{"id":4216,"date":"2020-08-03T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T04:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sawpublishing.com\/?p=4216"},"modified":"2020-08-05T09:31:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T13:31:23","slug":"summer-poetry-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawpublishing.com\/summer-poetry-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Poetry Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AsDoesn\u2019t a summer poetry challenge sound like a good idea?<\/p>\n

It sounded like a good idea to me, somewhere back in January\u2014somewhere long, long ago, when the summer of 2020 was supposed to be just like any other ordinary summer.<\/p>\n

I tend to do my blog planning in big chunks. If I didn\u2019t, I\u2019d either be posting the same things over and over again\u2014or I wouldn\u2019t be posting at all! So somewhere, way back at the beginning of the year, I sat down and I charted out my nice orderly plan of what I figured my year was going to look like.<\/p>\n

My prospective year, all laid out prettily in a multi-column spreadsheet, was a year that didn\u2019t have<\/em> a lot of things. It was a year that didn\u2019t have epidemics. It was a year that didn\u2019t have masks. It was a year that didn\u2019t have cancelling, or postponing, or altering the way we live our ordinary lives. But oddly enough, through a sudden impulse as I was jotting down possible topics and titles\u2014it was a year that included the word CHALLENGE.<\/p>\n

\"AsThe 2020 Summer Poetry Challenge<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The truth of the matter is, when the first idea of a summer challenge popped into my head, I was kind of visualizing myself<\/em> as being the one who gave the challenge. You know, \u201cThis summer, I\u2019M challenging you to achieve . . .\u201d Something<\/em>. Something to do with poetry, presumably. After all, it was in the title.<\/p>\n

But as we stand here today, each one of us knows we have already had<\/em> our summer challenge. Some of us may be looking back, on a challenge already overcome. Some of us may be looking forward, into an unknown\u2014maybe a frightening\u2014challenge of the future.<\/p>\n

So rather than creating a new challenge for you today, I am simply offering the opportunity to turn the challenge you have already had into something beautiful and lasting\u2014something that can be a blessing to both yourself and others. I\u2019m asking you to take your challenge and to turn it into a poem.<\/p>\n

Capturing Your Challenge in a GOOD Poem<\/strong><\/h5>\n

First and foremost, whatever your personal challenge has looked like this summer, I\u2019m calling you to distill it into a poem that brings glory to God. There is obviously no patent process for doing that, but five checkpoints that we at SAW Publishing developed last fall<\/a>, and have found to be helpful benchmarks are:<\/p>\n

1) Does this poem preserve the reader\u2019s innocence regarding evil?<\/p>\n

2) Does this poem actively promote good?<\/p>\n

3) Is this poem spiritually challenging?<\/p>\n

4) Does this poem promote a healthy view of life?<\/p>\n

5) Does this poem honour God?<\/p>\n

Some of those criteria are going to present special difficulties of their own when you apply them to capturing a real-life challenge in poetry. I believe it is possible! I also believe your poem will be stronger and more powerful as a result.<\/p>\n

Capturing Your Challenge in a GREAT Poem<\/strong><\/h5>\n

As we have discussed so many times before, the impact of a spiritually GOOD poem is hugely multiplied when that poem is also GREAT from a literary perspective. Our five checkpoints for greatness are:<\/p>\n

1) Does this poem have accurate rhyme?<\/p>\n

2) Does this poem have accurate metre?<\/p>\n

3) Are the ideas and verses well balanced?<\/p>\n

4) Do the ideas contain elements of originality?<\/p>\n

5) Does the expression contain elements of originality?<\/p>\n

I recognize the fact that not all of these concepts are well-defined in a single sentence. For a more detailed look at the meaning behind each question see last fall\u2019s post: How to Grade Poetry Part Two.<\/a><\/p>\n

Our Summer Poetry Challenge 2020<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I am a person who loves order, and regularity, and predictability. My family always laughs at me for complaining, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t what I expected!\u201d And yet, undeniably, it\u2019s a phrase that does a good job of describing this summer. 2020 has been in many ways an unexpected year.<\/p>\n

But does that mean it is a year that can\u2019t leave us a legacy of blessing?<\/p>\n

If you have experienced the challenges of this unexpected summer\u2014then you have something to write about! And my summer poetry challenge is a call to you, personally, to do just that!<\/p>\n

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments in the section below.<\/p>\n

If you are interested in exploring the concept of good and great poetry a little further, see our previous post:<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

You might also enjoy:<\/p>\n

\"Wordsworth\u2019s<\/a>

Wordsworth\u2019s \u201cThe Longest Day\u201d is a poem to include in any high school curriculum. It is a masterpiece from the pen of one of the most celebrated of English writers\u2014and it is a poem that is good as well as great.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Did<\/a>

Did homeschooling as a concept develop in the late 20th Century? Or are modern homeschoolers part of a lengthy chain stretching back through past generations? This Timeless Tip from Educators of the Past offers a surprising suggestion.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Are<\/a>

Are you struggling to keep your kids busy at home? Here are 10 creative book projects that will keep them entertained\u2014without requiring you to read aloud!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Doesn\u2019t a summer poetry challenge sound like a good idea? It sounded like a good idea to me, somewhere back in January\u2014somewhere long, long ago, when the summer of 2020… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,13,63,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-poetry","category-the-homeschooling-room","category-the-poets-corner"],"yoast_head":"\nSummer Poetry Challenge - Sheep Among Wolves Publishing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you willing to take on SAW Publishing\u2019s summer poetry challenge? 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