Found Poetry

Select a piece from your reading in which you will “find” a poem.

1.  You may want to brainstorm/free-write about ideas, issues, themes, or symbols in the selection you have chosen.
2.  Decide which themes you wish to focus on.
3.  Create a poem from the selection.  You are to use only the language of the selection.  You may not add any of your own words.   You may arrange the words in different order and repeat words.  The idea is to convey the images offered in poetic form-- through character, action, tone, symbol, setting, theme..
4.  Create a title that evokes the theme of the poem.

From Poem to Prose

This activity is somewhat the opposite of the above, and thus can be seen as a variation of it.  Select a poem from your reading.

1.  Decide on a point of view from which to approach the subject of the poem.
2.  Decide on a voice which you will use.
3.  Compose a prose piece out of the situation or theme of the poem.  For example, you could write a letter to or from the narrator of the poem, create a vignette based on the situation of the poem, do a prose scene or script related by theme.  For this activity, there are no requirements about the language you can use.
4.  Decide on an appropriate title for your piece.