Where I’m From poem

Where I’m From poem

Assignment 1: Getting Acquainted

NOTE: You must complete this assignment in week 2 and no later than 6 a.m., Monday, immediately following week 2.

By completing the following assignment, you will introduce yourselves to your peers and to me so that we can all get to know each other.

Directions

Read the following poem.

• Where I’m From (George Ella Lyon–1993)
  • • Parent’s names and significant relatives
    • Special foods or meals
    • Family specific games or activities
    • Nostalgic songs
    • Stories, novels or poetry that you’ll never forget
    • Phrases that were repeated often
    • The best things that you were told
    • The worst things that you have been told
    • Ordinary household items
    • Family traditions
    • Family traits
    • Family tendencies
    • Religious symbols or experiences
    • Specific story(ies) about a specific family member
    • Accidents or traumatic experiences
    • Losses
    • Joys
    • Location of memories, pictures, or mementos

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush,

the Dutch elm

whose long gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I am from fudge and eyeglasses,

from Imogene and Alafair.

I’m from the know- it-alls

and the pass- it-ons,

from perk up and pipe down.

I’m from He restoreth my soul

with cottonball lamb

and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost

to the auger

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures.

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments —

snapped before I budded —

leaf- fall from the family tree.

1.Brainstorm

oList specific details related to your life. The key is to make this exercise as specific and personal as possible. Use nicknames or words that only you or your family use. Use items, things places that are specific to your life, memories, and experiences. Don’t worry about readers not knowing what you’re talking about. This is own your personal poem. When you put it all together, you will see that it conveys a deep sense about you.

oSome details you might consider are:

2.Write your own “Where I’m From” poem

oUsing the list you created, begin writing your own “Where I’m From” poem. Don’t worry about naming a specific place – follow the poem’s spirit of giving a sense of place through personal details. Use as many of the items on your list as you like. Don’t worry about form or structure. Write your poem however you like.

oClick on this link to see two sample Where I’m From student poems