Tapestry of Faith: Exploring Our Values Through Poetry: A Program for High School Youth

Introduction

Well, that's the trick: the sudden unexpectedness inside the overknown.

— Heather McHugh

This is the last workshop before planning the Poetry Slam. Both the planning and the presentation of the Poetry Slam provide opportunity for participants to use their individual voice and for the group to use its collective voice. Appropriately, this workshop is about the balance between the individual and the community.

Goals

This workshop will:

  • Utilize poetry to examine the relationship between the individual self and self in community
  • Provide participants with a metaphorical method of looking at their life experiences
  • Optional: Guide participants through creating a time capsule for future reflection
  • Optional: Present a game that uses words to illustrate how a poet turns randomness into meaning
  • Optional: Encourage participants to review their poetry in preparation for the Poetry Slam

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

  • Acknowledge how the self is transformed in community
  • Analyze how the various elements of their lives have combined to make them the person they are today
  • Optional: Create a vehicle to inspire self-reflection in future years
  • Optional: Experience poetry as a tool for light wordplay
  • Optional: Develop a theory on the composition of poetry and relate it to their work
  • Optional: Review their writing from previous workshops