Where I’m From By: Melody Wolen
Where I’m FromBy: Melody Wolen
Experience:
This poem is about me and “Where I’m From,” not necessarily in the literal geographical sense. It
also includes my memories and the people that have helped to make me who I am today. This poem is
based off an example we read in class, “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon. I went through, analyzed
the example poem, and used a similar layout to create my poem. As I developed my written piece using
the writing process, I chose to add more detail and voice than the example poem, which is what truly
makes it mine.
Prewriting:
Drafting:
(Draft 1)
(Draft 2)
Where I’m FromBy: Melody Wolen
I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From “hang this to dry” and “you know how to do this”
I am from carefully planted grass.(summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)I am from my popular tree I raised from a twig
And our one row of nurtured pine trees.From acres of sagebrush and cacti, endless heat.
I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“here’s a book you’ll like”
From Megan and Jim. I’m from the try-too-hards
And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”
And “Independent problem solving.”
I’m from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.I’m from long hot summers
And cool blue watersAnd millions of family dinners.
I’m from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.
From the arthritis that slows my Grampa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.
Broken promises, with rays of hope, brave women,And loving men.
In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,
And family found.Of the first guy to say “I love you”
Who actually meant it.Puppy from my childhood, now gone.
I am these moments and memories.I am the future.
Sharing:
Revising:
Editing:
Where I’mI am FromBy: Melody Wolen
I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From, “Hhang this to dry.” Aand, “Yyou can do this too.”
I am from carefully planted grass.(summersSummers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)
I am from my popular tree I raised from a twigAnd our one row of nurtured pine trees,
I hauled endless buckets of precious waterFrom acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.
I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“here’sHere’s a book you’ll like”
From Megan and Jim. I’mI am from the try-too-hards
And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”
And “Independent problem solving.”
I’mI am from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.
I’mI am from long hot summersAnd cool blue waters
And millions of family dinners.
I am from dog kisses and warm fur,From endless walks and chewed sticks.
Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.
Precious moments I won’twill not ever forget.
I’mI am from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.
From the arthritisarthritis, that slows my Grandpa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.
Country music,music and long drives with the windows down.
Broken promises, with rays of hope, brave women,And the men that love them.
In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,
And family found.Of the first guy to saysay, “I love you”
Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.
I am the future.
Publishing:Where I am From
By: Melody Wolen
I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From, “Hang this to dry.” And, “You can do this too.”
I am from carefully planted grass.(Summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)I am from my popular tree I raised from a twig
And our one row of nurtured pine trees, I hauled endless buckets of precious water.
From acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.
I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“Here’s a book you’ll like”
From Megan and Jim. I am from the try-too-hards
And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”
And “Independent problem solving.”
I am from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.I am from long hot summers
And cool blue watersAnd millions of family dinners.
I am from dog kisses and warm fur,From endless walks and chewed sticks.
Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.
Precious moments I will not ever forget.
I am from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.
From the arthritis, that slows my Grandpa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.
Country music and long drives with the windows down.
Broken promises, with rays of hope. Brave women,
And the men that love them.
In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,
And family found.Of the first guy to say, “I love you”
Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.
I am the future.
Assessing:Ideas:
I would score myself as a six for ideas. My poem is focused on, “Where I’m From,” and I
maintained this main focus throughout the entire piece. My goal with writing this poem was to allow the
reader to understand what it is that makes me who I am, based on my memories and my experiences. With
my poem, I believe I successfully, “took readers on a journey of understanding,” (Spandel, 13). Another
strong component of this trait that I utilized was that of imagery. I used vivid details throughout the poem
to reinforce my main idea:
“I am from my popular tree I raised from a twigAnd our one row of nurtured pine trees,
I hauled endless buckets of precious waterFrom acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.”
Vivid, significant descriptions such as this one are what made my poem stand out, and helped the reader
to mentally picture my writing.
Organization:
I gave myself a six for organization. Both my introduction and my conclusion were provocative
and satisfying. Especially my conclusion, I purposefully ended my poem with a strong message to keep
the reader hooked:
“I am these moments and memories.I am the future.”
By leaving readers with a gratifying conclusion, I hoped to make my poem one that readers would not
soon forget. My introduction is somewhat mysterious; I start the poem with an abstract description of
laundry. By doing this I introduce my readers into my life and where I am from without explicitly saying
what I am doing.
My goal with this poem was to create a structure that would guide readers through my life. I believe I
have succeeded at doing this. Overall, my poem has seven stanzas, there is no organized rhyming
structure, but I do not believe that detracts from my organization. Each stanza builds upon on the one
before, until finally the reader has a clear picture of where it is I am from and how it has influenced who I
am today.
Voice:
I feel, as though voice was my strongest trait in this poem, I would give myself a six. When I
shared my poem, I had very positive reactions from my readers. I tried to utilize different senses so that I
would pull the reader into the poem:
“(Summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)”
This poem truly mirrors my innermost thoughts and feelings. I tried to pick scenes and memories that
evoked strong emotions when I thought of them. My intention was to write with a passion that the reader
could feel, and I see myself as succeeding in that goal. I see this poem as being a piece of writing that
would make a good read aloud.
Word Choice:
For the trait of word choice, I scored myself as a five. I used repetition throughout the poem
purposefully, and I believe this was effective. I used natural language for the most part throughout this
piece, and while I believe that was successful, perhaps I could have used more unique wording and verbs
to really emphasize my point. If I had done this, I would have earned a six. I do think I did well with
using words to create a clear message and impression:
“Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.
