National Poetry Day October 6, 2008
Posted by Law Upper in : P7 , trackbackThis coming Friday (10th) isn’t just the day we break up for our October Week (hooray!), it’s also National Poetry Day. To mark this, you are asked to read the following two poems and comment on which one you feel is most effective.
The subject of each poem is bullying/name-calling, something most of you will unfortunately have had experience of. Which of the two poems do you like best and why?
Remember to leave your first name and class and ensure your comment is of high quality. You are asked to complete this task by Friday.
Shame, by Tracey Blance
There’s a girl at school
we teased today;
made jokes, called her names.
My friends all laughed,
called it harmless fun,
said it was just a game.
Now I’m at home
feeling horrid inside,
long gone that thoughtless grin.
How will I face her
tomorrow at school?
I wish I hadn’t joined in.
It Hurts, by John Foster
It hurts when someone makes remarks
About the clothes I wear,
About the foods I refuse to eat
Or the way I cover my hair.
It hurts when someone laughs and jokes
About the way I speak.
‘Ignore them,’ says my Dad, but it’s hard
To turn the other cheek.
It hurts when someone calls me names
Because of the colour of my skin.
Everyone’s different outside
But we’re all the same within.
Comments»
I like It Hurts by John Foster the best because its telling you the story of what its like to be bullied.
I think that the first poem is really effective. I think it is effective because I like how it uses uncomplicated words that are easy to understand which make you actually feel what the person is feeling like. I also like the way it is written by the child who is the bully to put it from their point of view and to understand what they are feeling.
I like it hurts by John Foster because it it tells you all the ways you can be bullied.It tells you alot about being bullied.
I like It Hurts by John Foster because it tells you what hurts by being bullied.
I like the first poembecause it is very moving and i thought it really shows how not to treat people even if they are different to you.
:]
I liked both of them because the first explains what it feels like to bully and the second one explain what feels like to be bullied. I think they are both very effective because you can understand the words well and tell what the people are feeling.
I like ‘it hurts’ because the exact thing happened to me.
I dont like getting bullied and I know others dont either.’It hurts’ is really affective because we all are the same within.
I like the first one the best because the person that was bullying the other person was feeling really guilty and horrible because she bullied the person. The poem is trying to say you will feel horrible if you bully someone and never ever bully someone.
I liked the second better than the first because it’s easy to see the point it’s trying to say and it does hurt when someone bullies you because of your colour, language, because we all are the same within.
I like ‘It Hurts’ by John Foster because it tells you what you really feel like when you are bullied and it can make the bulliers feel bad because they might think that others can do it to them and they don’t want to feel bad like the victims.
i like the 1st one coz it’s showing how much guilt she has inside her and how bad she feels.
The first 1 is the best for me ’cause It explains that you should’nt bullie because it leaves effect on you and unless you apoligise it marks you foreveer just like a tatoo
I like the second one because it tells you what you should to if someone is bullying and also says that we are all diferent on the outside, but the same inside.
I like the first poem because it tells you how bad bullying is and it hurts not just your feelings[ if you don't apoligise] but it hurts other peoples feelings too.
i he 2nd poem because it really makes you fell sorry for the little girl because she was getiing left out and named called
I like Shame By John Foster because it tells you about how bad it is to bully and that in the end you will feel really bad inside.
i liked the 2nd poem because you feel really sorry for the little girl and you would’nt like eany one to do it to you.
I thought the 2nd poem was more effective because we all get told how awful the person being bullied must feel but when the bully realizes what they have done they feel extra- awful!
i liked the first 1 coz it showes what bulliying someone can mark you for ever if you dont sort it then and appoligise then you can get realy upset and that will carry with you for your whole life.
I like Shame because it shows how you shouldn’t bully someone as it makes the person your bullying very unhappy. It might also make you unhappy and make you wish you had never done it.
I enjoyed it hurts better because I think it flows better and it is a bit longer.
I like shame by Tracey Blance because it is effective and gives you an idea of how a bully might feel. It shows lots of different emotions and helps you understand about bullying.
I think the first poem ( Shame by Tracey Blance ) is the most effective because it shows you what it feels like to be a bully and how guilty you could feel if you do bully someone. the poem tells you how it feels to bully someone and that you shouldn’t do it because you could REALLY hurt a person’s feelings.
I think the first poem (Shame by Tracey Blance) is more effective because it shows you how a bully feels after they have bullied someone and that if you ever bully then that is what it feels like after!
I like the second poem because it rhymes more than the first oneand it talks about more kinds of the bullying.
I like ‘It Hurts’ by John Foster because it gets through to me more and makes me feel for people who get bullied. It also rhymes better and is more catchy.
