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WebSlam VIII – Round 2
Prompts
Submissions are closed for Round 2.
Round 3 prompts will be online by 8:00 a.m.
Monday, November 13.
Students responded to the following prompts for Round 2. Scroll down to read their work.
- Personify* an abstract idea or noun. What does _________wear? Where does _______ go grocery shopping? What does __________ do for a living? Create a vivid picture of character traits and behavior of such topics and themes as death, hope, democracy, courage, etc.
* Encarta® World English Dictionary Definition of ‘Personify’- to be an embodiment or perfect example of something
- to represent an abstract quality as a human being, especially in art or literature
- to ascribe human qualities to an object or abstract notion
- Be an activist poet: Research and write a poem from a political point of view. Be specific and know your facts. Use the Internet - www.nytimes.com, www.sfnewmexican.com, www.cnn.com, or just about any other newspaper, television network, or alternative news source (www.pitt.edu/~ctnst3/xnews.html) can be found - to research a topic, event or theme that you’d like to write about; e.g., hospice care for the poor, the war in Iraq, plight of illegal Mexican immigrants to the U.S. , exercise for teens, etc.
- Write a poem that reflects your relationship with your culture, heritage, ancestry. Dig as deep as you can to learn about who you are and where you came from. What does this mean to you? Your parents? The children you might someday have?
Tips:
- We advise that you use a word processing program to type your poem, so you can spell check it. Block, copy and paste the poem into the Submit Form.
- Withhold conclusions—your own feelings of like/dislike, approval/disapproval, etc.—and let the language of your poem do the work of making the reader see your intent.
Poems
The Darkness Swept the Land
Joe Romero — Albuquerque High School
ponfilo.thompson@gmail.com
The darkness swept the land
As my people were set free
We tore off our chains and
Celebrated the dying of the light
We danced with the moon on
Mountaintops as the dark
Swallowed the sun
Making sure all that was left is our
Benevolent
One our keeper crept your way
Waiting for the dying of the
Day and when the sun finally
Fell his massacre had begun
The light inside had been extinguished
And his army rose from the heart
Of the city
We came in surges seeping
From old town plaza drenching the
Streets with the dukes of our past and
They have come to reclaim their city
We are the elite raped mestizo and now
Called Mexican the ashamed call them
Selves Hispanic we have come for the
Land you took from our forefathers
Do you dare sand in are way
We traveled on the backs of our people
We can see the smiles and the terror
We can here the laughter and the screams
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Reviewer:
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Ryk Martinez, sykscript@hotmail.com
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Rating:
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9.8
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Review:
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Great poem!
I don’t see many kids writing about the Pueblo revolt.
I loved the choice of words you used!
The struggle of light and darkness is a very well used metaphor.
Excellent!
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Posted: Nov/10/2006 1:09 pm
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Reviewer:
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Valerie Martinez, vmartinez@csf.edu
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Rating:
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7.5
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Review:
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Joe—I admire this historical poem, this revolutionary poem, in which the “speaker” is a group of people who speak from the place of the long gone and oppressed. These kinds of poems are so important, in my view; they remind us of history and heart. The strongest stanzas, here, are #3, 7 & 8, and I think you can pare down this poem to these three stanzas and then add only what you need. Stanza #3 is the most powerful because it is more specific rather than general. Try to balance more abstract and general stanzas (#8, for example) with very specific stanzas. Perhaps you could focus on one or two specific men in this battle—characters who we can visualize more vividly, to make the revolt come alive. Do your poetic work as concisely as possible, and work in specific images as much as general statements.
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Posted: Nov/13/2006 9:58 am
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