Initial research

Metrophobia

http://phobias.about.com/od/phobiaslist/a/metrophobia.htm

Sample text: "Metrophobia, or the fear of poetry, is surprisingly common. Many people first develop this phobia in school, when overzealous teachers encourage them to rank poems according to artificial scales, break them down and search for esoteric meanings. Others simply feel that poetry is somehow “beyond” them, belonging only to the realm of the pretentious and highly educated."

OMG - who knew it had an actual name?? I would have guessed this was a fear of the D.C. Metro system, which - given the number of accidents recently - would be justified. There HAS to be a comic strip hidden in there somewhere. If only I had that ability.

The fear of poetry on the subway in the city: metrometrometrophobia. That was my husband's contribution to this little sidebar. =>

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First poems: classic nursery rhymes

http://poetry.about.com/od/nurseryrhymes/a/nurseryrhymes.htm

The oldest English nursery rhyme, according to this About.com page, is "Jack Sprat," which they date to 1639. Wikipedia confirms this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_sprat). Zowie.

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Poetry in Movies: Dead Poets Society, Shakespeare in Love, Poetic Justice, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bull Durham, Quiz Show, and more (see link below)

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19359

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Poetry reviews

• http://www.aprweb.org/
• http://poetry.about.com/od/periodicals/Poetry_Journals_Reviews.htm
• http://www.world-class-poetry.com/poetry-book-reviews.html
• http://www.cprw.com/
• http://www.poetry.org/
• http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/main.html

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Poetry publications

• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/index.html
• http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Poetry/Magazines/

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Types of poetry

• http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk
• http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/poetry_forms.php
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry#Forms

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Crot ideas:

• Write a deleted scene from one of the above movies, working in another poem
  
• Write a review of a poetry book
• Autobiography of a poet/obituary/eulogy of a poet (could base on recent articles re: Salinger in New Yorker)
• Advertisement for a poetry slam
• Student poetry on a "hot" topic
• Greeting card
• Song lyrics
• Children's book
• Shopping list (poetic shopping?)
• Interview with a dead poet
• Job application/poetry award application
• Letter exchange to/from famous poet
• Map of famous Irish poets burial places
• Menu (poetic menu? Maybe a poetic place has a theme pub)
• Newspaper article
• Quiz
• Recipe (how to "cook up" the perfect poet - the one who touches all)
• Travel poster (learn poetry while imbibing with the greats)

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NCTE ideas

• 2010 African-American Read-in: http://www.ncte.org/action/aari/packetinfo
• Downloaded LOADS of poetry-related articles! Yay!

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Repetend ideas

• Poems on a theme (new life, death, love, love lost)
• Obituaries for major poets
• Song lyrics
• Children's poems/nursery rhymes
• Poets writing about poetry phobia (such as: http://www.martinespada.net/advice.htm)

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Getting started

Start to brainstorm how crots might be interrelated: http://www.graphic.org/brainst.html