11

th
American Literature Poetry Portfolio

DUE:

Please be sure to include an original and creative title and cover for your portfolio as well as a
table of contents. Finally, check that you have included copies of required poems. All work must
be in final draft form and some parts must be typed.

PART I: Poetry Wheel (20 points) DUE:
1. Pick an abstract noun (i.e. hunger) as your theme.
2. Give an example (an original one) for each of the following figurative devices that centers
on your theme.
3. Create a poetry wheel or grid that has the name of your device, the definition of the device,
and your example using the device to describe your theme word. Select eight of the devices
below
Devices
1. alliteration
2. allusion
3. analogy
4. antithesis
5. apposition
6. assonance
7. chiasmus
8. clich
9. consonance
10. hyperbole
11. litotes
12. metaphor
13. metonymy
14. onomatopoeia
15. oxymoron
16. paradox
17. personification
18. pun
19. simile
20. situational irony
21. symbol
22. synecdoche
23. understatement
24. verbal irony

PART II: Respond (30 points) DUE:
Select one poem from three different periods (Enlightenment 1750-1800, Romanticism 1800-
1860, Transcendentalism 1840-1855, Realism 1865-1915, Naturalism, Regionalism, American
Renaissance 1840-1860, Modern 1900-1950) to write a readers response. For each poem you
select, select one of the questions below for a response. Each response should be ~250 words in
length, hand written. Blended quotes are expected (with correct internal citation for each
response). Please proofread. Select a different prompt for each response. At the top of each
response, clearly indicate the poems title, author, and reader response prompt. Thats three
responses in total. TYPED (Each response is 10 points)

Reader Response Prompts
1. What is your initial response to the poem? What helps convey that reaction diction,
syntactical pacing, structure, topic, etc?
2. Does the poem relate to your personal experience? To universal experience?
3. What questions are attempted to be answered, or left unanswered by the poet or for you
yourself?
4. What poetic elements are used effectively to convey the tone, or theme or subject matter?
5. Does the poet present any surprising or unexpected elements in the way of structure,
development, images, devices, topic, etc?
6. Are the speakers thoughts valid? Explain.
7. What is a particularly striking image? Why?
8. What line(s) seem to embody the theme? Explain how the theme applies both contextually
and universally
9. What is a favorite line or use of language in the poem for you? Why?
10. Are there any enigmatic words or phrases? How can their meaning be clarified poetically?

PART III: Annotate (10 points) DUE:
For two poems, annotate them. Provide two annotated copies, which clearly illustrate theme,
speaker/audience, tone(s), form, and any other poetic, rhetorical or syntactical elements, etc.
Marginal annotations should show that you have read closely and reflected on the text. Then,
write a hefty analysis paragraph. (Each annotated poem is 10 points)

PART IV: Illustrate (10 points) DUE:
For one of your poems, illustrate the images, mood, theme, simile(s), metaphor(s), imagery,
personification, etc. This assignment must be assembled by hand. You may use magazine
clippings and photographs, even images off of ClipArt. However, all pieces must be hand
assembled. Also, provide the related quotations (with line numbers) as well as the theme, title,
and author. Include all the lines from your chosen poem, even if there is no illustration for a line.
This can be in the form of a collage (8.5 x 11 paper).

PART V: Prove (50 points) DUE:
Select a poem that you believe supports one of the poetry quotes below and explain. First
provide a general response to the quotation, and then apply it to the poem. TYPED (500 words)

POETRY QUOTES
1. I would define the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty. - Edgar Allan Poe
2. A poet writes about what he feels, what agitates his heart and sets his pen in motion. - Dudley Randall
3. Poetry makes nothing happen: it survives in the valley of its saying. - William Butler Yeats
4. A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language. - W. H. Auden
5. Poetry is the impish attempt to paint the color of the wind. - Bodenheim
6. Prose is words in the best order. Poetry is the best words in the best order. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
7. Poetry does not necessarily have to be beautiful to stick in the depths of our memory. - Colette
8. All great poetry gives the illusion of a view of life. - T. S. Eliot
9. Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the best and happiest minds. - Percy Bysshe
Shelley

PART VI: Mimic (30 points) DUE:
Select any two poems from any of the poems youve read this unit, but have not used for any of
the requirements in your portfolio. Study the rhythm, rhyme, form, and figurative language
devices used. Then using your selected poem, created one where you pay homage to that poet by
mimicking the rhythm, rhyme, form, and at least three uses of figurative language used by your
chosen poet. Include the original piece of inspiration behind or with your poem.