That's a Wrap!

Finally the day of the show has come and gone! All of our hard work has paid off; we had an awesome turnout and were able to make a lasting connection with our audience using poetry.

The actors received a standing ovation, proving that the audience received our message loud and clear.

Here are all the poems performed in the show:

School: Hallway

9. ee Cummings

 

WHat Are Big Girls Made Of?
Dulce Et Decorum Est

 

School: Classroom

 

The Hand

 

A Book

 

I Am Waiting

 

 

School: Cafeteria

High School Life
Sestina: Like

 

Loving You Less Than Life, a Little Less

 

 

 

Home: Bedroom 

The Cord
It's Raining In Love
Hanging Fire

Mirror

 

School: Homecoming Dance 

Invictus
Football
To the Row of Tall Candles in the Store

Cinderella

Mad Girl's Love Song

Litany

 

School: Graduation/ End of Dance 

 

From When I Was Immortal

Where the Sidewalk Ends

The Road Not Taken

To A Young Poet

 

This entire process has been a real-life learning experience. Every student is now able to walk away from this project with skills applicable to life in the real world. We've managed to to do the coolest class poetry project out there! We can now look forward to using our new outlook on poetry and literature to help each of us excell in life. Wether we're having a Dulce et Decorum Est kind of day, or we're in a To a Row of Tall Candles sort of mood, we can remember that What Doesn't Resemble Me is More Beautiful. 

The Final Stretch...

Over spring break we were hard at work! We met everyday to construct the set and get the final loose ends tied up.  We decided to loosely base our show's plot off of a typical day in the life of a high schooler.  This allows us to use poetry to convey vast and complex emotions while still being relatable to the audience. For the set itself, we put our crafty sides to good use.

The set consists of several dual purpose elements to be used throughout the show in multiple scenes.  The teamwork and camaraderie evident among this group is astounding- its amazing what we can do when we all come together for a common cause! We've had a blast preparing the show so far and can't wait to get this show on the road.  

Full Steam Ahead!

Great news and updates!

In the past couple weeks we have been hard at working, making the masterpiece: "What Doesn't Resemble Me is More Beautiful". In a nutshell, we've selected all our poems for the show, cast the performers, and met our fundraising goals!

In the last post I described the anthology project that ultimately decided the poems for the show. We stayed after school the day it was due and went through every single poem submitted to determine which ones coincided with our vision and would effectively contribute to our mission.  After hours and hours of deliberation, and a dinner break courtesy of Mr. McCurry himself, we finally narrowed down 180 poems to a mere 24 to be translated to the stage. In addition to the selection of poems, we structured a loose plot line in which the poems will progressively tell a story. It was important to us that this performance not be simply recitation, but a performance that brings the poem to life.  

 

Last week, auditions were held for the casting of the performers. The brave souls wanting to be a part of this poetic revival were put through a series of cold readings of the selected poems to asses their skills. Thankfully, we have casted the entire show casted! Each poem has a performer to do it justice, and as the final weeks approach, will be rehearsing and collaborating with the rest of the class.

Lastly, we have met our kickstarter goal!!!! Good souls and patrons alike who believe in our show have helped us exceed our fundraising goals. With the kickstarter and the Valentines Day poetry fundraiser, we have made over $600. Everyone has been hard at work to make this happen and we are eagerly anticipating what is to come in the final weeks!

Ready, Set, Go!

In the past couple weeks we have been going full steam ahead on our show! We've begun the process of selecting the poems we will use in the show, as well as continuing to fund-raise, promote, and design.  Great things are happening, and we are thrilled to be producing what we believe will be an inspiring and innovative revival of poetry.

So far, we have selected one poem for our show.  We decided it was important to include at least one poem from a local author, so Mr. McCurry read several poems from local Kentucky authors and, as a class, we voted to decide which one made the cut. 

This is an important step for us and we are continuing to carefully select poems we believe will work best in the show to achieve our purpose.  An additional way we are carrying out this vital task is with an anthology assignment.  Mr. McCurry has assigned a 400-600 word anthology for eight poems we think would do our show justice.  When the project is due next week, we will pool together every student's eight selected poems and begin the process of choosing the rest of our show's poems to be performed.

We have been experimenting and discussing several themes and different routes we can go with this show.  The possibilities are limitless, and there's so much we can achieve with this performance.  Being involved with the community in itself is an important obligation we have as students, but uniting the public with literature and shedding light on a subject that most people shy away from, to prove that poetry ins't all old and boring, is even more important.

Start Your Engines...

Greetings Blog Viewers! 

This is where you will find updates and information regarding the upcoming poetry production "What Doesn't Resemble Me is More Beautiful" under the direction of Mr. Christopher McCurry.  Our AP Literature class has come together to design, produce, and execute a poetry exhibition which engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds to discover poetry on a new, exciting level.  Our goal is to use poetry to convey meaning and beauty to an audience and  make personal connections that go beyond poetry's "traditional" usage.  

To do this, we've organized ourselves into different committees responsible for all different aspects of production.  So far in our quest for poetic innovation, we've begun promoting our cause and spreading the word about or mission to collect the funds needed to make this feat possible.  Students worked together to create a Kick Starter video that has already proved great success.  

Additionally, with the help of our brilliant and enthusiastic teacher, we are discovering uses for poetry in new and inventive ways.  As an additional fundraiser, we were inspired by the spirit of Valentine's Day to sell love poems for a dollar to be written and delivered on Valentine's Day. It was an amazing experience to see students so excited about poetry- and we made 100% profit from our very own creativity! We came together after school one day last week to write all 80+ poems. Talk about team work! 

We look forward to continuing to discover new uses and connections with poetry and sharing our findings with the community!