Memorized Poem Presentations; Improv; Lab Play

This morning, please complete any poem performances that you did not perform last class. Give feedback per usual.

Afterward, please enjoy some improv games together. With time remaining, please go to the lab and surf the internet or chat.

Have a nice break!

HOMEWORK: None.

Memorization/Rehearsal Time!; First Presentations

Today, please take period 3 to prepare and memorize your poem. Some of you have been very slow working on this assignment. Please keep the goal of the task in mind. Our essential question is how can one memorize a poem (or a speech or a scene from a play, etc.) While you are not actors, necessarily, being able to memorize information is still a necessary skill for life. Practice it!

During period 4, we will first take volunteers, but quickly move to random performances. I would have given you more time for this project, but as a class, you were not very focused in the lab the last few days.

For your presentation:
Please print out 2 copies of your poem (one to turn in with highlighted words correct, and one for a peer to use as a prompt script). You will be graded on:

• Preparation (how well do you know your own poem?)
• Eye contact
• Tone
• Gestures/Posture
• Performance choices (the use of pauses, pace, clarity of speech; the lack of mistakes or missing lines/words, etc.)
• Effort

As we watch these performances, note how a memorized speech is different from one that is "read" by a speaker. You will be asked to reflect on your own process (and turn in for credit!)

HOMEWORK: None (unless you did not perform today--then prepare and complete your performance next class!) Next class we will play some improv games and celebrate the end of the year (although not the end of the class).

Memorizing Your Monologue!; Spoon River Quiz

After our quiz, please begin to MEMORIZE your monologue poem. You will perform your poem for the class (from memory) starting Friday. Use the time in the lab to memorize your poem. Practice it enough between now and Friday that you are ready to perform it!

To help you:

Tips for memorization:

• Chunk it! Break your poem into sensible pieces (phrases, or sentences, for example, or stanzas). 
• Repetition works! Go over the poem again and again and again and again.  You WILL need to rehearse your poem in order to memorize it!
• Writing things down by hand helps memorize something--that's why teachers ask you to take notes! You might want to copy your poem down on index cards by hand to speed up this process.
• Get it into your body! Repeating the same gesture or moving in the same way while saying something will help you remember it. Use your body. It's harder to memorize something if you are not moving.
• If you are having trouble with a line or two, give it a specific gesture--or sing it! Singing something with the same tune can help you remember!
• Visualize! Try to picture what you are saying or trying to memorize.
• Create associations! Stories and connected ideas are easier to remember!
• Relax! Take a break after you have memorized part or all of the section you are memorizing!
• For other tips or advice check this site! or this one! or this one! (these are good for learning stuff too!)

If you need a short break, write in your journal. I can't keep you from talking to each other about unrelated material or topics, but I suggest you use the given time to memorize. You will be graded on how accurate and well performed your monologue poem is for this assignment.

HOMEWORK: Memorize your poem!

Character Sketch; Monologue Poem Project

This morning during period 3, please complete your character sketch. There is just one more addition you will make to this character sketch before you print it out and turn it in for credit today (near the end of period 3).

See previous post for details about how to write a character sketch. If you are having trouble, check here for further instructions and advice. Click here for a sample from Poynter (Journalism school--journalists and novelists often use character sketches in their writing/articles). Character sketches should be written in prose form (i.e., paragraph/sentence form. Note: you don't have to write them as outlines/lists!)

During period 4, please use your character sketch to write an internal monologue poem. Please read the characteristics of a monologue poem and the instructions carefully! There are required elements for your poem draft. All the poems in Spoon River are examples of internal monologue poems.

Characteristics of a monologue poem:

• Are written from the perspective or POINT OF VIEW (POV) of a character
• They are written in 1st person POV (using the pronoun "I, me, my, our, etc.")
• Your poem MUST be written in First Person POV!
• Your title of your poem will be your character's name.
• They usually reference the inner workings or thoughts of the character. Write about what a character is thinking or what a character MUST say.
• Think about WHO is your target audience for what the character MUST say.
• Think about WHY your character must speak!
• Often interior monologues use a technique called STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS--where the writer/poet tries to recreate the way the character thinks
• They often reference important or key character traits: personality, physical, social traits, etc.
• They may include dialogue, but the focus is on the character speaking--not on another character
• They often use metaphor, simile, imagery, alliteration, assonance, consonance, or other poetic devices. See a list of poetic devices you can use in this poem here. Here are some rhetorical devices to use as well (for advanced learners).
• You MUST use at least 1 poetic device in your poem draft (please identify which one you used at the bottom of your poem draft!)
• For advanced students, try including (and identifying) a rhetorical device in your poem draft
• The poetic turn or VOLTA usually occurs somewhere in the middle of the poem. The volta allows the use of irony and surprise. Typically the first lines or stanza in a poem states a premise, asks a question, suggests a theme, or presents a situation. After the turn or volta, the concluding lines resolve the problem by suggesting an answer, offer a conclusion, change tone, or shift to an unexpected statement or new direction or idea. This gives a poem more complexity.
• Make sure you have a VOLTA in your poem draft. BOLD this line on your draft!
• Proofread, correct, revise, and turn in your poem draft with an appropriate title. You will need to memorize this poem and perform it in the next class or two.

