Put the test back in its place by writing your own poem to fit the question. Write a distractor poem. In test-maker lingo, the (plausible) wrong answers in a multiple-choice test are called “distractors” because they are meant to distract uncertain students from the right answer. Thus, in a distractor poem, all answers are wrong, but plausible. No familiarity with the original poem is required (or even recommended) for the poet of a distractor poem during the writing process.
1. Find a multiple choice question from a standardized test to use as an epigraph to the poem.
2. Your distractor is a response to the question/epigraph where you incorporate each answer as a plausible wrong answer
3. Any quotes from the original poem within the multiple choice question are woven in your poem.
For example, if the question refers to “the image of ‘his glistening back / In the bath’ (lines 2 to 3),” then “his glistening back / In the bath” will appear on lines 2 and 3 of the distractor poem, with the indicated line break.
4. Use all poetic devices or forms referred to in the question (such as alliteration, repetition, rhyme, sonnet, etc.).
Resources:
Example Distractor poems: “How to Bathe a Child” (p. 10) and “Long Answer” by Tyler B. Perry (p. 11).