Poet Laureate
For this project each of us student was assigned a specific country in World War Won and researched that country in depth for about a week. Then using the information collected, us students created a poem using a specific meter and form. On top of this we each wrote a essay describing the historical and factual components of our poems, and make a presentation to share with our classmates so they could learn about our country and not just there own.
To complete the project we made a book of our poems and essays. We created a website (AHSpoetlaureate2016.weebly.com) and a Facebook page and through the work of the book launch teams we successfully printed out the poem collection "History Through the Eyes of the Living". We had a book launch party at Open Shutter gallery in down town durango and are still selling book for 10 dollars a piece, Books can be purchased through a link on the book website.
For my book launch team I was apart of the online promotion team. Our jobs were to spread the news about the event and book throughout the internet and try to advertise it to a larger audience then just the school and people in town that see our poster. As a group we made a trailer, Facebook page, And reached out to Multiple poetry foundations, organizations, forums ECT. for website promotion and just a friendly invite to our event. We successfully accumulated a group of Fort Louse College students and professors to attend the Book launch party. My personal accomplishment though was creating and promoting the event through the Facebook page.
To complete the project we made a book of our poems and essays. We created a website (AHSpoetlaureate2016.weebly.com) and a Facebook page and through the work of the book launch teams we successfully printed out the poem collection "History Through the Eyes of the Living". We had a book launch party at Open Shutter gallery in down town durango and are still selling book for 10 dollars a piece, Books can be purchased through a link on the book website.
For my book launch team I was apart of the online promotion team. Our jobs were to spread the news about the event and book throughout the internet and try to advertise it to a larger audience then just the school and people in town that see our poster. As a group we made a trailer, Facebook page, And reached out to Multiple poetry foundations, organizations, forums ECT. for website promotion and just a friendly invite to our event. We successfully accumulated a group of Fort Louse College students and professors to attend the Book launch party. My personal accomplishment though was creating and promoting the event through the Facebook page.
The first Fight
Drafted into the frightful war
At first no clue what was in store
Although they showed us how to fight
The fear of death did not feel right
The French, they stole us from our homes
They said we would not fight alone
I can't believe they paused my life
And left me scared for my poor wife.
We saw the Germans march and thought
We best make sure we cut them off.
It started with a big loud crack
There really was no going back.
We fought so hard they had no choice
They had to run and we rejoiced
We must keep on and push them out
And in the east they will no doubt
We will make sure they will not win
No way that we will let them in.
We really showed them what we got
They dug a trench so we will stop.
We won the Battle of the Marne
And now we rest around a farm.
For we all know the wars not done
So while we can we have some fun.
This Fight showed me the frightful truth
Out here there is no red phone booth.
You’re on your own and that is scary.
That's why they say to not be weary.
At first no clue what was in store
Although they showed us how to fight
The fear of death did not feel right
The French, they stole us from our homes
They said we would not fight alone
I can't believe they paused my life
And left me scared for my poor wife.
We saw the Germans march and thought
We best make sure we cut them off.
It started with a big loud crack
There really was no going back.
We fought so hard they had no choice
They had to run and we rejoiced
We must keep on and push them out
And in the east they will no doubt
We will make sure they will not win
No way that we will let them in.
We really showed them what we got
They dug a trench so we will stop.
We won the Battle of the Marne
And now we rest around a farm.
For we all know the wars not done
So while we can we have some fun.
This Fight showed me the frightful truth
Out here there is no red phone booth.
You’re on your own and that is scary.
That's why they say to not be weary.
Explanatory Essay: The First Battle of the marne
The event I chose for my poem was the First Battle of the Marne, fought September 5th to September 12 1914. The reason I chose this event was because it was a significant victory for France that kept the Germans outnumbered, and eventually led to France and Russia defeating the Germans. The Battle of the Marne was caused by a German plan called the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was a German strategy created to take out more than half their enemy in the early stages of the war. Germany was directly going to war with France, but that also meant they were going to war with France's ally, Russia. The Germans had a problem with this, because Russia borders them on the east, and France boarders them on the west. This would mean Germany would go into a two front battle, however, they did not have the soldiers or supplies for this. The Germans decided that there best bet was flank around France's army, take them out entirely, and send their troops over to the Eastern Front. Then they would have time to prepare for war, before Russia's large slow mobilizing army even got to Germany. Unfortunately for Germany, their flank was exposed, France spotted them, and attacked until the Germans pushed back and dug trenches. The perspective that I chose was an Algerian soldier who was drafted into the war by France, and was forced to fight. The soldier of course does not want to be there, and would much rather go home to his family, but at the same time is trying to make the best of it. Since he has to be there, he wants to win and fight alongside France, even though they forced him come to the war.
A word from the author:
My poem is a ballad written in a iambic tetrameter. When writing this poem, I wrote down as many lines as I could, even if they were absolutely horrific. Then, I chose my favorites, and revised them to make the best poem I could. Overall I am proud of my poem. This is only the second poem I have ever really sat down and on which I made quality work. I can honestly say I am pleased with the end results.
