1. The Rhythm of Poetry- Day 1= What IS Poetry? Day 2= Is Poetry Important? Day 3= What makes it “good?” Day 4= The Effects of Poetry Day 5= “What will your verse be?”

2. Getting to know you... Journal: If you had to choose 5 adjectives that describe you, what would they be? Invictus Journal: If you had to choose 5 more adjectives that describe you, what would they be? 9 minutes

3. “Food” for thought... How did the poem affect the way that you described yourself? (How did the video affect the adjectives that you chose?) What affect does poetry have on our identity? 6 minutes

4. Activity 1 (more getting to know you!) :D We will watch the Invictus clip a second time, this time, record a list of words that describe the narrator.Invictus In your own words, who is this man as a person? What evidence is there from the poem that you’re right? 6 minutes

5. What is Identity? http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_ key.html http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_ key.html 1.the condition of being oneself or itself, and not anot her: He doubted his own identity. 2.condition or character as to who a person or what a t hing is: a case of mistaken identity. 3.the state or fact of being the same one as described. 4.the sense of self, providing sameness and continuity in personality over time and sometimes disturbed in mental illnesses

6. Who was Nelson Mandela (and why does it matter?) Nelson Mandela, Biography While reading, what are some events that, you feel, add to Nelson Mandela’s identity? Discuss: “Invictus” was written on Mandela’s prison wall for the first 18 years that he was imprisoned... How did poetry affect Nelson Mandela’s identity? 7 minutes

7. I Am Poems Using William Henley’s poem and your list of adjectives that describe you, create an “I Am” poem about yourself. How does your identity affect this poem? (How does identity affect art?) Write and share

8. What IS Poetry? Take a look at the different articles about poetry and underline the words that you think DEFINE poetry. Think of what we discussed about William Henley's poem and your own “I Am” poems. During this process, CREATE A LIST OF (at least 20) WORDS THAT HELP TO DETERMINE WHAT IS POETRY.

9. What IS Poetry? Look at the list of words in front of you. Create AT LEAST 5 groups with at least 4 items per group! Why do these words belong together? How would you label these groups? Why would you label them this way?

10. What IS Poetry? Re-group your groups. You MAY use duplicate groups, but you MUST have at least 3 groups with at least 4 items per group. Could some of these belong to more than one group? Why did you label them this way? Explain.

11. What IS Poetry? Based on what you’ve seen, who would like to try to summarize for us, “What IS Poetry?” What can we agree upon as a working definition of poetry?

12. What would happen if.... What would happen to our definition if we were to add this video? "Fix You” How do the music and the dance combine to portray a message? What is particularly “poetic” about this dance? Based on our definition, could this be considered Poetry? How are identity and art co-dependent in this dance?

13. What would happen if... What would happen to our definition if we include this image? What does the painting symbolize? How do the colors and images combine to portray a message?

14. What would happen if... What is particularly “poetic” about this painting? Based on our definition, could this be considered “poetry?”

15. Wrap up... Compare and contrast the themes and effectiveness of the dance and the painting... Based on what we’ve done today, what is your “final” definition of poetry? How does poetry affect identity? How does identity affect poetry?