Unit 3: Poetry How does communication change us? Communication involves an exchange of ideas between people. It takes place when you discuss an issue with a friend or respond to a piece of writing. Communication is the understanding you get when you read a poem. It is the empathy you feel for others after listening to an interview with victims of natural disasters. All of this communication may change us, but how? Answer the questions below: 1. Does it make us smarter, wiser, kinder, angrier? 2. Does it make us better people or more experienced? Characteristics of Poetry Poetry is literature in verse form. Poems have. Central message or insight into life revealed through a work Poems use concise, musical, and to express multiple layers of meaning. The focus of poetry is to make a BIG impact, using as FEW words as possible. Word choice, or diction, of an author is immensely important in poetry. How to Read Poetry is reading smoothly and continuously. It includes understanding what you read and enjoying the art and skill of the writer Read in sentences: to figure out where to pause or stop, pay attention to the punctuation, Use your : to understand the meaning of what you read, pay attention to words that appeal to sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Types of Poetry tells a story and has a plot, characters, and a setting long narrative about the feats of gods or heroes EXAMPLE: The Odyssey songlike narrative that has short stanzas and a refrain, usually feature repetition and strong meter Many songs are ballads pick your favorite
tells a story using a character s own thoughts or spoken statements Soliloquies, dramatic monologues, etc. are forms (Shakespeare loved them!) express the feelings of a single speaker (most common in modern literature) Sonnets (Like the one in the Rhyme Scheme slide) are good examples of Lyrical Poems Elements of Poetry : The speaker in a poem serves the same function as the narrator in a story: to tell the poem. and : most poetry is arranged in lines and stanzas, or grouping of lines. = 2 lines Tercet = 3 lines = 4 lines Figurative Language use like or as to compare dissimilar things compares by speaking of one thing as if it is another gives human traits to nonhuman things descriptive language (adjectives) that creates vivid impressions (use of the 5 senses) Rhythm and Meter Language has its own natural rhythms, created by the ( ) and ( ) syllables of words. Poets make use of this innate property of language to create, or rhythmic patterns. The stressed and unstressed syllables are then divided into units called. : Each foot is made up of one unstressed and one stressed syllable. Wrinkled sea Rhythm and Meter: Mark the Rhythm and Meter of the following poem Hickory, Dickory, Dock Hickory, dickory dock, The mice ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mice ran down. Hickory, dickory, dock.
Rhyme In addition to meter, poets use other sounds devices, or techniques that create musical effects. Rhyme Exact, or : words that end in both the same vowel and the same consonant sound. Sun and fun. : words that end in a similar but not exact sound proved and loved : rhyming words that fall at the end of two or more lines crawls, walls, falls from The Eagle : rhyming words placed within a line The mouse in the house woke the cat. Rhyme Scheme : A set pattern of rhyme The rhyme scheme is identified by assigning a different letter of the alphabet to each rhyme. Rhyme scheme helps shape the structure of a stanza and clarifies the relationships among the lines. fourteen line lyric poem consisting of three quatrains and a couplet, usually r Shakespeare s Sonnet 18 Rhyme/English Sonnet: Sonnet 116 (Shakespeare) ----Find the rhyme scheme of the poem Shall I compare thee to a summer s days? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance, or nature s changing course, untrimmed; But they eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow st, Nor shall death brag thou wand rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Sound Devices : the use of any language element more than once (I Have a Dream speech) (initial rhyme) the repetition of the first consonant sound of words (vowel rhyme) the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each other in a poem the green leaves flutter in the breeze the repetition of consonants within words that are close to each other in a poem The king sang a song the use of words to imitate sound. The bees buzzed, and the brook gurgles.
Sound Devices Alliteration : Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet ---- What consonant is repeated? From forth the fatal loins of these two foes; A pair of star-cross d lovers take their life. Assonance: Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle into the Good Night ----What vowel sound is repeated? Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight, Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Consonance: Emily Dickinson, T was later when the summer went Which consonant within words are repeated? T was later when the summer went Than when the cricket came, And yet we knew that gentle clock Meant nought but going home. T was sooner when the cricket went Than when the winter came, Yet that pathetic pendulum Keeps esoteric time. Onomatopoeia: Katy Perry, Firework Which words represent sound? Do you see any other literary devices being used? Baby you're a firework Come on let your colors burst Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon It's always been inside of you, you, you And now it's time to let it through
Haiku verse form with three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables Basho Matsuo An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again. Breakdown the Syllables Temple bells die out. The fragrant blossoms remain. A perfect evening! Chiyojo Dragonfly catcher, How far have you gone today In your wandering? Bearing no flowers, I am free to toss madly Like the willow tree. Free Verse no set pattern of rhythm and rhyme Fog by Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. Key Terms is the use of similar grammatical forms or patterns to express similar ideas. : the cultural or historical context of a story, poem, or other work of literature is the specific time and place where it was written. : form of autobiography : using your own words to tell what someone else has written or said 1. When you paraphrase a poem, you express of the poem in a simpler way.
