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Monday, October 15, 2007

A 5th grader's poetry assignment

Gabe had an in-class assignment last Friday. They were given a list of abstract nouns and a poem structure that required them to create four lines of metaphors and similes.

I think Gabe likes these types of assignments. They were given five words and he managed to complete a few of them. Gabe is not known for his lightning speed in writing assignments. I asked him, after his successful limerick, to be on the lookout for other work of his that he would allow me to post. He told me I could have these.

But first, an explanation of the assignment. The structure looks like this:

Abstract noun is the color of metaphor
Abstract noun sounds like simile
Abstract noun feels like simile
Abstract noun smells like simile

They could mix these up. All could be metaphors or all could be similes. I chose this structure because Gabe's first two match it exactly.

To help them with the rhythm of the poem, the teachers hummed a tune. When Gabe hummed it to me, it sounded suspiciously like "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, but that could just be me.

Here are three poems by Gabe:

Anger
Anger is the color of flaming fire
Anger sounds like the devil's cry
Anger feels like boiling water
Anger smells like smoke in the sky


Fear
Fear is the color of blackened mist
Fear feels like a deadly kiss
Fear sounds like screaming souls
Fear smells like burning coals


Jealousy
Jealousy feels like a broken heart
Jealousy sounds like revenge at the start
Jealousy is no place to go
Jealousy is colder than icy snow


I'm wondering if the other two abstract nouns were anything remotely positive in nature. If they were, why did my son save them for last?

Plus, given the content of these poems, I think I better keep a closer eye on what he is reading or watching on TV. A ten year old whipping out "deadly kiss" and "screaming souls" and "devil's cry"? What the heck?

Let Gabe know what you think by leaving a comment.

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