Aim: How has poetic expression evolved in the 21st century?
Vocabulary:
Epic Poetry: A genre of classical poetry; a long narrative poem that is usually about heroic deeds and events that are significant to the culture of the poet.
Micropoetry: a genre of poetic verse which is characterized by its extreme brevity. In other words, a micropoem is a short poem.
Do Now: The class started off by discussing whether or not technology and the 21st century are ruining literature as we know it. Some responses include:
No, technology and the 21st century does not ruin literature because people can share literature through the internet.
No, because the styles may have changed, but technology is actually introducing more inspiration for ppl to write literature.
I agree and disagree because even though technology allows ppl to write literature, ppl can also post misleading sources.
Notes: The class listened to the poet, Rupi Kaur, read her poem “Timeless” from her book The Sun and Her Flowers.
Link: Rupi Kaur Reads Timeless from Her Poetry Collection The Sun and Her Flowers [6:43]
Rupi Kaur is the author of the famous book Milk and Honey which many of you may have heard off. The book consists of many micro poems and illustrations. Some examples are:
The class also heard Kaur read from Milk and Honey, which can be found here: https://youtu.be/7y4sIbnRM58
The question “Where can we find poetry?” the popped up. The answer is simple—everywhere. The notes show examples of poems found in song lyrics and social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Examples of Song Lyrics:
“One taught me love,
one taught me patience,
one taught me pain,
now I’m so amazing.”
~Arianna Grande
“I let my guard down
and then you pulled the rug
I was getting kinda used to being
someone you loved.”
~Lewis Capaldi
Moving on, the class read a short article titled,
“Can Instagram Make Poems Sell Again?”
By: John Maher
To shorten the reading, here are sentences that show the gist of each paragraph:
Over the course of many years, the percentage of Americans who read poetry have dropped—until Rupi Kaur arrived. Rupi Kaur is the author of the bestseller Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers who first started off by writing on Instagram, a social media platform. With the publication of Milk and Honey, the sales of poetry drastically doubled.
People believe that Kaur’s works are not traditional enough, a source of inspiration, or steal the spotlight from more deserving writers. Rupi Kaur’s books, along with many others, were debated on whether or not it was deserving.
Kaur’s book led to something called the “Rupi Effect” in which her first book, Milk and Honey, led to the increase in demands for poetry from readers and booksellers. The book sold so well that is considered a gateway to other poetry.
Not everybody agrees with the Rupi Effect, however. They claim that Milk and Honey only led to the increase of poetry in the media or publishing, but not in the genre of poetry itself. People just like to read Milk and Honey, but the book being composed of poems doesn’t mean that people like to read poetry more.
Still, most people agree that poetry is on the rise because of the truthfulness and humanity that poems bring out to ease the community of the current social and political problems. The styles and methods (traditional and nontraditional) of poems doesn’t matter because all poems are to delight and instruct, and new styles of writing can always become traditions one day. Insta-poets have various ways of writing and it allows others to read all different types of work.
Internet age poets are also part of the poetic tradition and the popularity of these poems occur naturally. As the world gets more and more complex, people start to turn to poetry and writing because of the way poetry speaks to people in short lengths. Quotes from Milk and Honey were even found during the Women’s Marches. People are inspired by poets’ words and the media provides means for interest and distribution so that more voices can be heard. It’s the form that meets the age.
Homework: students are to answer the three classwork questions and the homework question included.
Classwork questions are:
1. According to the article, what is at least one criticism of Rupi Kaur’s contribution to the world of poetry?
2. Cite evidence in order to show how John Maher argues for the literary value of what he calls the “Rupi Effect”.
3. Based on your own personal opinion and the contents of the article, explain the rise of popularity of poetry on social media platforms (Twitter, tumblr, Instagram) these past few years.
The homework question is
Using the word pool you created for homework as inspiration, try to create a poem in:
1. For Twitter: only 280 characters
a. (challenge mode: 140 characters for original Twitter restrictions)
2. OR For Instagram: in a design format (short & concise, relatable for your audience)
a. (challenge mode:try to make it aesthetically pleasing or intriguing, appropriate for Instagram) about 1 of the following topics:
#highschool #freshmanyear #teenagelife
Reflections: I learned how social media contributes to the rising popularity of poetry. Poetry can be found anywhere and with the help of technology, different types of poetry from different authors are heard throughout the world. Poetry can be found on line, in song lyrics, in books, newspapers, etc. As the time is changing, the styles of poetry and writing change too and it is appealing because the community has never seen this before.
I learned these facts because it allows me to broaden my understanding of the branch of poetry and literature. It teaches me there are types of poetry that I may like and read off of the internet. Moreover, I learned the lesson because it shows what poetry is. There are many times where I saw a short writing online, but the question was, “Is it poetry?” Now, I know that poetry comes in all kinds and that internet poetry definitely counts too. In addition, I now know where to find inspiration when I need it.
I will use what I learned to read and write poetry. From today’s lesson, I realized that poetry exists in so many places that I have not thought about before. I will also use what I’ve learned in future lessons and events when I need to write poetry. The media is a way for me to explore and I can always go on there to find poems or other works of literature that appeals to me.
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