“If you don’t know where you’re from, you’ll have a hard time saying where you’re going.” 

(Wendell Berry)

Where we come from – our roots and past experiences – help to shape who we are today, and help us to understand our place in the world. George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m From”, is an creative exercise in “exploring belonging”. 

Topic: Memories of home, family and culture
Structure: List poem
~Target: I can use ​literary devices such as ​sensory details (e.g., imagery, sound devices) and figurative language (e.g., metaphor, simile)​ to write an original poem that is memorable where my deep thinking is evident. A poem full of interesting, unique details that hold the readers attention. My poem shows​ great personal insight and, I tell the poem in a fresh way.~
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Why? “Writing Poems from our own experience allows​ us to bring to life the sounds, smells, and feelings of everyday things, opening up the possibility​ of turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.”
Please submit your pre-write activity and rough draft with a paper copy of your final poem for your portfolio. Pictures and flourishes are encouraged!
Process for writing your own “Where I Am From” Poem:
Step 1: Prewrite
Think about what makes you YOU. Answer the questions and fill out the prewrite activity.
Answer the questions attached to get some ideas down.  
Step 2: Poem Template 
Directions: Fill in the blanks of the poem template

Step 3: Rough Draft
Hand write a rough draft of your poem, copying from the template. Leave out the words in the parenthesis. Make sure to give it a title. “I Am From…” or “Where I’m From” is fine but creativity is encouraged.

Step 4: Edit and Revise
This means you are looking for places where you should be more specific, descriptive or could include a poetic device. Ask yourself: 

  1. Can your reader visualize what you are describing? 
  2. Have you used your five senses to provide description?
  3. Have you used poetic devices (metaphors, similes, alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification rhyme) to help create a sense of being there?
  4. Are there any punctuation and spelling mistakes? 

Step 5: Rewrite + Final Good Copy
Now that editing and revision is completed, rewrite your poem fixing all that was marked in the previous steps.
** You can type your poem for your good copy.​