Poetry has bloomed into art in Christina Bausch’s English I classes at Lawton High School.
Bausch has hit upon a novel way to teach poetry to her students as she combines analyzing poetry with an art project using the Poetry Analysis Project: Bloom's Ball. The project requires students to select a poem and identify the figurative language devices found in the poem and the title, tone and theme. Students must analyze the poem for its deeper meaning so they gain an understanding of why the poet wrote it and how there can be different meanings of the same poem.
Once that is done, the fun starts as students fill in the circles on their Bloom Balls. Students are given 12 sheets of paper with a circle on them. Each circle must be filled in with some aspect of the poem, such as imagery, figurative language, title, tone and theme. Students then draw images that symbolically represent the poem.
Once each circle has been completed, students cut them out and fold or staple them together to form a 12-sided ball that explains the poem they have studied. Once the balls were assembled, they were displayed in the library.
Arianna Cruz, ninth grader, said she chose the poem “Oh Captain, My Captain” by Walt Whitman because it is central to one of her favorite movies, “Dead Poets Society.” This was her first time to read the poem, and she enjoyed delving into its deeper meaning. She said Whitman wrote the poem after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Even though the poem was written about a specific incident, Cruz said the message is much broader.
“It allows you to really look at it,” Cruz said of the assignment. “After you read the poem and know what it means, you write down what it meant before – someone going through extreme grief. It was based on Lincoln and his death. You can always find a deeper meaning of the poem. In the beginning, he is very happy, he is getting to the shore of his destination. Then the realization that someone is gone. He’s gone and he’s no longer going to be with us. The poem is meant to commemorate those who are gone. You get the idea of commemorating a loved one who is no longer with us.”
Cruz said the poem has so many figurative words that she had to find a way to get them all on the circle, so she came up with the idea of making the words into the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces.
“I had so many words, it was an easy way to put them together as a puzzle,” she said. “I tried to brainstorm first. I tried to figure out how I wanted the puzzle to go. Puzzles are always connected one way or another. It made sense the way they are connected.”
She also had to identify the images in the poem and draw them on her circles. Some of the images she identified were a flag, drops of blood, bells, ribbon bouquets and eyes.
“I just go in and let my hand do whatever. I just go with the flow,” she said as to how she drew the images in the individual circles.
Cruz said she loves art as well as poetry, so she enjoyed the assignment.
“In poetry, it’s nice to be able to find different tones. You get to see the real meaning. It’s what makes poetry diverse and beautiful,” she said.
After Cruz drew images in each of her 12 circles, she was going to color in the edges of the paper so they were all decorated before cutting them out and assembling her ball.
“It gives them their own personality,” Cruz said.
Cruz said she liked the art assignment better than taking a test.
“Because I really like doing art and not taking a test,” Cruz said. “I struggle on taking tests because suddenly I don’t understand anything given.”
While Cruz was still filling in her circles, Jackson Kirk was busy cutting out his circles and assembling his ball. He chose the poem “Luke Havergal” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, which Kirk said is about lost love.
“The guy still feels love he had for someone and he couldn’t get it back,” Kirk said.
The primary colors Kirk used on his circles were orange and yellow for sunrise and flames.
“It represents a new day and a new chance,” Kirk said, adding the poem relates to how our lives are sometimes.
“It’s a lot like any other assignment. It brings out the artistic side. It’s entertaining, too,” Kirk said.
Bausch said the assignment, which she has been doing for about 10 years, allows students to express their creativity.
“I’m looking for something to allow kids to have their own context and let them have their own voice while demonstrating their ability to do poetry analysis,” Bausch said.
“I’m looking for a creative way to do assessment without doing a test. Poetry is such an individualized form of expression and writing. Hopefully someone will look at poetry and fall in love with it. It is a high hope,” Bausch said.
That high hope may be realized in Cruz.
“Anyone can like poetry,” Cruz said. “There are all different genres. Find what you really enjoy reading and listening to. You will find something you like. It’s always easy to find something I like.”