This is where you can post your questions about the Back to School Challenge! It's also the place to leave your reviews for poetry entries!

To post your poetry entries click here.

I have two questions:
Does it have to be Harry Potter related?
and
Does the poem have to rhyme?

Hello! To answers your questions - your poem does have to be Harry Potter related but you can choose to write about any characters and time period you wish (e.g. Marauders, Harry & Co, DD's or even Nicolas Flamel's schooldays). The poem can be of any form and does not have to rhyme.

Hee, yeah, doesn't have to rhyme so long as it's an HP school related dramatic monologue. (Just clarifying in case anyone was confused by Moon's reply regarding form.)

Yay, an entry!

wealldie_inTheEnd, I really loved your poems! Even though they're both really good, I think I like the first one a little bit better. These lines,

Quote::

But some of you are pranksters Yes, Mr. Potter, you And as for that cauldron hovering above my head – Mr. Black, that’ll do

made me laugh out loud! Also, the idea of writing about the anual 'Beginning of the Year' speech is very clever.

Your second poem, "A Slight Disparity of Opinion", is short and sweet. You wrote the poem so beautifully that I can actually feel Sirius's excitement and Remus's hesitation. Great job! And welcome to Immeritus!




(By the way, I love 'V for Vendetta'!)

Thanks to Marauderess5 for the nice comment (thats my fav part to!) and I'm glad to find another V fan!


apathy - That was an extremely moving poem, I could feel the sorrow inflicted upon Harry in making this desicion and it makes me sad to think what the book will be like without Hogwarts, if he indeed is not going back. But i could also feel how even though hogwarts is so dear to him he knows what he must do and you expressed it wonderfully.

Thanks wealldie_inTheEnd!

I really liked your first poem I too loved the part Marauderess5 quoted. It seems realistic that they would have already started causing some trouble and such I really like your take on the beginning of the year speech (it wasn’t boring which is strange for a beginning of the school year speech :P). I also really liked your second poem; it really shows the contrast between the two friends and there feelings about the full moon. I really liked the way you portrayed Lupin’s hesitation.

P.S. I love V for Vendetta too

Wow, I love the entries so far! I'll still do a proper review, I just wanted to ask a quick question: can it be AU? For example, soomething about Harry's seventh year, as if nothing had happened and he went back to school.

Thanksy,
~Glam

That sounds school related to me, so, yes.

Heehee great entries!

Story time: When I first started thinking of ideas for a 'comedic or angsty dramatic monologue about school, I immediately thought of this hilarious poem we read in like, first grade. I still love it and know it by heart...So I thought I'd share it with everyone:

Homework! Oh Homework! by Jack Prelutsky (rated G)

*warmsquishyness* Awww, I love that poem! It brings back such great memories about the good ol' days...When our teachers would actually let us sing about how much homework stinks...

Anyway. On to reviews!

apathy, your poem was so moving! I felt a pang of sadness in my heart each time I read a line that started with 'No more...'. It really made me come to terms with the possiblity that there might not be anymore of those amazing shool experiences that make the HP books so memorable. Note how I said 'might not'...There's still hope!

Glam, Hahahaha! What a fantastic idea! Hermione gets precious little poetry written about her, so I'm really glad you decided to have her narrate. Your whole poem had me in fits of giggles! I love how Hermione's tone of voice (er...tone of thought? lol) is honestly frank. Or frankly honest? Okay, I'm just starting to confuzzle myself. At any rate, the last line sums it up nicely--

"Because what’s so terrible, really,
about being smart?"

You go girl!

Finally, I can do proper reviews!

wealldie_inTheEnd: what a nice and funny 'annual' speech! It's not boring at all. I especially like these lines, they had me laughing:

[quote]
Yes, Mr. Potter, you
And as for that cauldron hovering above my head –
Mr. Black, that’ll do
[quote]

As for your second one: it's a very realistic picture of how differently Remus and Sirius saw the monthly transfigurations. The way Sirius brushes aside Remus' concerns is very fitting. The only thing I'd maybe change (but that could be just me ) is the direct speech you use, in quotation marks. It becomes more of a monologue if you include it into the sentence directly.


apathy: I like the rhythm of this poem very much. It's seems to me that it just gets faster and faster when you read on, which suits the subject as you talk of the positive memories first. In the second part, I love the repeats of "no more" and "just", which gives it a bit of a song-like character. Great job!

Mara: Well, the title already made me laugh, and the monologue was even better. Don't we all love James when he talks like this? I liked this part best:

Quote::

She waved a farewell! Well who can resist My charm and sweet smell, My fab Quidditch skills My dark hair, as well.

