During the Spring
2004 semester at
Valdosta State University,
students in B. N. Warren�s English 1102 classes were asked to
write poems derived from phrases found in Janice Daugharty�s
short story, �Dogs in a Pack.�
Found-phrase
poetry is a writing tool or device often utilized in the study
of narrative to give students an opportunity to engage with the
language of a text in new and exciting ways. The operative of
the composition is for the student to �find� phrases in the text
that appeal to them and, after so doing, arrange the phrases in
poetic form.
The most
interesting feature of the activity is that the new poem created
from the found phrases is often quite different in scope and
content from the story from which they were taken. The only
�original� part of the process is the title, which is determined
by the student.
