Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC) – Poetry and Performance

Apr 2026 · 2nd Semester

Beginning with the genre of the love poem, students learn to read and understand poetry really well through the art of performing it. The first assignment is the love poem monologue, followed by a two-person scene based on a longer poem or series of poems. Finally, as a last assignment, students work in groups of four or five to bring a poetic sequence or short book poetry to life as a staged play. They collaborate on script modifications, direction, staging, and costumes. Before each performance students submit a short written rationale explaining their artistic choices and which lines from the poetry inspired those choices; after each unit they also submit a process writing, reflecting on the performance itself. The poetry selections favor American literary modernism but may also include examples from Renaissance and Victorian England, as well as contemporary poetry from across the Americas.