Writing Poetry

Poetry for Two Voices: Reading, Writing and Performing

Using poets Phil Kaye and Sarah Kay’s YouTube performance of “When Love Arrives” as an inspiration, students will perform and write comparison poems for two voices.

Finding the Heart in Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”

The Ballad

To many students, the word “ballad” will call to mind a slow, probably sentimental song. In the world of poetry, however, a ballad is a lively storytelling poem written in what is called the ballad stanza.

The Response Poem

There is a long tradition in poetry of poets writing in response to work that has inspired them, borrowing a line from one poem to begin or end a new poem.