Post Presidential Inauguration Poetry Project

Jennifer D. Danclar

Directions:• Choose a slide that is particularly meaningful to you. • Create an original poem in response to the slide you

chose. (5-8 stanzas, stanzas must have at least 4 lines in each, lines must have at least 5 words or 10 syllables, and there must be at least 3 different poetic devices utilized and labeled throughout your poem.)

• Create an original piece of art (on plain white paper no white should be left on the paper it should show time and effort were spent)

• Write a brief paragraph interpreting the image or quote you chose. In it tell the reader about which image you chose by describing/citing it in some way.

• Due Friday, January 25, 2013 in class

POTUS Takes Oath of Office

• http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/inauguration-2013-president-obama-takes-oath-office-18273470

• The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. – George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April

30, 1789

• Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country's course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time -- not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy.--March 4, 1861 Lincoln’s Inaugural Address

• It is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law —- (applause) -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• There exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained. – George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

• We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths —- that all of us are created equal —- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• …we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice —- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and justice. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.--March 4, 1861 Lincoln’sFirst Inaugural Address

Battle Hymn of the Republic

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg8lQAslg-A

• We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully —- not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• There exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained. – George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

• Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully.--March 4, 1865 Lincoln’s Inaugural Address

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

The National Anthem

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGDH18R7GfA

• "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.“ JFK

• when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan...--March 4, 1865 Lincoln’s Inaugural Address

• "So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.“ JFK

Richard Blanco’s Inaugural Poem ‘One Today’

• http://ktla.com/2013/01/21/richard-blancos-inaugural-poem-one-today/#axzz2IfbtaYFK

• In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it JFK