Name: Identifying Figurative Language Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Figure out which technique is being used: idiom, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. It is possible more than one technique is being used. In the boxes, explain in your own words what is meant by the lines. Try your best to interpret the meaning. Slashes represent line breaks. 1. Example - There s a faucet in the basement / that had dripped one drop all year since he fixed it, we can t find it / without wearing scuba gear. What technique is being used? Hyperbole Idiom, The line is saying that someone made the sink worse while trying to fix it. 2. Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines / Diggin' in my own back yard. Idiom, 3. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave / I am the dream and the hope of the slave. Idiom, 4. The daisy hugging the earth / in August, ha! Idiom, 5. Don t worry about the Alex / She s all bark and no bite. Idiom, 6. Endless wealth, / I thought, / held out its arms to me. Idiom,
7. A thousand Paradises / in an apple blossom. Idiom, 8. Cause I walk like I've got oil wells / Pumping in my living room. Idiom, 9. After getting my report card / I knew it was time to hit the books. Idiom, 10. Floors are flowers take a few / Ferns grow here and daisies too. Idiom, 11. An old willow with hollow branches / slowly swayed his few high tendrils / and sang: Idiom, 12. I should have done homework or studied instead / But I got up on the wrong side of the bed. Idiom, 13. There s a guy in a tux and he stands in the corner, / Feedin the jukebox his dimes. Idiom,
14. I pushed him from my arms / his stare brought with a terror through / a million billion trillion stars. Idiom, 15. a flower / a weakest flower / shall be our trust Idiom, 16. I am Super Samson Simpson / I m superlatively strong / I like to carry elephants / I do it all day long. Idiom, 17. As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men. / Young men sharp as mustard. Idiom, 18. Love is something else, / or so I thought it, / a garden which expands, Idiom, 19. It is the mind / the mind / that must be cured / short of death's intervention, Idiom, 20. I guess that my friends were just pulling my leg. Idiom,
21. One day they hold you in the / Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you / Were the last raw egg in the world. Idiom, 22. a blessing in disguise. Idiom, 23. Love is a young green willow / shimmering at the bare wood's edge. Idiom, 24. If no one came to try it / the world / would be the loser. Idiom, 25. The whole world / became my garden! Idiom, 26. There s a blue bird in my heart that / wants to get out / but I m too tough for him, / I say, stay in there, I m not going / to let anybody see you. Idiom, 27. I wanted her to show up / I crossed my fingers. Idiom,
Identifying Figurative Language #1 Name: Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Slashes represent line breaks. Figure out which technique is being used: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. In the boxes, explain how you figured out your answer. It is possible that more than one technique is being used. If you can, explain each. 1. Like burnt-out torches by a sick man's bed 2. There s a faucet in the basement / that had dripped one drop all year since he fixed it, we can t find it / without wearing scuba gear. 3. When the stars threw down their spears, / And water'd heaven with their tears, 4. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
5. The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, 6. The sun was shining on the sea, / Shining with all his might: 7. The leaves are little yellow fish / swimming in the river. 8. The old clock down in the parlor / Like a sleepless mourner grieves, 9. By the lakes that thus outspread / Their lone waters, lone and dead / Their sad waters, sad and chilly 10. Fame is a bee. / It has a song -- / It has a sting --
Identifying Figurative Language #2 Name: Directions: Read the lines of poetry. Slashes represent line breaks. Figure out which technique is being used: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or personification. In the boxes, explain how you figured out your answer. It is possible that more than one technique is being used. If you can, explain each. 1. My soul has grown deep like rivers. 2. Bear in mind / That death is a drum 3. It is dreams that have destroyed us. 4. Oh, never, if I live to a million, / Shall I feel such a terrible pain. 5. He walked as softly as a cat / And told me many lies.
