1. How to
Express Yourself
Like a Poet

2. Define Poetry.
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty.”
~ Edgar Allen Poe

3. Define Poetry.
“Poetry is the record of
the best and happiest moments
of the happiest and best minds.”
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

4. Define Poetry.
“Poetry is just the evidence of life.
If your life is burning in hell,
poetry is just the ash.”
~ Leonard Cohen

5. Define Poetry.
“Poetry is the revelation of a feeling
that the poet believes to be interior and personal
which the reader recognizes as his own.”
~ Aristotle

6. Define Poetry.
“I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew.
Writing a poem is discovering.”
~ Robert Frost

7. Define Poetry.
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.”
~ Robert Browning

8. What can I write about?
“help i’ve just been run over by a bus” - Gwen Hauser
“On the Ning Nang Nong” - Spike Milligan
“All That is Gold Does Not Glitter” - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
“Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face” - Jack Prelutsky
“Forgetfulness” - Billy Collins
“The Pig” - Roald Dahl

9. Write about something you know well.
first-hand
or
nearby to observe
Be willing to show your perspective.

10. Hints to write by...
1. Don’t state the obvious.
The grass is green.

11. Hints to write by...
2. Don’t force originality.
Simply focus on the real details that make it unique.

12. Hints to write by...
3. Choose the right words.
Glow vs. Glitter
He ‘looked’ at her.
Or did he ‘gaze’ or ‘glare’ or ‘gape’?

13. Poetry Technique #1:
Playing with Favourites

14. Think of a favourite character from a novel.
List three adjectives that describe what
he/she appears to be on the outside.
Think of one adjective that describes what he/she is like
on the inside.

15. Compare this character to an object
that shares one of the above traits.
Jot down one line describing your favourite moment
involving that character in the novel.
What is something you can imagine him/her doing
in real life?
What is something your character likes to say?

16. Hermione Granger
Brainy, bold, brazen
Genuine
A girl scout pledge.
Proud to be a mudblood.
I could see you finding a cure for cancer.
Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa!

17. Poetry Technique #2:
Expressing the Invisible
How do you carefully observe a feeling
or an abstract concept?

18. 1. Observe.
2. Be specific.

19. Metaphor Poem
1. Concept (Fear, Freedom, Fury, Love, Pain, Joy, Hate, etc.)
2. Three moments/situations that represent
this concept to you.
(Be descriptive!)
Excitement
A jumpy puppy when it’s let out of its cage.
A hockey player who scored the overtime goal.
The day you turn 16.

20. 3. Three things/objects that embody this concept’s
characteristics.
Excitement
a jack-in-the-box, a rollercoaster ride, ants in your pants
4. A verb that links to your concept.
Excitement
surprise, thrill, etc.

21. Excitement
I am a jumpy puppy when it’s let out of its cage.
I am a hockey player who scored the overtime goal.
I am the day you turn 16.
I am a a jack-in-the-box,
A rollercoaster ride,
Ants in your pants.
I am excitement.
Surprise me.

22. To take away with you...
Experiment like crazy!
Walking away is okay!
(Just come back again!)
Edit! Edit! Edit!