Possible Creative Theme...

[MCH]

So this year, I kind of used very formal poems with a lot of deep, intense emotion... and normally my audience never really paid attention because I'm sure no normal high schooler enjoys listening to Walt Whitman and such for 8 minutes. So I've broken here and there, but I've never really done too well in the outrounds because, frankly, everyone else is soo much more entertaining than me.

I'm thinking about a program for next year, and I want to do something more lyrical and fresh, or contemporary, and I really enjoyed the poem "We Real Cool." I was thinking about using it as a teaser, because it ended nicely with "we die soon" and is relatively short. What kind of a program could I use it with though? I don't want to heavily analyze this poem because I think it's really difficult for my audience to interpret a deeper meaning in a matter of minutes. I was thinking about maybe doing a theme about "defiance" or how people in society perceive themselves as "cool" when they really aren't. Not sure. Any ideas? I really want to do something more entertaining... something in MODERN english.

*I just thought about a possible theme - the importance of our choices in life and their consequences.

[Melissa A. Ramirez]

What are the poems "We Real Cool" and "We die soon" about? Maybe I can help.

[MCH]

Well actually, it's just called "We Real Cool." It's last line is "we die soon."

Lines:
We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.


It's about kids leaving school, unaware of consequences, I guess.

[Melissa A. Ramirez]

That's a toughie.... It kind of reminds me of peer pressure. Maybe a Cause and Effect theme. The choices and consequences one is good. Maybe you could find poetry from an ex-gang banger or, an alcoholic or something like that. You can emphasize on the bad choices and their consequences, you could find a poem that starts of like bad and ends good. And other choices can be used too!

[iluvrascalflatts]

I like that poem... I first heard it in 8th grade...

[MCH]

I figured out my theme... something about childhood and how although children have a lot to learn, we have a lot to learn from them. But it's not going to be too cliche and I'm not going to focus on the more societally profound aspect of "We Real Cool."
I'm going to do....

"We Real Cool" as a teaser
[intro]
"The Wisdom of Scars" - by Big Poppa E
"The Wussy Boy Manifesto" - by Big Poppa E
"Falling in Like" - by Big Poppa E

I like these poems. But in my introduction... do I reference the teaser or no?

[iluvrascalflatts]

Yes, in your intro you always mention your teaser (at least author and title, but preferably a bit more); then mention your theme that connects all poems ("Today through this set of poems we are going to be exploring *fill in the blank*..."); then talk about your next poem.