Option 1: Write a poem to some animal, object, place, or maybe even to a person, whom you don't know or don't expect to read this. You could write to your pet, a tree, a box of Kleenex, your cell phone, or to someone famous like Misha Barton, Jonah Hill, or Eli Manning.

Be sure to:

• Use at least two poetic devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, etc. (4 points)
• Use descriptive language! (4 points)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title your poem. (1 point)

Option 2: Compose a word photo of someone you know, not a formal portrait, but a quick candid shot of the person engaged in some activity. For example, you may want to capture your little sister playing “house” with her dolls, your mother cleaning the bathroom, or your neighbor watering his garden.

Be sure to:

• Include some reference to a color, a time of year, a scent, and a sound. (4 points)
• Use concrete, specific details. (2 points)
• Focus on capturing a clear image of your subject. (2 points)
• Write at least 6, but no more than 12 lines. (1 point)
• Title your poem. (1 point)

Option 3: Compose a poem on a topic of your choice using the freewriting technique described in the lesson discussion. You will be required to upload your freewriting notes with this poem. (2 points)

Be sure to:

• Use at least two poetic elements such as rhyme, rhythm, repetition, simile, metaphor, etc. (4 points)
• Clearly identify, in some way, the central theme, subject, or idea of the poem. (2 points)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title the poem. (1 point)

Option 4: Create a poem based on a “fabulous reality” as described in the lesson discussion. To do so, you will need to carefully observe something that an average person would consider an “ordinary” event (a car stopping at a stop sign, a child walking to school, a friend texting to another, etc.) As you observe, focus on the uniqueness, the significance, and/or the implication of the event and try to capture this in a poem.

Be sure to:

• Clearly identify, in some way, the ordinary event which you observed. (2 points)
• Use descriptive language to capture the uniqueness of the event. (4 points)
• State, in some creative way, the significance or implication of the event. (2 points)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title the poem. (1 point)

Option 5: Write a short poem that expresses your ideas about nature, an item you treasure, or about someone who is very important to you.

Be sure to:

• Use at least three different poetic devices. (3 points)
• Convey very vividly why this topic, item, or person is important to you. (5 points)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title the poem. (1 point)

Option 6: Choose a technological device, such as a computer, a cell phone, an ipod, or a PDA and pretend that you have never seen the object before. Address the following questions as you freewrite about this object.

• What is strange about the object?
• What is familiar?
• How and where would it be used?
• What is another device that it could be compared to?
• How does it sound?
• How does it feel?

Using your answers to these questions and your freewriting notes, compose a poem about the technological device. Be sure to upload your freewriting notes with this poem. (2 points)

Be sure to:

• Use at least two poetic elements such as assonance, consonance, personification, metaphor, etc. (4 points)
• Clearly identify, in some way, the central theme, subject, or idea of the poem. (2 points)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title the poem. (1 point)

Option 7: Write a poem using an extended metaphor. Your metaphor may clarify the central concept of the poem or connect the parts of the poem. After you have decided on a metaphor, incorporate related images and details into the poem, whenever appropriate.

Be sure to:

• Clearly identify the extended metaphor in some creative way. (4 points)
• Incorporate related images and vivid details into the poem. (3 points)
• Use at least one other poetic device such as personification, onomatopoeia, repetition, etc. (1 point)
• Keep your poem somewhere between ten and twenty lines long. (1 point)
• Title the poem. (1 point)

Option 8: Begin a poem with “When I . . .” and either base it on an important time or event in your life (“When I was born. . .”) or on a repeated ritual (“When I practice the piano . . .”) The moment or incident you choose to explore matters less than the process of probing and unfolding. Focus on the “when” part, and then work toward whatever resolution or closure feels appropriate.

Be sure to:

• Describe the “when” part of the poem in some creative way. (3 points)
• Resolve or close the poem appropriately. (2 points)
• Use descriptive language that addresses at least two of the senses. (2 points)
• Write at least two stanzas (2 points)
• Title the poem. (1 point)