Poet Research Paper

Poet
Project

Task: We've been studying poetry for the past several weeks. To conclude our poetry unit, we would like to learn about as many poets (and their poetry) as possible! Since we only have 2-3 minutes we can give for each poet, you will have to be organized and select the most interesting and important information and ideas to share.

Day 1:

Receive your assigned poet's name.
Select one poem written by your poet. Remember, the class only has time to hear one poem--which one do you think is best (or most important)?
How do we analyze poetry? We've been analyzing poetry in class. What tool could we use to help us?

Day 2:

How could you describe your poet's life and work to the class if you only have 2-3 minutes? What information is important? (Use class organizer to help!)
- 1st period- 9-10 facts
- 4th period- 7-8 facts
- 2nd and 5th period- 5-6 facts

Day 3:

Create a visual aid (poster for 2nd and 5th period students unless they have permission they cannot make a PowerPoint). 1st and 4th have the PowerPoint option.
Things to include on visual aid - the poem, a picture, facts about the poet

Locating information:

INTERNET RESOURCES:

1. Shel Silverstein

· www.shelsilverstein.com

· www.poets.org

2. Robert Louis Stevenson

· http://www.nls.uk/rlstevenson/index.html

· http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html

· www.poets.org

3. Christina Rossetti

· http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rossetti.htm

· http://anglicanhistory.org/bios/cgrossetti.html

· http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/index.html

· http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=r&p=a&a=i&ID=782

· www.poets.org

4. Roald Dahl

· www.roalddahl.com

· www.poets.org

5. Rudyard Kipling

· http://www.kipling.org.uk/kip_fra.htm

· http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1907/kipling-bio.html

· www.poets.org

6. Maya Angelou

· www.mayaangelou.com

· www.poets.org

· http://www2.oprah.com/xm/mangelou/mangelou_about.jhtml

· http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ang0bio-1

7. Walt Whitman

· http://www.whitmanarchive.org/

· http://www.waltwhitman.org/AboutWhitman.asp

· www.poets.org

8. Carl Sandburg

· http://carl-sandburg.com/

· http://www.nps.gov/carl/forkids/thepoetsjournal.htm

· http://poetlaureate.il.gov/sandburg.cfm

· www.poets.org

9. Edgar Allen Poe

· http://www.online-literature.com/poe/

· http://www.poemuseum.org/poes_life/index.html

· http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/eapoe.htm

· http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/poe_e.html

· www.poets.org

10. Gary Soto

· http://www.garysoto.com/index.html

· http://content.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3642

· http://www.kidspoint.org/columns2.asp?column_id=972&column_type=author

· www.poets.org

11. Emily Dickinson

· http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dickinson/dickinson.htm

· www.poets.org

12. William Shakespeare

· http://www.shakespeare-online.com/

· www.poets.org

13. Robert Frost

· www.poets.org

· http://www.frostfriends.org/

· http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/life.htm

14. Theodore Seuss Geisel

· http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm

· www.poets.org

· http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/resources1.html

15. William Blake

· http://www.online-literature.com/blake/

· http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/blake.htm

· www.poets.org

16. Edward Lear

· http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/

· www.poets.org

· http://www.bencourtney.com/ebooks/lear/

17. Robert Browning

· http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/rbbio.html

· http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/browning.htm

· www.poets.org

18. William Carlos Williams

· http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/williams/

· http://www.poemhunter.com/william-carlos-williams/biography/

· www.poets.org

19. Lewis Carroll

· http://www.lewiscarroll.org/carroll.html

· www.poets.org

· http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/carrollov.html

· http://lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/pages/lewiscarroll/life.html

20. Nikki Giovanni

· http://nikki-giovanni.com/

· www.poets.org

· http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul00/giovanni.htm

21. Anne Morrow Lindbergh

· http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=98

· http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lindbergh/sfeature/anne.html

· http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/

22. Paul Laurence Dunbar

· http://www.dunbarsite.org/

· http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/302

· http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/DUNBAR.HTM

23. J.R.R. Tolkien

· http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/index.html

· http://www.indepthinfo.com/tolkien/biography.shtml

· http://www.poemhunter.com/jrr-tolkien/

· http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/wood-biography.html

24. Phyllis Wheatley:

· http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p12.html

· http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframerwriters/a/philliswheatley.htm

· http://www.masshist.org/endofslavery/?queryID=57

· http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/whea-phi.htm

25. Mattie Stepanek

26. Langston Hughes

· http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.html

· http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/hughes_l.htm

· http://www.howard.edu/library/reference/guides/hughes/default.htm

· http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/hughes

· www.poets.org

While taking notes, remember - avoid plagiarism!

