OMG I’M READING POETRY!

1. Write about your verse book

When reading Inside Out and Back Again, I was actually really scared to reading it. Poetry in general just freaks me out, and I have never read a book where they tell a story though poetry. When I started reading the book, I noticed how the book is little poems throughout the book, not just one big one. It kind of reminded me of a diary, where Ha shares her experiences through the Vietnam War and having to flee her home and her trip to safety. She writes these experiences, which feels like day after day and that are what makes it seem like I am reading her diary, just in poem form. It is interesting reading this text with form and structure, because it gives me glimpses of her experiences, really describing them in detail and makes me really think about the feelings and experiences she encounters through out the book. I did notice that this form does make me tend to skim through the pages. Like if the poem is too boring and not that important, I skimmed over it because I wanted to find a better poem and hear more of her story. I could use these books in a classroom because it is making the kid actually read poetry! I can let the kids tell a story of their past using poems, and they can see how not all poems have to rhyme. They have a lot of freedom on how they would write and we can see how students focus on different topics in their poems like feelings compared to events.

 

1. Playing with Poetry (What we did in class, all quotes from Inside out and Back again)

 

The country divided in half

One cannot justify war unless each side flaunts its own blind conviction.

I think and think and close my eyes again

Every part of the rainbow surrounds me

How peaceful he looks, smiling peacock tails at the corner of his eyes