Day 28 ~ “Hero Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

Day 28 ~ “Hero Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

Hero poems are found in every culture. There is no one right way to write a hero poem. 

Since today, April 28, 2020, is “National Superhero Day” I thought it would be fun to write poems about our heroes. In fact, most of you will probably end up with several poems if you have the time to write them.

Instead of giving specific directions for one particular style of poem, I’ll leave it up to you to use one (or several) of the poetry forms we have been practicing this month OR just back to the ol’ free verse variety in order to honor someone who is YOUR superhero. Think about what traits make this person a hero to you and then write about them.

In researching just the terms “hero poetry” I found some interesting things and you might want to do a similar search. These poems are often epic poems; narratives that cover quite a bit about a person and/or event (think in terms of “Paul Revere’s Ride”). Another word for these poems are “Courage Poems” ~ I think one of the poetic styles for writing a hero poem that intrigued me the most was the “African Praise Song.”

So, instead of giving directions, I’ll post several links that I think are interesting and they might give you some ideas of what you want to do when you write a poem about YOUR SUPERHERO!! Have fun.

Student example of a “hero/courage poem” ~

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/a-different-kind-of-hero-2

African Praise Songs:

http://www.angelfire.com/dc2/english043/Poetry.html

Americans Should Learn from African Praise Poetry

https://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/opinion-americans-should-learn-from-african-praise-poetry/article_ee3acd0a-470f-11e8-a7f8-93e180259526.html

Praise Poetry – http://msmcclure.com/?page_id=9329 (lesson plan on how to write one)

ENJOY!!

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.