Sullivan Poetry Reviews

I love having students work on seasonal activities here in the library. As I work in a high school, I have a group of students that I see regularly because they have off periods during the school day. To celebrate spring this April, I wanted to have the students interact with a springtime nature-based poem. One of my students recommended Emily Dickinson because she is a big fan of her work! I chose Emily Dickinson's 'The Bee' to create a mini lesson for my small group. My goal was to combine literacy with makerspace art so students could enjoy a seasonal poem in a low-stress, relaxing environment. Together, we identified the poem’s contrasting sensory details and translated those rich metaphors into visual concepts, culminating in personalized mixed-media collages they could take home. The lesson took about 20 minutes. In this mini-lesson, students analyzed Emily Dickinson's "The Bee" by moving beyond the basic insect imagery to explore Dickson’s metaphors of ...

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with 10th grader Lawnna M. this week. She created a video for the SteamPoweredPoetry Contest and selected the poem "Fashionable Fiona." I will add her video below. I hope you enjoy! 

Allan Wolf’s The Watch that Ends the Night is a YA historical fiction novel in verse that brings to life the chronology of the Titanic ’s maiden voyage and tragic sinking. This haunting novel takes place in April 1912 and is separated into nine parts, detailing the ship’s journey from its proud and optimistic departure to its devastating and disastrous aftermath. Wolf utilizes twenty-five distinct ‘voices’, ranging from the millionaire John Jacob Astor to overlooked figures like refugees, postmen, and bakers. Wolf even writes from the perspective of a ship rat and personifies the iceberg into an omnipotent antagonist. The book includes extensive back matter, including a section named "RMS Titanic Miscellany" filled with fascinating, fun facts such as the weight of the iceberg to the number of dogs on the ship. Wolf also includes a bibliography that offers a fascinating look at the primary and secondary sources used to research the novel. The tone of The Watch that Ends the N...