The rhyme scheme is clever, too: so many words ending on "-ell"...

And thank you for your review! Hermione was the first thing that came into my mind when I thought about the challenge, so... or maybe it's because I resemble her a lot...

~Glam

Marauderess5 I love the poem, I actually tried to quote my favorite part but that was basically the whole poem, don't ya' love james for being like that? The hair gel hell thing was fabulous!
Englaroma Your right about the quotation marks! I guess I'm just not used to writing without them

Thanks for the reviews Marauderess5 and Englaroma.

Englaroma, I really enjoyed your poem Reflections of a Know-It-All especially since it's from Hermione's point of view, and there's not usually much of that. I too really like the last two lines of the poem, and I can relate to Hermione needing to work hard when she knows she can slack. Great Poem!!

Marauderess5, first of all I never did realize how many words end in 'el' or 'ell' it amazes me that you could find that many to rhyme in your poem and not make it sound forced. I did notice the five-syllable lines too it really helped with the flow of the poem a lot.

Quote::

Yes, my hair’s natural-- HEY WAIT, THAT’S MY GEL! Come back here now or I’ll hex you to hell!

I love that part just because it's so James with a huge ego. Good Job!!

Wow excellent work so far in the poetry contest thread!

Weall die- loved the opening speech one! It's always interesting to see people's takes. And of course the part that Mara quoted was my fave, and soooo what I can see him saying lol

Apathy-Since yours came first, I was really quite excited to read a poem that deals with the start of school, but in an opposite way (i.e. Harry not being able to go to school). It had a very somber quality to it which I thought fit the poem perfectly!

Mara- OMG that was hilarious!!! I laughed especially at the Sirius taking a bit of the gel. It's funny because I always have to remind myself that James was more like SIrius (arrogance wise) than Harry. I think you captured him perfectly!!!

Glam: I loved your Hermione poem!! And what's more I love that you didn't even tell us that it was her (blatantly I mean) lol. You captured her tone perfectly!! Well done!!

Boe: Your mood was sooo amazing. Again I loved how you captured the school poem from a different angle (meaning Harry reflecting on not going back). I could feel the sorrow and saddness.
"Fight you say.
Lay down your quill and raise your wand!
Stand true to the memories.
But memories are all that I grasp.
Would you have me live forever in a pensieve?"
This was probably one of the most moving stanzas for me...especially the last line, since how often do we in RL do this. Wonderful emotion, and excellent job!!

Ok, I wrote my little poem, so I can finally read all of the other entries!
First of all, I'm uber impressed with everyone! Wow! I loved reading each and every one of them!

Wealldie: I see Prof Flitwick saying this, standing up on his stool, squeaking a bit My favourite part is

Quote::

Class is beginning sirs Hope you’ll stay conscious this time around

That made me giggle, thinking of all the times I've almost fallen asleep during lectures! It's wonderfully light and amusing, and a great idea.
One thing though, I found it rhymed abcb for the first half, but then I lost the rhyme... It's probably because of my accent though!

The second poem is very good as well, though I do prefer the first one You've portrayed the difference between Sirius and Remus' views in a very cute way.

Well done!!

Apathy: Aw, this is sad! It also reminds me of that last day of school, when it’s like ‘Woot! We’re free!’ but then it hits that everything is going to change. I like the blank verse as it adds to the sense of change, and the repetition of ‘no more’ is very effective too.

Fantastic work!

Glam: Woot Woot! I love it! It’s fun when you can relate to a poem so easily You captured Hermione perfectly, and to the point. I really enjoyed reading this, and I’m impressed by all this blank verse! For me, it’s one of the hardest forms of poetry, so it’s awesome to see!

Funny, and wonderfully written!

Mara: First of all, snaps on the 5 syllable lines! I know how it can be writing those, so well done Be proud! Second of all, this poem really had me giggling! It’s just the first day, and already it’s action packed. You’ve captured an egotistical James wonderfully – no wonder Lily thought he was big headed! It’s nice and upbeat and bouncy too, which I love in a poem.

Fabbitylicious as always!

Boe: Wow, this is just…glorious. Again, the blank verse is just so beautifully used, and I also like how your stanza style changes slightly as the poem progresses. Every line is wonderfully thought out, poised to emotionally move the reader. I really can’t choose one part that I love the best, because everything just fits. It’s lovely and melancholy, yet the hope that is love and friendship is still there. I’ve never read one of your poems before, but wow, I’m totally impressed!

Deeply moving poetry – well done!