Unit Ties oetry A Study Guide Written By Dr. Alice Sheff Edited by Joyce Freidland and Rikki Kessler LEARNING LINKS P.O. Box 326 Cranbury, NJ 08512
TABLE OF CONTENTS Glossary of Poetic Terms............................................3 A Beginning......................................................4 Terse Verse.......................................................5 Catalog Verse.....................................................6 Name Poem......................................................7 Let s Alliterate....................................................8 Assonance.......................................................9 Shiny as a Simile.................................................10 Poets Use Metaphor..............................................11 Personification...................................................12 Using the Senses.................................................13 Shape Poems....................................................14 Lanterns of Poetry................................................15 Bright as a Diamante.............................................16 Five is for Cinquain...............................................17 Limericks are Fun................................................18 Clerihew to You..................................................19 Haiku..........................................................20 Model Poetry....................................................21 Follow-up in Poetry...............................................23 Additional Books of Poetry.........................................24 LEARNING LINKS INC. 2
GLOSSARY OF POETIC TERMS Alliteration Couplet Iambs Iambic pentameter Metaphor Meter or rhythm Personification Quatrain Rhyme Simile Sonnet Stanza Trochee Verse juxtaposition of two or more words that begin with the same sound or group of sounds two lines of verse which form a unit through rhyme or rhythm feet of poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. For example: / Whose woods these are I think I know... / / / line consisting of five iambs. For example: / / If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. / / / implied, rather than a stated comparison, which compares two seemingly unlike objects. For example: Stars are candles in the sky. arrangement of words in a pattern so that there is a beat that can be identified figure of speech in which an author grants human qualities to non-human objects, animals, or ideas. For example: The wind sang a mournful song. four-line stanza, often rhymed word that agrees with another in the ending sound. For example: book/took comparison of two unlike objects which uses the words like or as. For example: The stars shine like candles in the sky. 14-line poem that expresses a single complete thought; usually in iambic pentameter group of lines, usually four or more, arranged in a fixed meter or rhyme feet of poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. For example: / / / / Order is a lovely thing... entire poem or one part of a poem that forms a unit LEARNING LINKS INC. 3
TERSE VERSE When just two words form a poem, it is called a Terse Verse. Here are some examples: Go Hot Snack Funny Slow Shot Pack Money Tame Bike Fake Flame Hike Snake Here are some word endings to help you rhyme: ing ow an ook ime ace eat ack ide ill ite it oon and ame et ell ape Create two of your own Terse Verses and illustrate them in the boxes below. LEARNING LINKS INC. 5
NAME POEM You can write a poem about yourself or a friend by using each letter in a name to begin a line. For example: Anne is the Neatest, smartest, wittiest Naughtiest, silliest, loyalest. Exactly what a best friend should be.............................................. Greg is always Reasonable, rational, and reserved Except when he Goes to a ballgame. Write a name poem. Begin by writing the letters of the name in the vertical boxes. Jot down as many describing words as you can on the line next to each letter. Use these as notes to write a name poem. LEARNING LINKS INC. 7
POETS USE METAPHOR A metaphor, like a simile, is a suggested comparison of unlike objects. In a metaphor, the comparison is not easy to notice because the writer does not use the words like or as. In the following poem, the poet compares hope with a bird. Hope is the Thing with Feathers Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I ve heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Emily Dickinson Create a poem of your own using the form of Emily Dickinson s poem and a metaphor for another feeling. You may want to use one of these suggested ideas or one of your own. The poem you create does not have to rhyme. anger contentment delight happiness horror love sadness (title) is the thing with Find a poem that uses a metaphor to compare two different things. LEARNING LINKS INC. 11
USING THE SENSES A poet may evoke all five senses sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to help the reader fully appreciate an object. Here is an example of such a poem written collaboratively by young people in a poetry workshop: sight sound taste touch smell Seashore Blue and jade green and golden yellow in the sun, Waves at the seashore Slap and tap and slip onto sand. Salty spray on my tongue, Tingling and stinging my face, As fishy seashore smells Recall all my summers forever. Write a poem of your own evoking all five senses. You may use any of the following topics or choose another. Think about words or phrases that will evoke each of the senses for the topic you choose. Take notes in the space below before you write the poem. adventure park airplane flight attic basketball court carnival city street park rainy day rooftop woods Title sight sound taste touch smell Find poems that evoke three or more of the senses. LEARNING LINKS INC. 13