This April is National Poetry Month, and students at Marriotts Ridge celebrate all the great contributions that poetry has had on American literature. Poetry is a great way for individuals to express themselves through descriptive imagery and literary devices. Many English teachers have implemented poetry assignments and competitions into their curriculum this month in order to give students the opportunity to test their creativity by making poems of their own.
Students creating their own poems is a great way to express themselves about either things they hold close to their heart or just fun ideas they want to write about. A fun way to urge students to start writing poetry is a Poetry March Madness tournament. Ms. Roberts, an English teacher at MRHS has created her own Poetry March Madness tournament in her classes, where two students either write their own or find a poem online and read them to the class. The class then votes on who they want to proceed to the next round.
“For the poetry tournament, I chose ‘Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep’ by Mary Elizabeth Frye. This poem touches on the effect that people can have on other’s lives even after their death,” stated Ms. Roberts’s English student, senior Aidan Ro.
Poetry is one of the most diverse expressions of literature, as poems can take many different shapes physically and structurally. Rhyming poems are the most recognizable type of poetry, but even poems that rhyme come in many different forms like sonnets, limericks and villanelles to name a few. Educating students on the different expressions of poetry can give them an arsenal of styles to write about.
“When I was younger, I liked to write lots of poems about philosophy, but as I grew up I found myself writing more poems about my family and my personal life,” remarked Ms. Roberts.
With the close proximity to Baltimore City, students at MRHS have ties to arguably one of the most influential poets, Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849), who lived in Baltimore. Poe specialized in Gothic Literature. “The Raven” (1845), is a poem that touches on the grief of losing a loved one and the challenge of overcoming it.
“I love dark poetry, it keeps me in touch with my dark side. I feel like sometimes the only way out of my life and the darkness surrounding me is my poetry,” remarked senior Jack VanTine.
Poets like Edgar Allan Poe create dark worlds with their poems and paint grim pictures filled
with symbolism. People enjoy these poems and the commentary they have on the world.
While some students like dark poetry, others prefer a more lighthearted style of writing.
“While writing my poem ‘The Almighty Christian’, I grew to love the fun and innocent experience of poetry,” said senior Christan Luke, a student of Ms.Roberts.
We see the wide range poetry has from its dark and deep meanings, to happiness, sun and flowers. Poetry has many different meanings to students throughout the school. This April students can take time to appreciate the power of poetry, explore and find what forms of poetry appeal to them.