ROUND TWO: 1-mob vs. 9-contraction

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-mob
Mayhem Makers
By Victoria Warneck

I stand on the edge of the mob
bewitched by the pulse and the throb
of energies clashing and hot tempers flashing
untempered by honor or prudence

I spin and I grasp for a hold
to keep me apart from the fold
“Come, join the throng! Don’t you want to belong?”
Little brothers are such a bad influence!

vs.

9-contraction
Ms. Cratchit’s Contraction Comments
(School for Wayward Children 1910)
By Ken Slesarik

Please use them very sparingly.
These little words lack virtue.
Apostrophes can be your friend,
Appease them, they won’t hurt you.

Ambitious overuse my son,
Repetitious, a distraction.
Vicious is my grading, child,
Malicious, the contraction. (D-)

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