Description
Crafting Poetry
Long before poetry was an English credit, it was the way humans tried to speak the unspeakable — awe, grief, love, longing for God. The Psalms still do it. So did David and Deborah, Solomon and Isaiah.
Crafting Poetry invites your high schooler to step into that ancient lineage and learn the craft at its source: the King James Bible, the literary masterpiece that has shaped Western verse for four hundred years.
This is a live, dynamic, year-long English class — taught in a small Zoom classroom by Mrs. Angela Ferrell, a real teacher, in real time, who knows your student’s name and reads their work with care.
Together, the class will trace the Bible’s cadence and imagery, study the masters who learned from it (Donne, Hopkins, Dickinson, Whitman, Frost), and master the mechanics of verse from the classical sonnet to modern free verse. By the end of the year, each student will have a polished portfolio of original poems — and the technical skill, theological depth, and creative voice to keep writing long after the class ends.
It’s a course built for the thoughtful student who loves language and prefers creativity to composition. It’s also rich preparation for college-prep English, creative writing programs, and any calling where words must carry weight. For homeschooling families who want their teen formed by Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — not just credentialed in them — this is Education with a Difference.
Cognia-accredited.
Course Details
- Grades 9–12 | 1 high school English credit
- Full year, live online | Wednesdays, 12:45 PM CST
- Teacher: Mrs. Angela Ferrell
- Required text: A King James Bible
English Poetry integrates technology at various levels.
Students use word processing software instead of pen and paper to draft and edit their essays. Students utilize online test-taking.
Students use online resources, such as videos and scholarly articles, to supplement paper textbooks.
Virtual collaboration allows for peer review and feedback processes that weren’t possible with traditional methods. Students use online resources to proofread and edit their writing for grammatical and mechanical errors. Students use gamified content to review for semester exams.
Students use digital tools to create projects, analyze their work for style, clarity, and coherence, and receive instant feedback to guide their revision process. They also develop and deliver multimedia presentations of their work, incorporating interactive elements that they will provide in live online presentations in the virtual classroom.
Crafting Poetry
Semester 1: The Architecture of the Word
Week 1: The Music of the KJV
Week 2: Concrete Imagery & The Five Senses
Week 3: Metaphor: The Bridge to the Divine
Week 4: Personification: Giving Life to the Abstract
Week 5: Synonymous Parallelism
Week 6: Antithetic & Synthetic Parallelism
Week 7: The Acrostic (Constraint-Based Verse)
Week 8: Chiasmus (Mirror Structure)
Week 9: The Sublime and the Whirlwind
Week 10: The Elegy (Poetry of Grief)
Week 11: The Ode (Poetry of Praise)
Week 12: The Epithalamium (The Love Song)
Week 13: Workshop & Revision
Week 14: Portfolio Assembly
Week 15: Semester 1 wrap-up
Semester 2: Narrative, Voice, and Tradition
Week 16: The Power of the Verb
Week 17: The Dramatic Monologue (Persona)
Week 18: The Distilled Narrative
Week 19: The Litany (The List Poem)
Week 20: The Parable as Poetry
Week 21: The Sacred Sonnet
Week 22: Hymnody and Common Meter
Week 23: The Prophetic Line (Free Verse Foundations)
Week 24: The Epic and the High Style
Week 25: Alliteration and Assonance
Week 26: Ekphrasis (Art and Scripture)
Week 27: Paradox and Mystery
Week 28: Performance and Orality
Week 29: Synthesis: Final Portfolio
Week 30: Showcase
Semester Grading
- Weekly Class Activity/Homework (40%): Engagement with the weekly form.
- Quizzes on Form (10%): Identifying Chiasmus, Sonnets, Meter, etc.
- Attendance & Participation (20%): Attendance, read-alouds, class group activities
- End-of-Semester Portfolio (30%): A polished, edited collection of original work.
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