Poetry Minute Guidelines
Choose a poem to explicate in front of the class. You may work in pairs or as an individual.
Your presentation should be 5-8 minutes. I won’t be timing you, because I’m more concerned about your content than your pacing. Think of it as a Think Piece that you’re walking us through. Read the poem (or a pre-planned excerpt if it’s more than 12 lines long) and then present your close reading. Your insight into the poem should be of such a level that your classmates will want to take notes. I’ll make a packet of the poems. Though there isn’t a magical checklist that I will be secretly tracking while you present, your analysis should be thorough (use one of the explication methods we have reviewed/used in class.) Rather, let the poem be your guide: what is important in this specific poem in a close reading? What would you write about on an AP exam or a class timed writing if you were given this as a cold read? Include a brief background of pertinent information on the poet just for our general interest, but bear in mind that the AP exam is all about cold reading, so unless you have prior knowledge of the poet College Board chooses, you won’t be able to incorporate a biographical reading of the poem on the exam anyway. This shouldn’t be formulaic; in other words what you present on in your selected poem may be a completely different style/methodology than what a classmate presents on their specific poem. It should instead be an informed close reading that includes some confident poetic terminology usage in how it contributes to the meaning of the poem, and it should NOT look like you’re winging it. Preparation is key. Your presentation will be scored holistically on the AP 9-point rubric.
From 5 Steps to a 5: Types of questions that have been asked in the poetry essay on the AP Literature exam in the past:
YOU MUST TURN IN NOTES THAT DEMONSTRATE YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
PRESENTATION PACKETS - Take notes as your classmates present.
Your presentation should be 5-8 minutes. I won’t be timing you, because I’m more concerned about your content than your pacing. Think of it as a Think Piece that you’re walking us through. Read the poem (or a pre-planned excerpt if it’s more than 12 lines long) and then present your close reading. Your insight into the poem should be of such a level that your classmates will want to take notes. I’ll make a packet of the poems. Though there isn’t a magical checklist that I will be secretly tracking while you present, your analysis should be thorough (use one of the explication methods we have reviewed/used in class.) Rather, let the poem be your guide: what is important in this specific poem in a close reading? What would you write about on an AP exam or a class timed writing if you were given this as a cold read? Include a brief background of pertinent information on the poet just for our general interest, but bear in mind that the AP exam is all about cold reading, so unless you have prior knowledge of the poet College Board chooses, you won’t be able to incorporate a biographical reading of the poem on the exam anyway. This shouldn’t be formulaic; in other words what you present on in your selected poem may be a completely different style/methodology than what a classmate presents on their specific poem. It should instead be an informed close reading that includes some confident poetic terminology usage in how it contributes to the meaning of the poem, and it should NOT look like you’re winging it. Preparation is key. Your presentation will be scored holistically on the AP 9-point rubric.
From 5 Steps to a 5: Types of questions that have been asked in the poetry essay on the AP Literature exam in the past:
- How does the language of the poem reflect the speaker's perceptions and how does that language determine the reader's perception?
- How does the poet reveal character? (i.e., diction, sound devices, imagery, allusion)
- Discuss the similarities and differences between two poems. Consider style and theme.
- Contrast the speakers' views towards a subject in two poems. Refer to form, tone, and imagery.
- Discuss how poetic elements, such as language, structure, imagery and point of view convey meaning in a poem.
- Given two poems, discuss what elements make one better than the other.
- Relate the imagery, form, or theme of a particular section of a poem to another part of that same poem. Discuss changing attitude or perception of speaker or reader.
- Analyze a poem's extended metaphor and how it reveals the poet's or speaker's attitude.
- Discuss the way of life revealed in a poem. Refer to such poetic elements as tone, imagery, symbol, and verse form.
- Discuss the poet's changing reaction to the subject developed in the poem.
- Discuss how the form of the poem affects its meaning.
YOU MUST TURN IN NOTES THAT DEMONSTRATE YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
PRESENTATION PACKETS - Take notes as your classmates present.