Imagine that you are either the poet or Tich Miller. Write a diary entry on the evening after the events in the poem, recounting the experience of being picked last for PE and how you feel. (Refer back to Collection 1, page 8, for the features of a diary entry.)
Write to Analyse, Imagine, Explore and Engage [W3]
Choose one of the poems from this section: ‘Back in the Playground Blues’, ‘You Don’t Get to be Racist and Irish’ or ‘Tich Miller’. Write about your chosen poem using one of the following prompts. Use quotes from the poem to help explain your point of view.
❍ The poem made me angry because … ❍ The poem made me feel sad because … ❍ The poem made me think because …
REMEMBER: UNDERSTANDING AND REVISING POETRY
Let’s remind ourselves of how we might go about reading and revising poetry. When we wish to understand a poem more deeply or to revise it, we might ask ourselves:
1. What is the poet saying? What is the main message/the central theme/the tone or mood?
2. How is the poet saying it? What poetic techniques are used (assonance/alliteration/ onomatopoeia, etc.) What type of poem is it (narrative/free verse/ballad, etc.) What layout and punctuation has been used?
3. How do I feel about the poem/its message? What is my personal response?
P. 79 K
Go to your Writing Skills Book for a template for asking and answering questions about a poem.
