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You don’t have to suffer to be a poet.

Adolescents is enough suffering for anyone.

-John Ciardi

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Theory and Research

• Free Verse

• Emotions, Adolescents, and Poetry

• Playing With Language

• Found Poetry

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Rationale

• Free verse vs. formulaic poems

• Controversy

• Adaptable

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Types of Found Poetry

• Taken from environmental print

• Taken from original writing

• Taken from existing pieces of literature

• Taken from several nonfiction or mixed genre texts

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Found Poem-2000The voices in my head:

princess

be happy

girls rule

drama queen

hooter’s chicks

Told me

Losers never quit

Aren’t you glad I’m

not

your

Kid?6

Take about 2 minutes and

free-write in your journal.

You can write about whatever you are feeling, something going on this weekend, or visit one of your writing territories. The only requirement is that you write the entire 2 minutes.

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• Go through your journal entry and underline 3-7 words or phrases that you like.

• Arrange them in poem format.

• Share

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Stations

• Novels

• Newspaper

• Multigenre texts

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Alternative Ways of Using Found Poetry

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The shivering dumpster

Nailed—KURPLUNK– the trash can

Thong,

Water,

Pizza pieces,

Awesome.

Pepsi…

Alaska commercialism.

Eternity.

Violet media.

Satiated myself.

University.

Heavy depression prepackage.

Clinking, table and television

Pulsing blizzard advertisement

Solitude.13

The enduring quality of found poetry lies

in its ability to forever change students’ attitudes, values, and sensibilities.

Because it challenges them to find poetry in all the ‘wrong’ places,

it continues to thrill them with

those rare and elusive encounters

-Nancy Gorrell

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