The “poets” in this RLE are actually computer programmers. They created software programs that contained language-based rules based on what they had seen in poetry. The computer programs created new poems based on these language rules.

Robert Gaskin’s poem “HAIKU ARE LIKE TROLLIES”: 

Wandering in mist

Reaching out to soft sunlight 

Blue-scaled dragons pause.

Moon low over sea

Glimpse of discarded cocoon 

Small fish swimming idly. 

Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms, by Chris T. Funkhouser, The University of Alabama Press, 2007, pp. 58–59.

John Morris’s poem “Haiku—At Random”:

Frogling, listen, waters 

Insatiable, listen,

The still, scarecrow dusk. 

Listen: I dreamed, was slain. 

Up, battles! Echo these dusk 

Battles! Glittering . 

Fleas spring far, scarecrow,

Oh scarecrow, scarecrow: well, far, 

Scarecrow, oh scarecrow. 

“Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms.” Prehistoric Digital Poetry an Archaeology of Forms, by Chris T. Funkhouser, The University of Alabama Press, 2007, pp. 58–59.

May 2021 TOK essay Prescribed Title #5 is based on an investigation of whether AOKs are most useful on their own or in combination with each other. This RLE has the closest links to the arts, mathematics (used in programming) and to a lesser extent, the human sciences. Look at the role each AOK plays in isolation in this RLE and then have a look at how useful they are in pairs.