So much is changing—has changed—in this world. Rebecca D. Martin finds a deep leaving-truth in her first villanelle and her first experience as a teacher.
Grammar for a Full Life Book Club: On Becoming Less Possessive
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Grammar for a Full Life Book Club: Chilling Out on the Grammar Rules
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Clarisse McClellan, The Karate Kid, and (Finally) Reading Fahrenheit 451
Tania Runyan reflects on The Karate Kid and writes a letter to Clarisse McClellan from Fahrenheit 451.
Poet-a-Day: Meet Jill Baumgaertner
The repetitive rural images of the Lake District provided inspiration for Jill Baumgaertner’s “Cumbria Pantoum.” What will inspire yours?
Poet-a-Day: Meet Todd C. Truffin
A soccer coach inspiring a villanelle? It could happen. (Indeed, it did, in this villanelle from Todd C. Truffin.)
The Great Gatsby Book Club: Chapters 7-9—Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past
In the final installment of our The Great Gatsby book club, Tania Runyan explores what it means to be “borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
The Great Gatsby Book Club: Chapters 5 & 6—Dreams and Longing
If it’s about anything, The Great Gatsby is about dreams and longing. But does Jay Gatsby cherish the dream of Daisy more than Daisy herself?
Poetry Prompt: Dance with Form
Ready to travel into the world of form poetry? Join author Callie Feyen as she compares dreaming with writing poetry.
Poet-a-Day: Meet Marjorie Maddox
Why write a pantoum? Poet Marjorie Maddox shares her reasons, on the wings of poetry and song.
Poet-a-Day: Meet David K. Wheeler
How best to write tragedy? Poet David K. Wheeler suggests the soft sorrow of the pantoum.
National Poetry Month: Giving Gatsby the Green Light
This National Poetry Month, join Tania Runyan to take a poetic twist on Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in our in our new book club.
Julius Caesar: Et Tu, Brute? Opposite Day and the Ides of March
For the Ides of March, Tania Runyan has a Julius Caesar “Opposite Day” poetry prompt.
Lord of the Flies: Simon Writes Home
Not all the boys on the island will admit it, but homesickness is one of the greatest challenges the Lord of the Flies characters face. Poet Tania Runyan and the boys of the island explore a “letters home” epistolary poetry prompt.
Lord of the Flies: Poem to a Conch
Buried in the rich symbolism of Lord of the Flies, Tania Runyan finds a poem for the conch.
Teach It: Collaborative Poetry—I’m With Aristotle
Writing collaborative poems proves a fertle ground for students to learn and grow both collectively and individually.
A Ritual to Read to Each Other: Blessing Dora Copperfield
In our reading roundup, A Ritual to Read to Each Other, we consider how to bless Dora Copperfield from Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield.’
Poetry Out Loud: When Poems Become Magic Cloaks
Poetry memorization and recitation can be like a magic cloak, with the power to transform and transport students. Learn great tips for how to start, from theater teacher Dana Kinsey.
Creating an ‘I Love Poetry Moment’: Magic City’s Ashley M. Jones
For National Poetry Month, create an ‘I Love Poetry Moment,’ following the example of Ashley M. Jones and the Magic City Poetry Festival.
Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wall-Paper Affects Us All
The Yellow Wall-Paper may seem like a simple story on the surface, but it’s actually quite complex. This analysis of the classic 1892 story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman probes that complexity in fascinating ways.