Quoting (primary sources only!)
Paraphrasing
Summarizing

While working, please copy/paste the websites you use for information. If time, we will create a full bibliography:

QUESTIONS:

How will I organize and present the information I have collected?
How would my poet respond if he/she could hear my presentation? (It's hard to sum up someone's entire life in 2-3 minutes, but we know you'll do your best!)

Rubric for Speech

IDEAS (X2)

ORGANIZATION

STYLE

SPEAKING SKILLS

5

Full Command

Full command and development

· Exceptionally focused on topic & purpose

· Fully developed controlling idea

· Supporting details are fully elaborated with rich, logical details

· Information fully addresses listener’s concerns

Full command and development

· Exceptional organizational plan

· Logical sequencing & grouping of ideas

· Introduction engages listener

· Conclusion provides sense of closure

· Effective & varied transitions used to link all parts of speech

Full command and development

· Carefully crafted phrases & sentences

· Varied, precise, & engaging word choice

· Audience awareness

· Extensive variety in sentence length, structures, & beginnings

· Strong speaker’s voice

Full command and development

Relaxed and self-confident
Builds trust and holds attention by direct eye contact with all parts of audience
Fluctuation in volume and inflection help to maintain audience interest and emphasize key points
Shows creative and appropriate changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals)

4

Consistent Control

Consistent control and development

· Consistently focused on topic & purpose

· Well-developed controlling idea

· Supporting ideas/elaboration are relevant with specific examples/details

· Information addresses most of listener’s concerns

Consistent control and development

· Consistent organizational plan

· Logical sequencing & grouping of ideas

· Introduction sets the stage

· Conclusion offers closure without blatant repetition

· Varied transitions across parts of the speech

Consistent control and development

· Language and tone are consistent with purpose

· Engaging and precise word choice

· Attention to audience throughout

· Most sentences vary in length and structure

· Consistent, distinctive voice

Consistent control and development

Quick recovery from minor mistakes
Fairly consistent use of direct eye contact with audience
Satisfactory variation of volume and inflection
Shows appropriate changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals)

3

Sufficient Control

Sufficient control and development

· Generally focused on topic and purpose

· Generally developed controlling idea

· Supporting ideas with some relevant examples and details

· Response contains sufficient information to address some listener's concerns

Sufficient control and development

· General organizational plan

· Generally clear sequencing & grouping of ideas

· Generally clear introduction

· Conclusion provides sense of closure

· Some transitions that link parts of the speech

Sufficient control and development

· Language and tone are generally consistent with purpose

· Generally engaging word choice

· General awareness of audience

· Some sentences vary in length & structure

· Clear, appropriate voice

Sufficient control and development

Some tension or indifference apparent
Occasional but unsustained eye contact with audience
Uneven volume with little or no inflection
Shows some appropriate changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals)

2

Minimal Control

Minimal control and development

· Minimally focused on topic & purpose

· Minimally developed controlling idea

· Supporting ideas are vague/listed

· Lacks sufficient information due to brevity, repetition, or irrelevance

Minimal control and development

· Minimal organizational plan (formulaic)

· Minimal evidence of sequencing & grouping of ideas

· Introduction may be lacking or ineffective

· Conclusion may be lacking or ineffective

· Limited, formulaic, or ineffective use of transitions

Minimal control and development

· Language & tone are uneven

· Simple, ordinary, repetitive word choice

· Limited audience awareness

· Little variation in sentence length & structure

· Indistinct, inconsistent voice

Minimal control and development

Nervous tension obvious
Minimal effort to make eye contact with audience
Low volume and/or monotonous tone cause audience to disengage
Shows few changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals)

1

Lacks Control

Lacks control and development

· Lacks focus on topic & purpose

· Lacks controlling idea

· Absent, unclear, irrelevant supporting ideas

· Response inappropriate to genre

· Lacks a sense of completeness

Lacks control and development

· Lacks evidence of organizational plan

· Unclear sequencing & grouping of ideas

· Lacks an introduction and/or a conclusion

· Lacks transitions

· Insufficient student speech

Lacks control and development

· Language/tone are flat and/or inappropriate

· Imprecise, inaccurate, or confusing word choice

· Little/no attention to audience

· Lack of sentence variety

· Speaker’s voice not apparent

· Insufficient student speech

Lacks control and development

Nervous tension obvious
No effort to make eye contact with audience
Low volume and/or monotonous tone cause audience to disengage
Shows no changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals)

Based on 8th Grade Writing Assessment Rubric