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:
16-fabricating
The Homework Machine
by Miranda Paul
Last month’s report card made Mother unhappy,
and flipped Father’s mood from sunny to snappy.
So here’s my new plan—it’s done calibrating—
The H-BOT 2000® is now fabricating
all of my homework. Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Watch as Miss Margins gives me an A…
vs.
8-forego
You Can Do It
by Michele Krueger
abandon their decision to believe that you can’t do it
forego their opinion that you should not make it through
eschew their conclusion that you just weren’t meant to
refute their suggestion that you haven’t got a clue
embrace your intention
your future is unlimited
your destiny, uncharted