Please complete your poem draft during period 4 and turn in for credit. If you have time and interest, consider writing more internal monologue poems and turn in for extra credit!

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete your draft or character sketch for some reason, please complete late as homework. COMPLETE your reading of Spoon River by Wednesday--there may be a test.

Spoon River Readings; Character Creation: The Character Sketch

We will complete the poetry readings we missed last class.

You should have read pages 15-30 for homework. If you didn't, that's your loss. Today, get into groups of 4 and analyze the poems on pages 30-50. As a group of 4, each person should read at least 2 times, out loud, while other students read along. After reading, discuss what you noticed about the poems you are reading? How does the poet Edgar Lee Masters:

• Create authentic VOICE in the poems? Examine TONE & DICTION.
• How are these poems typical poems; how are they different or unusual from the normal form of poetry we expect?
• Use literary elements such as metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance, personification, allusion, or imagery?
• What does Edgar Lee Master's do in his poetry that you do not? How is his style of writing different from yours? Discuss. Make sure everyone in the group has contributed to this conversation.

When you are asked, please come to the computer lab to write your character sketch.

LAB: Read about how to write a character sketch here. Using your writing and the prompts from last class, write a 300-500 word character sketch of your character. Along with your physical, mental, social & personality traits we wrote about last time, add information about key or important events in this character's life. What did your character never tell anyone else? What secrets did your character keep? Who or what did your character love? What important decisions or actions shaped your character? Why did your character do these actions or make these decisions? What does your character want from society, from his/her family, from his/her spouse or friends, or from him/herself?

Write your character sketch and turn in for credit.

HOMEWORK: Read Spoon River: pages 50-126 for MONDAY, Dec. 14.

Pet Peeve Speeches; Spoon River Readings

We will complete our pet peeve speeches today. After this, we'll each choose a poem/character from Spoon River and read the poem out loud to the class in an appropriate tone as an internal monologue.

Then for pages 15-30, please gather in groups of 4 and read and analyze the poems on these pages. As a group, what do you notice about the poems you are reading? How does the poet Edgar Lee Masters:

• Create authentic VOICE in the poems? Examine TONE & DICTION.
• How are these poems typical poems; how are they different or unusual from the normal form of poetry we expect?
• Use literary elements such as metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance, personification, allusion, or imagery?

If we have time, we'll head off to the computer lab for our next project.

HOMEWORK: Read Spoon River: pages 30-126 for MONDAY, Dec. 14.
 

Prepare & Practice: Pet Peeve Speech; Spoon River: Day 1

Please prepare your pet peeve speech by printing out two copies (one to cut up and put on index cards so you can practice) the other to turn in to me for credit.

Before you do that, make sure you have:

• an interesting title
• an interesting hook
• a thesis statement (usually after your hook and lead-in in your introduction)
• imagery (if you discuss abstract ideas, find ways to use similes and metaphors to create visual imagery of these concepts)
• make sure each body paragraph you wrote has a clear point you are making about your pet peeve
• try to add a little humor by exaggerating (hyperbole) or verbal irony (sarcasm)
• clean up your grammar and formatting

1. Once you've done that, print out your draft. 
2. Highlight or bold your KEY POINTS in your speech. You should memorize these lines so that you can make direct eye contact with your audience.
3. Pair up with a peer or two and practice out loud, standing up. Allow your partner(s) to give you advice about how to strengthen your performance. 
4. Once everyone in your group has practiced, practice a second time to get the feel of your speech. Where should you exaggerate your TONE? Where should you be louder or more animated? What should you do with your body and your voice or your facial expressions? Make some decisions about your performance.

Your speeches will be delivered Friday. Please continue to rehearse them on your own time between now and then.

During period 4: It's down to the library to pick up Spoon River by Edgar Lee Masters (our next book/reading assignment). When you return from the library, we'll start reading this book together.

Spoon River is a collection of internal monologue poems by American poet Edgar Lee Masters.

As we read this collection, please note that each poem is "spoken" using the voice of the speaker. Certain characters speak seriously, in a, pardon the pun, grave manner. Other characters have a humorous or sarcastic tone to their "voice."

Each character is assumed to be dead and talking from the grave about his/her life. All of these poems are what we call INTERNAL MONOLOGUES or monologue poems: a poem from the POV or voice of a specific character. We'll play around with this form next week after our speeches.

Journal Options (on-going deadline: you may do these exercises again and again...):

1. Go to a cemetery. Record the names on gravestones. Imagine who this/these person or persons are. What meant the most to them? What kind of personality did they have? How did they live? How did they die? What did they do for a living? Who did they love or dislike? What was the most important object/idea/person to them? What do they most regret? Use these questions to create an internal monologue.

2. Look through a phone book or year book (I recommend one of your parents' year books). Record some names of people you don't know. Imagine who these people are. What meant the most to them? what kind of personality do they have? How do they live? How will they die? What do they do for a living? Who do they love/dislike? What means the most to them? what do they regret? Use these questions to create an internal monologue or a character sketch.

HOMEWORK:  Practice and prepare for your pet peeve speech--these are due to be performed Friday. Bring your Spoon River books back with you on Friday.