Teaching Notes for Blue Lipstick

The following are some ideas for teaching Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits.

Grandits, John.  Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems.  New York:  Clarion       Books, 2007.

Author Information

·         Book and magazine designer who lives in New Jersey

·         This is his second book of concrete poetry; his first, Technically, it’s Not My Fault, was an ALA Notable Book

·         Identifies as a concrete poet and children’s author

Summary of Plot and Characters

            Grandits’s first book, Technically, it’s Not My Fault, follows a boy named Robert as he shares his life and complaints about his sister, Jessie.  Blue Lipstick is his Jessie’s side of the story.  Jessie expresses her high school life through concrete poetry (words that make pictures and patterns).  She plays volleyball and cello and occasionally fights with her parents and younger brother…not to mention her English teacher.  As she writes her poems, she begins tearing down walls she’s put up, or at least letting more people over to the other side, “I mean, a girl’s got to have some standards.”  She learns that even the popular, pretty cheerleaders like Andrea are regular people—most of them, anyway.  And even though blue lipstick isn’t her color, she’s going to wear it regardless.

Historical Placement/Relevance

            Blue Lipstick encapsulates the experience of adolescents in the early 21^st century.  Their joys, heartaches, and school & family dramas all make an appearance in this short but poignant book of poetry.  Students would enjoy this text because it obviously relevant to their lives now—something they often search for in their readings.  This would fit in perfectly with a poetry unit and appeal to those students who are artistic.  In our school, the art department does blackout poetry, so I could see them collaborating with the English department to do concrete poetry as well.  Or, since these poems could also be created using technology and different types of software, the computer programming classes could get involved.  The options for cross-curricular instruction with this book go beyond the norm of English/History or English/Science.

 

Annotated Bibliography

“A Brief Guide to Concrete Poetry.” Poets.org. 2004.

            http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-concrete-poetry

            This website gives a brief explanation of concrete poetry and puts it in a historical context as well.  I would use this in my introduction to the concept.  Furthermore, this site cites e.e. cummings and Dylan Thomas as two of the first poets to use concrete poetry, and these are two poets we already study.

“Five Reasons Why We Need Poetry in Schools.” Edutopia.  8 April 2013. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-reasons-poetry-needed-schools-elena-aguilar

            Sure, this is a blog post, but it’s one by a leadership coach who makes a great claim for why we should teach poetry in schools.   Since buy-in is so important for students, and they often ask “why are we doing this?!” sharing these reasons could be helpful.  I especially like number 3: “Poetry opens venues for speaking and listening, much neglected domains of a robust English Language Arts curriculum. Think spoken word and poetry slams… Shared in this way, poetry brings audience, authentic audience, which motivates reluctant writers (or most writers, for that matter)” and number 4: “Poetry has space for English Language Learners. Because poems defy rules, poetry can be made accessible for ELLs -- poems can be easily scaffolded and students can find ways of expressing their voices while being limited in their vocabulary. Furthermore, poetry is universal…”

Furnham, Adrian. “Writing as Therapy.” Psychology Today.  29 August 2013.

            https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sideways-view/201308/writing-therapy

            Dr. Furnham explains the value of psychotherapy, or “the talking cure” and how this translates into processing through “the writing cure.”  He specifically notes poetry, writing that “Poets have encapsulated great pain and pleasure as well as awe and awefulness [sic] in sparse beautifully crafted words.” He explains the psychology behind it, noting that “Writing is also often redemptive. And it helps because nearly always it involves some commitment to change.” I would have students read this to help them understand the psychology behind therapeutic writing and also to include some non-fiction into this unit.

“Visual Poetry App for iPhone & iPad.” Image Chef.  2015.

            http://www.imagechef.com/ic/visual-poetry-iphone.jsp

Since our school has iPads, this app would be the perfect way to integrate technology into our poems.  Students could choose between drawing out their concrete poems by hand or using this app to do it digitally.  This may be one way to include the computer programming classes.

Other Topics I Plan to Explore Further:

·         Writing as therapy

·         Best young adult poetry books

·         Making concrete poems digitally

·         Sites that show examples of concrete poems—many links are broken on the main sites for this