Click here for authlete instructions.
Voter Instructions:
- The countdown at the bottom of each pairing indicates how much time is left to vote.
- When voting closes, timer will disappear.
- Read both poems as many times as you like.
- Mark the poem you like best by clicking the circle next to its name.
- Press the “Vote” button to record your vote.
- Votes are counted in real time and cannot be changed once entered.
- You can only vote once from a given IP address.
- Classrooms should submit one vote as a class.
- Students can then vote again individually from home.
Things to Consider in Making a Choice:
- How well the poem incorporates the authlete’s assigned word.
- Technical elements: meter, rhyme, form, shape, and other poetic standards.
- Creativity: wordplay, imagery, unusual approach, etc.
- Subtle elements that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
- Your overall response: emotional reaction such as admiration, tears, laughter, terror, or some indefinable feeling.
Here are the poems:
1-jam
Miss Trumpet
By Anna J. Boll
When the jazzy band, plays its jazzy jam
Miss Trumpet steals the show.
She slinks in, buttons down her back,
With a wink she says, “Let my brass gown
Let me skip you, trip you, Biddley-bop you, through meadows
Let me Wa-wa you, rock you low, slow, like a hammock in springtime.”
And when you’re even and easy she plunges you, Zweedley- BAM,
into ice cold waters.
vs.
8-caricature
Secret Identity
By Marileta Robinson
Inside, I am a banquet, a parade,
You only see a quiet kid
Inside, I’m jazz, I’m fireworks,
You only see a caricature
1-jam vs. 8-caricature: Which Poem Did You Prefer?
- 1-jam (Anna J. Boll) (41%, 93 Votes)
- 8-caricature (Marileta Robinson) (59%, 132 Votes)
Total Voters: 225

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