Health & Fitness
Excitement for AP Literature Poet Research Project gets Students Out of Bed Early.
Students line up early to choose their AP Lit poet for their research project.
A line of people nervously anticipating something brings many images to mind. Black Friday shopping? Waiting for concert tickets? Or maybe trying to get a look at a president giving a speech? The idea of waiting for hours usually doesn’t bring high school English to mind, but in the early morning of November 16th, the AP Literature students were the anxious waiters as they reserved their spots in line to choose their poets for the AP Literature poet research project.
The AP Literature poet research project has become a tradition that BHS students both dread and look forward to. On November 16th, the AP students chose their poets, some going to extreme measures to ensure they had their top choice to work on for this extensive research project, which culminates in a five to seven page research paper.
Every year, the competition for the most popular poets, like Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, ee Cummings, and others, gets tougher and tougher.
Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I got to the school at 6:30 AM and I only got my tenth choice poet, Philip Larkin. I was hoping to get ee cummings”, senior AP Lit student Jacqueline Savalle said.
Many other students experienced the same frustration, getting up early to come and wait for their poet, and being let down with a slim selection due to the early arrivers being allowed to pick first (doors were opened and sign up started at about 6:50).
Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I didn’t think people would get here so early, I expected to beat the crowd by getting here around 4:15, and I wanted to make sure I got Edgar Allan Poe” senior AP Lit student Alex McCormick said.
Some students however, took no chances when it came to getting the poet that they wanted.
“I had to work at MJR for the Twilight premiere, and I went home and tried to take a nap, but couldn’t so at 3:30 am, I just came up to the school. I had to try a few doors before I found an open one, and then just waited outside the English rooms. I wanted to do my project on Robert Frost, so I had to be early to the signup,” Senior Katie Lenninger said.
Most students did not get to school quite as early, but they still got a poet that they are excited to find out more about. Crazy traditions like the early poet sign up are what make a school unique, and it is great to see the students keeping the pattern going strong.
Written by: Andrea Bonomo