6. And then my heart with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils. 7. The Balloons hang on wires / they float their faces on the face of the sky. 8. With processions long and winding / With the countless torches lit 9. My brain is fire--my heart is lead! / Her soul is flint, and what am I? 10. But words is like the spots on dice: no matter how you fumbles em, there s times when they just won t come.
Song Lyrics & Poetry Name: Sample Identify, label, and explain the type of figurative language or poetic device used in the song lyrics. Examples may include: imagery devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole; sound devices such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme; and rhetorical devices such as anaphora and epistrophe. Firework by Katy Perry Explain the Poetic Devices Used Identify & Label the Poetic Devices 1 Do you ever feel like a plastic bag 2 Drifting through the wind 3 Wanting to start again 4 Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin 5 Like a house of cards 6 One blow from caving in 7 Do you ever feel already buried deep 8 Six feet under scream 9 But no one seems to hear a thing 10 Do you know that there's still a chance for you 11 Cause there's a spark in you 12 You just gotta ignite the light 13 And let it shine 14 Just own the night 15 Like the Fourth of July (Chorus) 16 Cause baby you're a firework 17 Come on show 'em what you re worth 18 Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" 19 As you shoot across the sky 20 Baby you're a firework 21 Come on let your colors burst Sample 22 Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!" 23 You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down 24 You don't have to feel like a waste of space 25 You're original, cannot be replaced 26 If you only knew what the future holds 27 After a hurricane comes a rainbow 28 Maybe you're the reason why all the doors are closed 29 So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road 30 Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow 31 And when it's time, you'll know 32 You just gotta ignite the light 33 And let it shine 34 Just own the night 35 Like the Fourth of July (Repeat Chorus) 36 Boom, boom, boom 37 Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon 38 It's always been inside of you, you, you 39 And now it's time to let it through Finding Figurative Language in Katy Perry s Firework Copyright Tracee Orman, 2010-2011 www.traceeorman.com
Clipart courtesy of www.mycutegraphics.com Copyright Morgan V. Blanton I Am I am I wonder I hear I see I want I am I pretend I feel I touch I worry I cry I am I understand I say I dream I try I hope I am By:
Clipart courtesy of www.mycutegraphics.com Copyright Morgan V. Blanton I Was I was I wondered I heard I saw I wanted I was I pretended I felt I touched I worried I cried I was I understood I said I dreamed I tried I hoped I was By:
Clipart courtesy of www.mycutegraphics.com Copyright Morgan V. Blanton I Will Be I will I will wonder I will hear I will see I will want I will be I will pretend I will feel I will touch I will worry I will cry I will be I will understand I will say I will dream I will try I will hope I will be By:
Poetweet & Twaiku Poetry Writing Exercises Writing a Poem in 140 Characters (Twitter-Style) Sample Write your own poetweet; limit yourself to 140 characters using the blanks provided. Each letter, number, and punctuation mark represents a single character. Spaces between words, sentences, and punctuation count as one character blank; line breaks count as one, as well. For practice, use a backslash (/) to indicate a new line. The backslash counts as a character blank because even if you did not put a break in the line, you would need a space. Title of Poetweet: Sample Poetweet and Twaiku Poetry Exercise Tracee Orman, 2011
Poetweet & Twaiku Poetry Writing Exercises Writing a Poem in 140 Characters (Twitter-Style) Sample Write your own twaiku; limit yourself to 140 characters and follow the same syllable pattern in haiku (5-7-5). Each letter, number, and punctuation mark represents a single character. Spaces between words, sentences, and punctuation count as one character blank; line breaks count as one, as well. Title of Twaiku: 1 st line (limit to five syllables): 2 nd line (limit to seven syllables): Sample 3 rd line (limit to five syllables): Don t Forget... Count your characters to make sure you did not go over 140. Each space, letter, number, and punctuation mark counts as a character. If you share this on Twitter you may use a backslash to indicate a new line. Each backslash will count as a character. For example, this is how Kate Garrett s poem appeared when shared on Twitter: Plain white pages wait / For black ink to carve a path - / Our dreams given life. Poetweet and Twaiku Poetry Exercise Tracee Orman, 2011
