Inspired by Great Poetry

Read Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." This is a great example of a VILLANELLE, which is "a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. The form is made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the refrain serves as the poem’s two concluding lines. Using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2" (poetry.org).

Then write five statements:

What you would say to a dying person.

What you would say to a frightened child.

What you would say to the parents who love you.

What you would say to your best friend.

What you would say to someone who has lost her confidence.

Then choose ONE of these and made it a repeating mantra in a Thomas-style poem.

2. Read e.e.cummings "Maggie and Molly and Millie and May."

Then think of your friends who have two-syllable names, and one friend who has a one-syllable name.  Use them as the starting point for a similar poem. See other students' examples.