Margin Notes

What I Was Reading:

My co-operating teacher recommended I read this poem from The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace when she was using it with her creative writing class for students to read and imitate with any topic relevant to them. I like this poem because it’s a poem about facing the world and learning to stand on your own two feet. I think this poem is a great fit for high school students because of the message it sends (it refutes the fairytale idea of the prince saving the day when what we need to understand is that we can save ourselves) and because of the writing moves it shows writers.

Warning I:

this is not a
Fairy tale.

there is no
princess.

there is no
damsel.

there is no
queen.

there is no
tower.

there are no
dragons.

there is simply
a girl

faced with the
difficult task

of learning to
believe in

herself.

What Moves I Notice the Writer Making:

• Using parallel structure to create the idea of what this poem is not about.
• Using periods as an emphasis as to what this poem is not about.
• The author titles this poem Warning I to alert the reader that this poem will connect with other poems in the collection.
• The author has organized the short stanzas in order to emphasize each point.
• The writer organizes her writing in a way that invites students to emulate the writing.

Possibilities for Writers:

• Writers can brainstorm events in their own lives that have not had a “fairytale” ending and choose one in order to write their own “Warning” poem.
• Writers can follow the organization of the poem to allow for emphasis on each point they make leading up to the final point.
• Writers can play with punctuation to create the emphasis they want and impact the message sent to the reader.

My name is Katie Morgan and I am a pre-service teacher at UNB. I am from Newfoundland and am currently obsessing over Instagram poetry!