Read samples of both formal poetry and free verse, then write an essay explaining why you enjoy one style more than the other. Give examples of poets from each field to back up the reasons for your preference.

Try writing a poem in the style of new formalism. Then write a brief summary of how you approached the work, explaining why it was either harder or easier than you thought it would be.

Playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee's 1955 drama Inherit the Wind is based on the Scopes Trial regarding teaching evolution in schools. Read the play and then read accounts of the actual trial. How do the two "histories" differ? How are they similar, and what aspects may haveLawrence and Lee included for dramatic effect?

SinceDarwin first suggested his theory of natural selection in the 1850s, much public debate and even...