Freedom Schools, which operated during 1964 after the collaborative efforts of several Civil Rights organizations, provided an opportunity to understand how students can drive the curriculum to meet individual and collective needs within a community. The presence and use of poetry throughout the Freedom Schools was mysterious, given that it is…

Despite high levels of disengagement in urban literacy classrooms, few teachers have seen fit to explore spoken word--the performance of poetry--as a tool to engage students in literacy. Spoken word poetry serves as a powerful means of self-representation for youth that are traditionally portrayed as threatening, menaces to society that do not…

This collection presents poems, written by Arizona students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, who were judged finalists or winners in the 1992 statewide Arizona Poetry Contest. In addition to poems in English, this anthology presents poems in several other languages, including Navajo, Spanish, Cambodian, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and…

Based on the idea that poetry, like any art, is best mastered through practice, this handbook for poets combines poetry-writing exercises with personal essays by each contributing poet. Some of the poets represented in the handbook are: Maxine Kumin, Rita Dove, Roger Mitchell, Carol Muske, Sydney Lea, and J. D. McClatchy. The exercises in the…

An alternative scansion of Old English alliterative poetry is proposed. The approach uses a binary branching template and focuses on the importance of secondary stress and unstressed syllables. Examples are drawn from the poem "Beowulf." It is argued that the alternative scansion has two advantages over both traditional and more recent…

This paper outlines Martin Heidegger's argument that poetry is the germinating seed of linguistic life. It discusses his belief that language has its origins in the poetry of experience and his premise that society has lost sight of or has forgotten poetic origins, because of the forms of logic and grammar imposed on language by modern…

The discussion questions and essay prompts in this collection were compiled from contributions made by participants in the 1991 Arizona Shakespeare-Milton Institute. After an introduction which presents some general guidelines for teachers and students, the collection addresses the following works: "As You Like It"; "The…

Pupils need to express themselves in creative processes and products in the language arts curriculum. Too frequently, teachers require behavior which involves conformity on the part of learners. Specific objectives many times delimit pupils' opportunities to express original ideas that come from within the involved learners. Many activities can…

As a shrewd technician of the language, A. L. Tennyson rightly understood that words are not controllable; they do not always obey rules. As Tennyson said, words "half reveal and half conceal the soul within." In "Ulysses," the title character's speech to his fellow mariners--where he attempts to explain why he has decided to…

In the Bicentennial spirit, an English class delved into the histories of several deceased local people and wrote their epitaphs. (JH)

Authors discussed how to achieve a successful and meaningful program as well as how to motivate creative expression in pantomime, art number and spelling games. (Author/RK)

Author discussed the current state of poets and their poetry throughout the world. (RK)

Presents a method for interpreting "The Tyger" both literally and figuratively while leading into additional assignments on Blakean poetry. (RB)

Writing poetry can be a positive channel for self expression, so long as children are not forced to write. (JH)