How would you interpret line 3, "But I hung on like death"?

Daily Refer to your notes for the Quickwrite on page 494. Expand them into a catalog poem or paragraph that lists images of things in your daily life that are miracles or make you happy to be alive. Science/Drawing

Think about the historical context of this poem. What doors did these women really batter down?

Put aside some class time to read aloud your essays-and Dorris's. Dorris says "We come in all varieties." Do your essays come in all varieties too?

What do you think the boy in "Fifteen" means in lines $11-12$ when he says that he and the motorcycle could "meet the sky out on Seventeenth"? What else could "meet the sky" mean?

Meter: A Challenge Perhaps you'll want a challenge and will try to write a poem in meter-that is, to give each line a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. For beginners, one of these two meters is best: a. Each line has six syllables, alternating an unstressed syllable with a stressed syllable: da/DAH, da/DAH, da/DAH ("The dead began to speak"). b. Each line has eight syllables, also alternating an unstressed syllable with a stressed syllable: da/DAH, da/DAH, da/DAH, da/DAH ("I wandered lonely as a cloud").

If you write in meter, maintain your beat, but at times add a little variation so your verse doesn't become singsong. For instance, you can reverse the beat of the first two syllables in any line without doing serious harm to your pattern (from da/DAH to $\mathrm{DAH} / \mathrm{da}$ ). For more on meter, see pages 554-555. Opposite is a poem by a famous American poet who found a feeling, a moment that he associated with that feeling, and a form to write his thoughts in.

Identify the details in the text that describe the hardships Matlock has endured. Then, pick out the details that depict her joys and pleasures. How would you describe Lucinda's life?

Poetry in Sports Hemphill's poem is about more than sports, but you may find the game part as exciting to read as the sports page of your newspaper. Try reporting a game you've watched closely (or better, played in) using free verse and all the musical strategies available to the poet. When you're describing action, use short, fast sentences. Try to find words that sound like the sounds of your game. (Maybe you started a list before you read the poem. See page 572.)

If you decide to include a tape of your reading in your portfolio, date the tape and attach a brief reflection:

What did I learn about performing for an audience?

How is "Beware: Do Not Read This Poem" like a greedy mirror? What words do you think personify the poem as some kind of greedy monster?

Share your paper with your writing group or with a partner. Ask your reader(s) to focus especially on these points:

Can you follow everything I've said? Do you have questions?

More of the Story What happens next? Use narration to write another stanza for "Beware: Do Not Read This Poem." Write as "l," the reader who has become the poem. If you wish, imitate Reed's typography and spelling.

What scenes do you see and share in Whitman's poem?

The word deferred in line I of "Harlem" means "delayed," "postponed." What is the dream that is being postponed here?