4.

8 Mashed sentence poem: I am fond of

bananas
Level Intermediate to advanced
Time 20 minutes
Aims To experiment with syntax and to look at how word order changes
meaning.
Preparation
Prepare each of the words in the sentences below on large pieces of
card so you can move them around in different ways. Also prepare a
set of ve or six empty cards.
I

am

a + three blank cards

am

very

fond

of + three blank cards

Procedure
1 Show the cards with the words, by sticking them on the wall or the
blackboard. Ask your students to suggest words for the blank cards in
each sentence. Write two or three of their suggestions on the blank
cards.
2 Now explain that you are going to move the cards around. Move
them at random and ask your class:
Is the sentence still grammatically correct?
What does the sentence mean now?
Which possible changes can I make so the sentence still makes sense?
3 Ask your students to write down as many sentence changes as they
can in two minutes. They could also do this in teams of three or four.
4 After two minutes nd out which team has the greatest number of
possible correct sentences. You could make the following points:
Words move about in phrases or chunks rather than on their own.
For example:
the verb phrase (I am)
the adjectival phrase (very fond of)
the noun phrase (a poet)
Encourage your students to notice these chunks and to keep them
complete.
For example:
I poet very am of fond
is less interesting and meaningful than
Very fond of a poet I am
5 Now invite your students to write two sentences of their own. They
could use the sentence structure you have suggested or another
simple one of their own.

Sentence pattern poems 81

Resource Books for Teachers: Creative Poetry Writing
Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt

4.8

4.8

6 Invite them to transform the sentences in the same way, writing as

many as they can in ten minutes. Then invite groups to share their
poems. Here is an example from students in Bedford.
I have many struggles to learn English.
It is not so easy.
I have to learn English.
To learn English is not many struggles.
To learn English is not so easy.
Easy English is not.
Not English is to learn struggles.
I have many English struggles.
Variation
Ask your students to exchange nonsense poems with one another
and notice which parts make sense and which do not. With a more
advanced class, it may be possible to use this as an awareness-raising
task and elicit certain interesting rules, such as:

prepositions need to be next to or near a phrase

articles need to be next to or near a noun
verbs and pronouns need to be next to or near one another
noun phrases can grow and grow with new adjectives introduced
there is a limit to how big a verb phrase can grow.

Comments
The poem below is an example of the kind of experiment with syntax
which your students will try out for themselves during this activity. It
is important to present this activity as an experiment in nonsense
poetry. If you feel this concept will be simply too confusing for your
class, and they will not enjoy the humour and experimentation, wait
until they are more condent in the language. This is certainly an
activity for students who feel a certain mastery over the sentence!
I am a poet.
I am very fond of bananas.
I am bananas.
I am very fond of a poet.
I am a poet of bananas.
I am very fond.
A fond poet of I am, I am
Very bananas.
Fond of Am I bananas?
Am I? a very poet.
Bananas of a poet!
Am I fond? Am I very?
Poet bananas! I am.
I am fond of a very.
I am fond of very bananas.
Am I a poet?
Wendy Cope
82 Sentence pattern poems
Resource Books for Teachers: Creative Poetry Writing
Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt