‘Ode’ No You Didn’t! Poetry With a Punch: Take the 'Oh No' Out of Writing an Ode

Keats, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge; all great masters, among others, of the Ode. They praised nightingales, duty, the West Wind, a true love…

What would they immortalise in an ode if they lived today? 

Their favourite pizza topping? (You decide if pineapple is ode-worthy or not!)
The joy of finding their lost sock?
A nice cold drink of Coke/ Pepsi (other soft drinks are available for ode writing purposes!)

Odes are an important part of understanding poetry but they can sometimes be so, well, serious. 
In this one time class, we’ll take a look at what an ode actually is, where it came from, and learn the features of this type of poem before writing our own- but with considerably more humour than most of the great figures of literature thought to inject into their work. 

On a more serious note…
Studying older forms of poetry can be intimidating and somewhat confusing. By taking the pressure off and using fun and humour in our class, students will begin to explore the structure of an ode and start to gain an appreciation of how the more famous odes were written. I will also write an ode along with the class, on a subject that is chosen for me by the students. (I may regret that decision)

We’ll take a step-by-step approach in constructing our odes and finally share them at the end of the class (with appropriate solemnity and passion, of course!). 

If a student is not comfortable with reading out their ode, they can type it into the chat feature (and/ or request that I read it out if they like), or, if they prefer, upload it to the classroom afterwards, send it to me privately or keep it to themselves if they’d rather. There is no pressure.