Where I'm From I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride 1. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia 2 bush the Dutch elm whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I'm from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair 3. I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from Perk up! and Pipe down! I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb and ten verses I can say myself. I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch 4, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger 5, the eye my father shut to keep his sight. Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures, a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded -- leaf-fall from the family tree. 1: carbontetrachloride a type of cleaning fluid 2: forsythia a shrub (bush) with bare branches and yellow flowers 3: Imogene and Alafair women in the neighborhood where the author grew up they gave out the best Halloween candy 4: Artemus and Billie s Branch towns in Kentucky, where the author grew up 5: auger a carpenter s tool used to make holes 1
Where I m From I am from (a specific item from your childhood home) from (two products or objects from your past) I am from (a phrase describing your childhood home) and (more description of your childhood home) I am from (a plant, tree or natural item from your past) whose (personify that natural item) I am from (two objects from your past) from and (a family name) (another family name) I am from and (a family trait or tendency) (another family trait or tendency) and from (another family trait, habit or tendency) from (another family trait, habit or tendency) I am from (a religious phrase or memory) I am from and (an ancestor) (another ancestor) from (two foods from your family history) from (a specific event in the life of an ancestor) and from (another detail from the life of an ancestor) (a memory or object you had as a child) I am from those moments (conclude by finishing this thought or by repeating a line or idea from earlier in the poem) Freeology.com Free School Stuff
Five Original Poems Write 5 original poems following the instructions provided. The first four poems have 3 prompts each. You only have to do one prompt for each poem, totaling to 4 poems. The last poem is total freedom to write a poem about what you want. You can use any of the prompts provided or not. The free poem makes it 5 poems total: Writing and Knowing, Family, Witnessing, Place, and Free. All poems are to be between 6-21 lines long. All poems must have a title. Unless it flows naturally, try not to rhyme on the first 4 poems. It makes the work sound old at best and childish at worst. Writing and Knowing Select one of the three options below; then, write an original poem, 6 to 21 lines long with a title, NO RHYME. 1. Begin a poem with the words, I don t know You might list several things you don t know, or focus on a particular thing. 2. Begin a poem with a question word: Who, what where, when, why, how. Ask a big question about life, and then try to answer it from your own experience. 3. What are the things you love? The things you hate? List them in two columns. Now, write a poem that combines something you love with something you hate. The Family: Inspirations and Obstacle Select one of the three options below; then, write an original poem, 6 to 21 lines long with a title, NO RHYME. 1. Is there a particular image, a particular moment, that seems to capture the essential spirit or character of someone in your family? Jot down an image, or a moment, for each person in your family. Pick one that has the most energy for you, and begin a poem with that image. 2. Is there a particular person in your family with whom you feel in conflict? If so, write a poem in that person s voice, describing the relationship between you. Experience the other person s reality and way of seeing things, and then try to render that in the poem. 3. Write about a gift your family, or someone in it, gave you. It can be an actual gift-a baseball glove, a book, and a necklace-or a more intangible one. Talk about how that gift was or could be transferred to another, passed on. Witnessing Select one of the three options below; then, write an original poem, 6 to 21 lines long with a title, NO RHYME. 1. Take a newspaper account of an incident-a riot, an assassination, a bombing-and imagine that you are one of the participants. Rewrite the account as a first-person poem, using some of the details from the account. 2. What communities of people do you identify with and feel you belong to? Write a poem from the voice of this collective we, talking about your troubles, your failings, celebrating your strengths. 3. What issues in the world concern you? Write a rant; be as rhetorical as you like, get up on your soapbox and scream. Once that s out of your system, you re ready to begin a poem. Explore a large issue-racism, sexism, violence, war, vanishing wildlife. Find out how and where that issue enters your life, intersects with it. Make a personal: a story in the newspaper on you kitchen table, next to the plate of eggs; the homeless person sitting next to the Coke machine outside the grocery store; a walk in the woods; a remembered incident from childhood.