I like the poem called “Shame” by Tracey Blance because it tells you how you would feel if you were being mean to someone. This makes you think before you do something like that because of the guilt you get after.
i like the second poem,It Hurts By John Foster because it is telling you all about the diffrences people have and also how it feels to be treated differently from other people. It has lots of sad ways of how bullying must feel.
I also think that Shame is very effective because of all the different emotions.
My favourite poem was ‘It Hurts’ by John Foster. (The second one).I liked it more because it tells you what people tease and ‘joke’ about to you. It says about clothes, the things you dislike to eat, your hair, the way that you speak, colour of skin (racism) and they call you names. The most important phrase in the poem, which everyone should know, is ‘Everyone is different on the outside but we are all the same within.’
i like the first poem the best because it descibes what will happen if you buily somoene.
I like the second one it hurts by john foster because it tells u what it feels like to get bullied.
My favourite poem was the second one because it has more feelings and it says how it is hard to turn away from it.
My favourite poem was It Hurts because it’s telling you that it does hurt when someone does that to you, tells you that bulling is bad and feelings do get hurt.
I liked the 2nd poem “It hurts” by John foster.I like it because it gets through to me and it talks about the peson which is getting bullied not the person which bullied them. I think the best bit of the poem is “Everyone is different on the outside but we are all the same within”.

I like Shame by Ben Foster it really makes you feel for the people that get Bullied.
i like the first 1 because it makes her feel bad about bullying
i like it hurts by john foster because it tells you all about how are getting bullied.
I prefer the first one because it say’s how it’s very hard to ignore bullying.
I tought ”it hurts” by john foster where most effective because it really gives you an idea whats it feels like to be bullied and it shows us not to bully because it does’nt only hurt them? It also hurts us
I like the second one better because it tells you different kinds of bullying and that were all the same on the inside.
I really like the second one because it shows how difficult it can be to forget the words people say. It also tells you how difficult it can be to settle in which shows you why you should nevr bully someone.
i really like the it hurts by john foster because its really moving and it really describes what happens when you bully someone and it doesnt just hurt them, it hurts us down inside
I find the 1st one Shame by John Foster the best because it makes you think about being a bully and being the victim it also make he/she feel guilty about them self and what they have done to the person she has bullyed in any shape or form
I find the first one It Hurts by John Foster the most effective because it explains you what it is like to be bullied and it does not feel nice. It shows that you can be bullied in any shape or form. Also we are all the same in the inside but everyone is different on the outside.
I like it Hurts by John Foster because it tells what it is lke to be bullied.
I liked the second one because it has more feeling’s in it.
My favourite poem is It Hurts by John Foster because it describes what it is like to be bullied and it is the most effective because it shows we can all be bullied in anyway.
my fave poem is it hurts because its really effective and describes how it feels to be buillied.
i like ‘It Hurts’ by John Foster because its really effective and describes how it feels to be buillied.
I like ‘It Hurts’ becuase it is more emotional and effective.
I think ‘it hurts’ by John Foster, is a better poem because it is someone telling you what he is bullied for.It also tells you what the bullie’s victem siad to defend himself.
i think it hurts was more effective then shame because it shows that its horrible to be bullied
i liked both of them they were very moving and were one of the best poems i have ever heard!
I liked the poem called shame because it flows better and it tells you that shouldent bully people and it is more effective.
I liked It Hurts by John Foster best because it tells you what it is like to get bullied and what it feels like when you are getting bullied. when you read this poem it feels like you are the girl or boy that is being bullied.
I think the first one better than the secend one because it talks about how bad it feels to bully someone.
I think it hurts is more of a poem than shame because it has more feeling’s and a longer poem
I liked the poem It Hurts by John Foster because it has feeling and explain’s what bullying is and that were all the same inside.
It hurts by John foster is the best one because it is watt it really feels like to be bullied and he shows the feelings of the person who is bullied
i like the 1st poem because:
*describes what will happen if you bully somebody
*makes you feel bad about bullying.
I liked the first one because it shows how you can get caught up in
a game that’s not actually funny for the other person.
I liked ‘It Hurts’ by John Foster because it has the most affective words in it.
I LIKE THE FIRST ONE BECAUSE IT SAYS IF YOU BULLY YOU WILL FEAL HORRIBLE
I like “It Hurts” by john foster the best because it describe how horrible it is to be bulied and shows that we’re all the same inside.
i like it hurts by john foster because it tells you what hurts about being bullied
I like it hurts by John Forster because it showes how people get hurt by bulling
I liked that poem but found it slightly depressing, but its still a very good poem.