Introduction to Poetry. Rhyme Scheme and Stanzas

Transcription

1 Introduction to Poetry Rhyme Scheme and Stanzas

2 Introduction to Poetry By Billy Collins I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem s room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to water ski across the surface of a poem waving at the author s name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

3 How to Eat A Poem Eve Merriam Don t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth. For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away.

4 *A poem consist of rhyme scheme. Rhyme scheme is the way each line of a poem ends and rhymes with other lines. *You identify each new line with a letter of the alphabet *Rhyme scheme always begins with A. If the next line rhymes with the first then it would be A too. If it does not then it would be B and so on. *Rhyme scheme starts over with each new stanza. Roses are red-- A Violets are blue--b Daisies are pretty--c and so are you.--b Lines 1,2,3 do not rhyme so they are ABC. Line 4 rhymes with 2 so it will also be a B.

5 What is a stanza? A stanza is a group of lines in a poem. They are separated by spaces. A stanza can have as many lines as needed. A stanza of four lines is called a quatrain. A stanza of three lines is called a triple. A stanza of two lines is called a couplet.

6 Rhyme Scheme and Stanzas Yankee Doodle Dandy Like to eat candy I saw him in the store Trying to buy more. Could I please borrow a pencil I do not have one of my own I tried to order one over the telephone. I have a little boy He loves to play with his toy I can't get him to eat because he is always on his feet How many stanzas are in the poem to the left?

7 What To Remember in School by Kenn Nesbitt Forget that two times four is eight. Forget the name of every state. Forget the answers on the test. Forget which way is east or west. A A B B Forget the myths of ancient Rome. A Forget to bring your books from home. Forget the words you learned to spell. Forget to hear the recess bell. B A B Forget your homeroom teacher's name. A Forget the after-school game. A Forget which team's supposed to win. B Forget to turn your homework in. B Forget the distance to the moon. A Forget how many days in June. A Forget the capital of France. B But don't forget to wear your pants! B

8 Throne Room by Bruce Lansky My mother always nags me. My father always yells. My brother always teases. My sister really smells. My family's so obnoxious. They won't leave me alone unless the bathroom door is locked, and I am on my throne. How many stanzas? What is the Rhyme Scheme?

9 I Ain't Been to School by Robert Pottle I ain't been to school, not never before. That's all changin' now as I walk through the door. I drool on my worksheet then chew on a book. I eat off the floor and growl at the cook. I drink from the toilet. I spill all the glue. I lick my new teacher and leak on her shoe. How many Stanzas? The principal says that I broke every rule. I just learnt the reason dogs can't go to school.

10 Get Out of Bed! by Diane Z. Shore How many stanzas are in this poem? What is the rhyme scheme? "Get out of bed, you silly fool! Get up right now, it's time for school. If you don't dress without a fuss, I'll throw you naked on the bus!" "Oh, Mom, don't make me go today. I'm feeling worse than yesterday. You don't know what I'm going through. I've got a strange, rare case of flu. "My body aches, my throat is sore. I'm sure I'm knocking on death's door. You can't send me to schoolachoo! Cause everyone could get it, too. "Besides, the kids despise me there. They always tease and always stare. And all the teachers know my name. When something's wrong, it's me they blame." "You faked a headache yesterday. Don't pull that stuff on me today. Stop acting like a silly fool The principal cannot skip school!"

11 Creepy Pizza by Neal Levin I'd like a pizza topped with cheese then sprinkled with some gnats and fleas, some centipedes and slimy slugs, and other creepy, crawly bugs. I want to add some fingernails and oyster ooze and crunchy snails and chicken bones and spoiled meat and smelly socks from dirty feet. What is different about this poem?

12 I've Been Sitting in Detention by Bruce Lansky I've been sitting in detention since the end of school. I've been sitting in detention just because I broke a rule. Throwing meatballs in the lunchroom wasn't wise, I fear. I was aiming at the trash can, not my teacher's rear. Now it s your turn! 1. How many stanzas are in the poem? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 True or False The rhyme scheme is the same throughout the poem? What is the rhyme scheme of the second stanza? a. aabb b. abac c. abcb d.abcd

13 Where the Sidewalk Ends from the book Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974) There is a place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins, and there the grass grows soft and white, and there the sun burns crimson bright, and there the moon-bird rests from his flight to cool in the peppermint wind. 1. How many stanzas are in this poem? 2. Are there any couplets? 3. What is the rhyme scheme of this entire poem? 4. What is the rhyme scheme of only the quatrain? Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends. Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow and watch where the chalk-white arrows go to the place where the sidewalk ends. Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, for the children, they mark, and the children, they know, the place where the sidewalk ends.