13 Ways of Looking At
A….
Due by Friday May 15th – Can be turned in
early if you would like, but it must be
complete. Incomplete work will not be
accepted early.
13 Ways of Looking At A….
In this assignment you will select a noun of your
choice. The noun can be a:

Person (specific or general) Example: Michael
Jackson, police officer

Place (specific or general) Example: Telegraph Hill,
desert

Thing (specific or general) Example: my father’s
watch, a jar

Idea (specific or general) Example: The Space Race,
equality
13 Ways of Looking At A….
Once you choose your noun, you will
follow through the next boxes to compose
a 13 part poem that resembles Wallace
Stevens’ 13 Ways of Looking at a
Blackbird.
Use the lined spaces provided to the right
of each box to carefully draft your poem
following the instructions in each box.
13 Ways of Looking At…..A River
Stanza One
Rolling through the
ravine,
Blue rippled
waves,
Dancing on the
rocks.
Compose a 3 line stanza
that features
alliteration.
Alliteration is the use of
the same consonant at
the beginning of
multiple words in the
stanza. It is kind of like
a tongue twister.
Sally sells seashells by
the seashore.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Friendship
Stanza Two
Sharing a lunch,
Daring to trust,
Caring so much.
Compose a 3 line stanza
that features assonance.
Assonance is the use of
the same vowel sound in
multiple words in the
stanza. It will sound
similar to a rhyme, but
it will not always be an
exact rhyme.
13 Ways of Looking At…..A Beach ball
Stanza Three
Laying all alone in
the hot sand, the
beach ball exposes
its delicate plastic
skin to harsh sun
without blinking.
Compose a 3 line stanza
that features
personification.
Personification takes some
object or idea that is not a
human being, and makes it
act like a human being
using a verb that only
humans can actually use in
reality.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Integrity
Stanza Four
Integrity is like a
flame that
unexplainably
continues to burn
even in the eye of
the strongest
hurricane.
Compose a 3 line stanza
that features a simile.
A simile uses like or as in
order to indirectly
compare two objects or
ideas in an unusual way.
The purpose is to think
about something in a
way that it is not usually
thought about.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Persistence
Stanza Five
Compose a 3 line stanza
Persistence is a
spider that begins
weaving its delicate
web all over again
each time it is
destroyed by the
wind, the rain, and
the hand of the child.
that features a
metaphor.
A metaphor directly
compares two objects or
ideas in an unusual way.
It bypasses like and as
and claims that one
thing is another. The
purpose is to think about
something in a new and
unusual way.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Map
Stanza Six
Compose a 3 line stanza that
The crinkle of an
old road map that
features roads and
paths that no
longer exist
anymore.
features an example of
onomatopoeia.
Onomatopoeia describes how
something sounds using
words that also reflect how
the word is pronounced.
The purpose is to get
listeners and readers to
think about the words that
are emphasized through the
sounds.
13 Ways of Looking At…..A Wildfire
Stanza Seven
Compose a 3 line stanza
A wildfire can burn
on and on for
hundreds of years,
consuming itself
until in the end
nothing is left
except a cloud of
hot and airy ash.
that features an
example of hyperbole.
Hyperbole exaggerates
about the appearance,
quality, or state of
something in order to
draw the reader’s
attention to the object
or idea being
emphasized.
13 Ways of Looking At…..A Coffin
Stanza Eight
A rectangular
prism designed
for the
underground
storage of the
body’s
memories.
Compose a 3 line
stanza that features
an example of
understatement.
Understatement
takes and object or
an idea and makes it
seem less serious or
important than it
actually is.
13 Ways of Looking At…..A Starfish
Stanza Nine
Tossed upon the
shore
At the mercy of
the sea
To return again
Compose a 3 line stanza
that features an
example of haiku.
Haiku is based on the
syllables in each line of
the stanza. The first
line should have 5
syllables, the second
line 7 syllables, and the
final line, 5 syllables.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Depression
Stanza Ten
Depression
Sadness,
Hopelessness,
Exhaustion,
Melancholy
Sometimes the world
is just too much.
Compose a 3 line stanza that
features an example of a
synonym poem.
A synonym poem has three
lines. The first line is the
subject or the noun itself.
The second line lists three or
four synonyms for the noun.
The third line gives a
descriptive phrase of the
noun
13 Ways of Looking At…..Time
Stanza Eleven
Move, March,
Continue
Duration
Patiently
Remember
Then
Compose a five line formula poem
related to your noun.
If your noun is a physical object
you can use each line to represent
one of the five senses.
Use the template below:

Verb, verb, verb (sight)

Noun (sound)

Adverb showing how (touch)

Verb (taste)

Adverb showing where or when
(smell)
13 Ways of Looking At…..a Kite
Stanza Twelve
King of the wind
Incredibly soaring
among the clouds
To reach unseen
heights and vistas
Elevated into the
heavens
Compose an acrostic
poem using each
letter of your noun.
Write the letters
down vertically in a
column, and begin
each line of the
stanza with the
appropriate letter.
13 Ways of Looking At…..Truth
Stanza Thirteen
That which is in
accordance with fact or
reality.
Who’s reality?
Difficult and different
for every person in every
place at every time in
history.
Relative, intuitive, felt
Compose a
denotation/connotation
poem.
Begin with a dictionary
definition of your word,
and then end with a
connotative description
of its different tones.
13 Ways of Looking At A….

Now that you have finished your draft, you are going to transfer your
poem into a final copy that includes illustrations.

You may place the 13 stanzas or parts of your poem in any order that
you like.

Your poem must have a title that includes 13 Ways of Looking at A…
and you must have a line below that title that says “by Your Name.”

Your options for your final product are listed on the next slide.

Please feel free to be as creative as you like – but make sure your
poem follows one of the basic structures I have outlined on the next
slide.

Whichever option you choose, your final product must be neat, show
evidence or quality time invested, and demonstrate your creativity.
13 Ways of Looking At A….Final Product
Options

White sheet of paper with all 13 stanzas neatly copied and at least 5
illustrations or pictures surrounding the poem.

A poster board or large piece of newsprint that features a collage of
all 13 stanzas plus illustrations, drawings, or pictures cut from
magazines.

A digital college in which images and the text of all 13 stanzas are
placed and arranged on a single PowerPoint or Publisher slide and
emailed to me at [email protected] by the due date.

A 3D mobile in which all 13 stanzas are suspended with string from 2
wire hangers and each stanza includes a picture on the back side.

A miniature booklet in which each page features one stanza of the
poem plus a relevant illustration or picture. Power Point can be used
to create this if you want to do an electronic version.