Poetry of Place Select one of the three options below; then, write an original poem, 6 to 21 lines long with a title, NO RHYME. 1. How does growing up or living near the ocean, in the desert, in a small town or a large city influence your writing? Is life sparse or abundant, brilliant with color or subtly shaded? Is the animal life around you tame or wild? Is there an obvious change of seasons? Is the population large or small, working class or wealth? Do you live near a factory, a river, a shopping mall, a nightclub, a school, or a graveyard? What s next door, down the street, around the corner? Write a poem about where you live as if you re writing to someone who s never been there. Use place names, street names, the names of neighborhoods, neighbors, and friends. Be detailed and specific. 2. Make a list of all the place you ve traveled to that you can remember with any vividness; make a second list of places where you d like to go. Now brainstorm images-remembered or imagined-for these places. (Your images for Paris might include snow on an iron bench in the Tuileries, cats in the cemetery at Pere Lachaise, croissants piled in a basket on a café table. Write a poem that includes some of the palaces you ve been, and at least one place you haven t. Find a common thread to connect the past and future: an emotion, a desire, a particular person. 3. Describe the house/apartments/trailer/condo/orphanage you spent time in as a child. If you lived in many places, pick the one that feels most alive with memories, images, and emotions. In your poem, try to explain what that place meant to you at the time of your life; what were the discoveries you made there, what difficulties did you encounter? Free Poem Write an original poem, 6 to 21 lines long with a title, NO RHYME. Topic can be anything that is school appropriate (NO SEX, DRUGS, SUICIDE, RAPE, or VIOLENCE). Topic must show some level of depths and thought. You really can express your own voice and style here and if you want to write something that rhymes, this is your chance to do so. Have some fun with this one. If you are stuck on a work, try using a thesaurus to find the best word possible.
Figurative Language Terms Idiom - The term refers to a set expression or a phrase comprising two or more words. An interesting fact regarding the device is that the expression is not interpreted literally. The phrase is understood as to mean something quite different from what individual words of the phrase would imply. Alternatively, it can be said that the phrase is interpreted in a figurative sense. Further, idioms vary in different cultures and countries. Example: It s raining cats and dogs = it s raining hard outside Example: If we play our cards right, we might have a change= if we are careful think about what we do we might have a chance Example: You spilled the beans! = you spoiled the surprise by telling the secret Simile Comparing two things using like or as Example: She is as pretty as a flower. Example: He is as strong as an ox. Example: The smell of rain is like the smell of fresh dirt in the garden. Metaphor making a comparison between two things that are different by saying one is the other. Example: She is a snake in the grass. Example: The word is bullet; her mouth is a gun. Example: The room is a freezer and we are all meat. Personification Giving human characteristics to something that is not human. Example: The trees danced in the wind. Example: The dog told me to stop and wait at the sidewalk. Example: They looked back at me, the shoes in the window, begging me to buy them and take them home. Hyperbole extreme exaggeration Example: I m so hungry I could eat a hourse. Example: It is Africa hot outside. Example: I need to wear scuba gear to fix the leaky faucet.
Identifying Figurative Language of Shakespeare Name: Directions: Write which technique is being used on the line. Then, explain how you know your answer. Answers: Simile, Metaphor, Personification, and Hyperbole 1. Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now, / Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held: 2. What say you, Hermia? be advised fair maid: / To you your father should be as a god; One that composed your beauties, yea, and one / To whom you are but as a form in wax By him imprinted and within his power / To leave the figure or disfigure it. 3. Not to-night, good Iago: I have very poor and / unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of / entertainment. 4. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; / A stage where every man must play a part, And mine a sad one. 5. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured. / Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn
6. I must hear from thee every day in the hour, / For in a minute there are many days: O, by this count I shall be much in years / Ere I again behold my Romeo! 7. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. / They kill us for their sport. 8. If music be the food of love, play on; / Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. 9. When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced / The rich proud cost of outworn buried age; 10. Here's the smell of the blood still: all the / perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! 11. The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and / ill together
12. I say 'your city,' to his wife and mother; / Breaking his oath and resolution like A twist of rotten silk, never admitting / That pages blush'd at him and men of heart 13. But if it be a sin to covet honour, / I am the most offending soul alive. 14. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 15. Say that she frown, I'll say she looks as clear / As morning roses newly wash'd with dew: 16. I shall laugh myself to death at this puppy-headed / monster. A most scurvy monster! 17. Nativity, once in the main of light, / Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd, Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight, / And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
18. You seem to me as Dian in her orb, / As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown; 19. O, she is fallen / Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea / Hath drops too few to wash her clean again And salt too little which may season give / To her foul-tainted flesh! 20. But yesterday the word of Caesar might / Have stood against the world; now lies he there. 21. So are you to my thoughts as food to life, / Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground; 22. Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods? / Draw near them then in being merciful: Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge: / Thrice noble Titus, spare my first-born son. 23. You are a thousand times a properer man / Than she a woman: 'tis such fools as you That makes the world full of ill-favour'd children