This poem was very challenging to write. I do not have very much poem writing experience, so at times I was stuck or did not know what to do. This was not because I had a lack of inspiration, but rather I didn't even know if it would follow the rules of poetry. While these aspects put me behind in the long run, overall the process was beneficial, because it made me learn new things that otherwise I would not have. The only thing that I would do differently is to have more people critique my poem, as there are a few spots that I believe could be improved.
A word from the author:
My poem is a ballad written in a iambic tetrameter. When writing this poem, I wrote down as many lines as I could, even if they were absolutely horrific. Then, I chose my favorites, and revised them to make the best poem I could. Overall I am proud of my poem. This is only the second poem I have ever really sat down and on which I made quality work. I can honestly say I am pleased with the end results.
This poem was very challenging to write. I do not have very much poem writing experience, so at times I was stuck or did not know what to do. This was not because I had a lack of inspiration, but rather I didn't even know if it would follow the rules of poetry. While these aspects put me behind in the long run, overall the process was beneficial, because it made me learn new things that otherwise I would not have. The only thing that I would do differently is to have more people critique my poem, as there are a few spots that I believe could be improved.
presentation
For my project archive click HERE
Project Reflection
This project was really cool because I produced lots of work that contributed to the class and not just me. I made a facebook page to promote our classes event, I emailed potential audiences and invited them to our event, and I wrote a poem and an essay to put into our classes book “History Through the Eyes of the Living.” On top of that I made an extensive amount of research and developed a document of notes to be sure that my poem and essay had all true facts from reliable sources.
While I did many things this project I am most proud of my poem. I am not much of a writer and definitely am not a poet but I think my poem turned out well and am proud to have it in the book. Coming into this project I was nervous for the poem aspect of it because I have never made a poem where I had to use correct meter and form. It took me a little while and some extra research but eventually I got the hang of meter and form and how to effectively use them in your poem. It took me a while to start my poem but the way I did was by just typing whatever came to my head and eventually with some practice it started to sound good.
What I remember most from this project was the research notes that we took. We took a week of class time to sit down and really dig deep into our country in order to give us a better context for our battle. After we had a strong background of our country built up we moved on to researching significant battle that our country participated in. Once we found one that we liked and was also a significant battle we went into depth with that battle. This portion of the project stood out so much to me because I learned so much that I didn't know about World War One and war in general. Also it was a great resource for when I wrote my poem and essay to be sure that everything I said was correct and reliable.
One lesson I learned from this project was that if you are working in a group be sure to communicate and make sure everyone knows what there job is. Before me and the rest of the online promotion team figured this out we were not sure what to do and so we all just sent out a ton of emails to anyone who had any connection to war, writing, poetry or education. While this was an important this for us to do we failed to realize that there were other jobs to be done like making a trailer, social media pages etc. So we ended up not doing those other thing till about a week before the actual book launch party, making it less effective than if we were to communicate in the beginning and get it done sooner.
One transferable lesson I learned in this project was how effective it can be to split a large task up among a group of people instead of working as one big group to tackle the entire thing. When I was told we were going to make a book I was very surprised because I thought it would be impossible for the entire class to accomplish. But by splitting everyone up into small groups and letting everyone else have there own different job to do we got it done and sooner than I would ever expect. While some groups may had to do more work than others or more challenging work it still turned out better in the end than all of us trying to do it. Its a sacrifice that's worth taking.
While I did many things this project I am most proud of my poem. I am not much of a writer and definitely am not a poet but I think my poem turned out well and am proud to have it in the book. Coming into this project I was nervous for the poem aspect of it because I have never made a poem where I had to use correct meter and form. It took me a little while and some extra research but eventually I got the hang of meter and form and how to effectively use them in your poem. It took me a while to start my poem but the way I did was by just typing whatever came to my head and eventually with some practice it started to sound good.
What I remember most from this project was the research notes that we took. We took a week of class time to sit down and really dig deep into our country in order to give us a better context for our battle. After we had a strong background of our country built up we moved on to researching significant battle that our country participated in. Once we found one that we liked and was also a significant battle we went into depth with that battle. This portion of the project stood out so much to me because I learned so much that I didn't know about World War One and war in general. Also it was a great resource for when I wrote my poem and essay to be sure that everything I said was correct and reliable.
One lesson I learned from this project was that if you are working in a group be sure to communicate and make sure everyone knows what there job is. Before me and the rest of the online promotion team figured this out we were not sure what to do and so we all just sent out a ton of emails to anyone who had any connection to war, writing, poetry or education. While this was an important this for us to do we failed to realize that there were other jobs to be done like making a trailer, social media pages etc. So we ended up not doing those other thing till about a week before the actual book launch party, making it less effective than if we were to communicate in the beginning and get it done sooner.
One transferable lesson I learned in this project was how effective it can be to split a large task up among a group of people instead of working as one big group to tackle the entire thing. When I was told we were going to make a book I was very surprised because I thought it would be impossible for the entire class to accomplish. But by splitting everyone up into small groups and letting everyone else have there own different job to do we got it done and sooner than I would ever expect. While some groups may had to do more work than others or more challenging work it still turned out better in the end than all of us trying to do it. Its a sacrifice that's worth taking.