Give Me A Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die” First Impression?

“Still I Rise” recording

Poet #6: William Shakespeare Birth and death: Where’s he from? Style: Famous poems:

Poet #7: Robert Frost Birth and death: Where’s he from? Style: Famous poems:

Poet #8: Shel Silverstein Birth and death: Where’s he from? Style: Famous poems:

Poet #9: Birth and death: Where’s he from? Style: Famous poems: