What Is a Point of View Poem?

What is a Point of View Poem?

See the examples below:

Point Of View by Shel Silverstein

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless
Christmas dinner's dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.
Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of a chicken or a duck.
Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
'Til I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view.

“Words like Freedom” by Langston Hughes

There are words like Freedom

Sweet and wonderful to say.

On my heartstrings freedom sings

All day every day.

There are words like Liberty

That almost make me cry.

If you had known what I know

You would know why.

“Still Here” by Langston Hughes

I been scared and battered.

My hopes the wind done scattered.

Snow has friz me, sun has baked me.

Looks like between ‘em

They done tried to make me

Stop laughin’ stop lovin’ stop livin’

But I don’t care!

I’m still here!

So what are point of view poems?

I like to call thesekinds of poems, “Point of View” poems. It requires the writer to imagine what the world would look like to a completely different sort of person than yourself. You do not have to rhyme in these types of poems. In fact, avoid rhyming—then you can pick the perfect word, instead of the word that rhymes.

So how do you create these types of poems?

Choose!We will use a snapshot to complete our point of view poems. First, pick out a picture from the teacher. Pick a picture that really connects to you. You also need to pick a picture with a topic that you know a lot about.

Focus! Take your picture back to your seat. Think about the time period that your person lived in. What was your person like? What is important to him/her? Remember, in order to write this poem, you need to see things from this person’s point of view. If there’s more than one person in the picture, you may want to pick just one person to focus your poem on.

Brainstorm! Once you’ve picked your person, list all of the information that you know about this person. Make sure to include sensory details about this person (hears feels, does, etc.).

Write! Now it’s time to take your ideas and transform them into a poem. You can either write this using first person, or third person point of view. Refer to your list for ideas. Remember, this is a free verse poem. It doesn’t have to rhyme. Your point of view poem should include a minimum of seven lines, but no more than fifteen. Have fun!

Brainstorm Your Ideas Here:
(Think about what you know about this period.) / Checklist:
(Things to remember for the final copy of this poem):
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Did I use first person point of view?
Did I keep the focus on just this one person?
Did I include good sensory details about what this person sees, hears, feel, and so on?
Do I at least have 10 to 15 lines to my poem?
Did I try my best to fix mistakes, like spelling?
Is my poem written neatly and is easy to read?

Pictures (Civil War Themed):

Name: ______Date: ______

Picture Perfect Point of View Poetry Rubric

Category / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Viewpoint: / The poem maintains a consistent point of view and focus throughout the poem. / The poem has mostly a consistent point of view and focus throughout the poem. / The poem shifts focus and has an inconsistent point of view. / The poem overall lacks focus and a clear point of view.
Content/
Development: / The poem includes excellent descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem includes good descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem includes some descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem overall lacks descriptive (sensory) detailsand/or details are not appropriate for the photo selected.
Length: / The poem has 10-15 lines. / The poem has 7-10 lines / The poem has at least 7 lines. / The poem has fewer than 7 lines.
Conventions: / The poem has very few capitalization, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. / This poem has some capitalization, grammar, and spelling mistakes. / This poem has many capitalization, grammar and spelling mistakes. / This poem has major capitalization, grammar and spelling mistakes.
Neatness: / The poem is written very neatly and is easy to read. / The poem is mostly written neatly and is easy to read. / The poem is somewhat sloppy. / The poem is very sloppy and hard to read.

Student’s Total: ______Student’s Score (Grade): ______

Comments: ______

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Name: ______Date: ______

Picture Perfect Point of View Poetry Rubric

Category / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Viewpoint: / The poem maintains a consistent point of view and focus throughout the poem. / The poem has mostly a consistent point of view and focus throughout the poem. / The poem shifts focus and has an inconsistent point of view. / The poem overall lacks focus and a clear point of view.
Content/
Development: / The poem includes excellent descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem includes good descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem includes some descriptive (sensory) details that are appropriate for the photo selected. / The poem overall lacks descriptive (sensory) details and/or details are not appropriate for the photo selected.
Length: / The poem has 10-15 lines. / The poem has 7-10 lines / The poem has at least 7 lines. / The poem has fewer than 7 lines.
Conventions: / The poem has very few capitalization, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. / This poem has some capitalization, grammar, and spelling mistakes. / This poem has many capitalization, grammar and spelling mistakes. / This poem has major capitalization, grammar and spelling mistakes.
Neatness: / The poem is written very neatly and is easy to read. / The poem is mostly written neatly and is easy to read. / The poem is somewhat sloppy. / The poem is very sloppy and hard to read.

Student’s Total: ______Student’s Score (Grade): ______

Comments: ______

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