Teaching Imposter Syndrome by Francis Luo

When I first read this poem, I wasn't sure whether to feel seen or attacked! A few things I know for certain: imposter syndrome is real, social media has made an indelible mark on our lives, and sometimes you just have to conduct the frog orchestra. This week, we take a look at The Echo: Teen Art & Lit Mag's latest poem Imposter Syndrome. We'll discuss the sound and silence of poetry and maybe we'll ask the big, scary question: how do we make sense of ourselves in the cacophony of the world?

Jump to Section:

1. Analysis of Poem
2. Paired Texts and Further Reading
3. Lesson Plan
4. Writing Prompts

I think a lot of great poems begin "As if out of a dream" even when they don't begin with that first line. Sure, some poems announce their presence, their arrival on stage with a line like an adhan from a minaret or the picket line leader with a bullhorn (here I'm thinking of Taylor Mali's What Teachers Make where he begins en media res with "He says the problem with teacher is..." or Langston Hughes's Theme for English B starting us off with the voice of the instructor). But so many other great poems begin as a whisper, a hint of a place and an invocation of an image that slides at the reader like a memory (here I'm thinking of Geraldine Connolly's The Summer I was Sixteen "The turquoise pool rose up to meet us" or the prologue-esque beginning to Phil Kaye's Repetition with "The bed was just floating there.")