Precious moments I will not ever forget.”
This vivid description of a comforting scene really forces the reader to picture the scene I am describing. I
believe I was close to earning a six for word choice, and am satisfied with my score of a five.
Sentence Fluency:
For sentence fluency, I gave myself a score of six. I found my poem to be easy to read, with
inflection that has voice. I included dialogue, which expressed my voice. Even though my poem does not
rhyme, it does have a rhythm to it. I provided variety in the structure and length of the lines:
“In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,
And family found.Of the first guy to say, “I love you”
Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.
I am the future.”
By alternating longer lines with shorter ones, I created rhythm and variety. My repetition of the phrase, “I
am,” is rhetorically effective and emphasizes the main point of this poem.
Conventions and Presentation:
For Conventions and Presentation, I scored myself as a five. My poem is virtually ready to
publish, with maybe a few touch-ups required. The advantage of poetry is that there is creative freedom
allowed when it comes to conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. I showed control over
numerous conventions, such as punctuation for dialogue:
“From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”And “Independent problem solving.”
The presentation of my poem is pleasing to the eye; I centered it on the page so that it would be
symmetrical looking. Untraditional conventions are a characterization of many poems; I do not think mine
is any different. For this reason I am not sure if this writing guide should apply to poetry, since there is no
technical standard for conventions of poetry. Conventions are a tricky trait however, it is very difficult to
receive a six, and so I am happy with my score of a five.
Reflection:
Through the completion of this assignment, I learned some new things about myself as a writer,
the writing process in general, and how this assignment and experience will influence my future writing
instruction. Typically, I do not tend to pre-write. I am someone who likes to jump write in and adjust my
writing as I go. Inserting the pre-writing step into the writing of this poem was actually helpful to me. My
pre-writing for this poem was when we discussed the poem in class, and analyzed it line by line. Doing
this allowed me to mentally plan how I could make those connections in my own poem. From there, I
went into my first hand-written draft. I do not hand-write things very often anymore, so this was a
reminder to me how useful this step can be. You can see things more clearly when you hand-write them,
which is something that I had forgotten. I usually do share my writing with someone else, so that step was
not necessarily new to me. Something that I do not usually do with my writing is separate the revising and
editing stage. This distinction is important to make. Revising is expanding and adding to your writing,
looking for sections you could improve on. Whereas editing, is when you should focus on things like
grammar and punctuation. I tend to mostly just edit, and leave out the revising step entirely. Revising is a
step in the writing process for a reason, this assignment made me realize I should revise more often.
It has been a long time since I had taken a piece of my writing through all of the steps of the
writing process. I had forgotten just how in-depth the process is. While I do not think it is necessary or
realistic to take all of my writing through this process, I most definitely understand its purpose. Assessing
your own work is a very important step in the writing process; it definitely helped me to learn about
myself as a writer. Especially about my strengths and weaknesses. For this poem, I think my strongest
trait was voice, and my weakest was probably word choice. This knowledge helps me to know what I can
improve on and what I should focus on for future assignments. Going through the entire writing process
really helps you to discover more about your writing and your skills, especially for someone like me who
does not often use these steps. Typically, I will just begin writing and then edit my writing when I am
finished. I can now see how it would sometimes be helpful to include the other steps of the writing
process in my own writing.
This assignment reminded me of the steps of the writing process, and how much they can improve
your writing. For this reason I will definitely use the writing process when I am teaching writing
instruction in my own classroom. I believe the writing process has its place in writing instruction and that
while it may not be necessary to take students through each step every time they complete a piece of
writing, it is useful to do so once in a while. Once a student completes their writing process their writing
should be ready to share. I like how this assignment had us include every step of the process and a draft of
our work at each point, that is something I would do with my students. A piece of writing should not just
be about publishing the final step; it should be about all of the effort and other steps it took to get there.
One step from this assignment that I intend to incorporate often into my classroom is the step of
assessing. By having students assess their own work you are assessing student voice. This is a great
teaching tool. You would not necessarily wants students to write our quite so much analyzing each trait,
but you could have them evaluate where they see themselves on the writing guide for each trait, and
justify their scores. This assessment tool would be easy to incorporate into nearly every writing
assignment or lesson, and would really help students see where they are at as writers. I know when I
assessed myself with the writing guide I learned a lot about my own writing. By assessing your own
writing you can see your strengths and weaknesses, which let’s you know which traits you should work
on, and which ones you have already met. All of this is great knowledge for students to have for
themselves. Students are also more likely to consider their weaknesses if they assess themselves and see it
on their own, then if you were to tell them what they needed to work on. Self-assessment helps to
reinforce student knowledge and learning and is an incredibly important teaching tool.
Overall, this assignment was a useful refresher for me on the steps of the writing process. By
watching my own writing improve with each step, I was able to see how useful the writing process can be
for students. Through the completion of this assignment, I have a concrete example of my own writing
that I can now show my future students. When I have a student who is confused about the difference
between revising and editing, I can show them my poem as an example. The steps to the writing process
can at times be confusing for students, by experiencing that for myself I will be better able to help my
students as they use the steps of writing.
Writing Guide (Traits 1-3)
Writing Guide (Traits 4-6)