Creating Poetry in AP Government

Using the words of the Declaration of Independence, AP Government students at Carmel High School created their own redacted poetry – a technique where select written text is shaded over or redacted, leaving behind only specific words that create a new poem.

The goal is to color in all areas and words of the document not being used in the poem. 

The CHS students were asked to pick a theme for their poem, relating to a topic they have discussed in class – government, theories of democracy, independence, equality, hopes for the future and more – and circle key words in pencil to create their poem. 

Once their poem was complete, the students added artwork to help make their poems come alive. 

“It is really interesting all the different ways that the students look at the Declaration of Independence and the images that they use for this assignment,” said teacher David Zupan.