![]() They also have been systematically taught by the streets and social institutions that their voice doesn't matter, much less their creativity. Although my students enter high school with a variety of reading levels, by the time they reach me many of them are disheartened and disempowered by knowing how far they are behind. The greatest difference in my view is their reading level. This difficult shift has made me think about what my students have in common with other students in the building. ![]() As one of two English teachers that were asked back, I am charged with bringing together four very different school cultures. This spring Chicago Public Schools announced the consolidation of the Bowen campus. For several years these schools functioned as four different high schools with completely different school names, foci, uniforms, and demeanor. Six years ago, in an effort to make smaller learning communities, Bowen was separated into four distinct high school settings. Experiencing a cultural shift from a Mexican community with a gradual influx of African-Americans has caused social, emotional, and economic tension. Primarily an area of the city that was dominated by the steel mills for decades, South Shore has drastically changed in the last 20 years. ![]() Situated on the South East side of Chicago, this South Shore campus provides public education as a neighborhood school. Bowen Campus celebrated its 100 year anniversary. That is entirely what this unit sets out to do - challenge conventional poetic form while taking it seriously before turning away from it. 2 Frost makes a good point, there is something to be said for those who adhere to the rules, but I would argue there is also something to be said about the deliberate choice to selectively challenge the convention. Like a highly skilled tennis player, Frost adhered to the conventions of traditional line and meter, proving his game on the international court by winning four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry in his lifetime. In the 1947 article "Those Who Make Poems," Chicago poet Carl Sandburg challenged the status quo of poetry: "recently a poet was quoted as saying he would as soon play tennis without a net as to write free verseā¦The poet without imagination or folly enough to play tennis by serving and returning the ball over an invisible net may see himself as highly disciplined." 1 The poet he referred to was Robert Frost, a serial practitioner of iambic pentameter.
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