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Poetry

Every writer of poetry is first a reader of poetry.

Georgia Heard

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Rationale for Poetry Study

• Develop a positive attitude towards poetry• Increase enjoyment and appreciation of poetry • Feel the power of poetry to express emotion or story • Explore a variety of poems to develop an

understanding of what makes a poem • Discover and experiment with various poetic forms

and techniques so students can choose a style that fits with what they want to say

• Become familiar and comfortable with characteristics of poetry such as rhythm, rhyme, figurative language, literary devises

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After English Class

I used to like “Stopping bythe Woods on a Snowy Evening.”I liked the coming darkness.The jingle of harness bells, breakingand adding to the stillness,The gentle drift of snow …But today, the teacher told uswhat everything stood for.The woods, the horses, the milesto go, the sleep –They all have hidden meanings.It’s grown so complicatednow that,Next time I drive by,I don’t think I’ll bother to stop.

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Finding Poems in the Everyday

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Clouds

The dark gray clouds, the great gray clouds, the black rolling clouds are elephants. going down to the sea for water. They draw up water in their trunksThey march back across the sky. They spray the earth with water, and men say its raining.

» Natalia Belting

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Apple(poem about a commonplace object)

At the centre, a dark starwrapped in white.When you bite, listenfor the crunch of boots on snow,snow that has ripened. Over itstretches the red, starry sky.by Nan Fry

Cats are cute. Cats are great. Cats can’t be beat.

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My CatMy cat is black and white.I pretend that he is my son.I love him.His feet smell like popcorn.

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Word Choice

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As the cat climbed over the top of the jamcloset first the right forefoot carefully then the hind stepped down into the pit of the empty flowerpot.

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As the cat climbed over the top of  the jam closet first the right forefoot  carefully then the hind stepped down  into the pit of the empty flowerpot

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April Rain Songby Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver

liquid drops.Let the rain sing you a lullaby.The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk. The rain making running pools in the gutter. The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof

at night –And I love the rain.

(Hughes is an excellent poet for a poet study)

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Word Choice

Go through your poem and underline any cliches or tired, overused word.

Underline great words you’ve used. Take out any extra words that don’t contribute to

the energy of poem. Have someone read the poem back to you.

Listen for places that feel boring. It might mean the language is uninteresting and needs work.

Watch out for places where your poem clanks. where they rhythm is off.

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Finding the right genre

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My Sweater Dedication: To the memory of my brother, Mickey, and my sister who helped

me put it into words.

It’s red and warm I feel good and warm when I wear it. I love my sweater When I don’t have my sweater on …. I really miss it! It was my brother’s. He gave it to me. And that’s why I love it! He had it a long time agoHe died That was …Eight years ago. All I have left to remember him by Is my red sweater.

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Having Fun With Poetry

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I shook and shook the ketchupBut it didn’t bloop out

So I stamped the bottleOn the table

And a glob shot upAnd made a big red splat

On the ceiling.“Quick hold your hamburger under it”

Daddy said.“Maybe it’ll drip.”

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What If ….

By Isabel Joshling Glaser What if … You opened a book About dinosaurs And one stumbled out And another and another Until the whole place Is bumbling and rumbling And groaning and moaningAnd snoring and roaringAnd dinosauring? What if … You pushed them Back inside But they kept tromping Off the pages instead? Would you close the covers?

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Rainbow Snow

What if snow was no longer snow But something else instead? Would it be brown or green Or polka dot Or even purple striped with red? What might it taste like, This shiny snowy delight Banana or orange Or chocolate at first bite? What fun playing on a sugary hillSliding down a blue pathOr building a strawberry snowman All pink and bright and new. Snow in different colours Is really fun to do And so is imagining With you and you and you.

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The GLIBBIT by Bev Caswell

Once when it was dark, I saw a GLIBBIT on the floor. And I shivered and shook, And then I shook a little more.Because if you’ve seen a GLIBBIT, you’ll know just what I

mean, And you’ll know why I was frightenedBy what I had just seen.

I usually see the GLIBBITAt night, when I’m in bed. And I want to turn the light on,Or pull the covers over my head.

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GLIBBIT continued …• But one night I felt brave, • And said, “GLIBBIT, hey, come here!” • An you know, he never moved an inch ….• He never even came near.

• The light from the hall shone in• When Mom opened up my door. • Then I saw what the GLIBBIT really was …. • … A pile of clothes I’d left on the floor.

• So when you’re in your bed at night, • And something gives you quite a fright, • Remembers it’s likely nothing more• Than a friendly GLIBBIT on the floor.

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White Space • Type up a poem two different ways to show the

difference the white space makes. Choose a poem that uses white space well; then type it without white space. What is the difference?

• Ask a student to write his/her poem on a chart or the blackboard and then discuss the process for setting the white space.

• Discuss how the space affects the mood and rhythm of the poem.

• Read the poem aloud and ask students about the white space. Hand out the poem and read it aloud again.

• Read aloud two poems that use the white space differently. Discuss the effect.

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We Real Cool (The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.)

We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk later. We Strike straight. WeSing gin. WeThin gin. WeJazz June. We Die soon. by Gwendolyn Brooks

(line breaks create a jazz rhythm)

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Things (excellent poem for rhythm., repetition and white space)

Went to the corner Walked in the store Bought me some candy Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no moreWent to the beach Played on the shore Built me a sandhouse Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no more Went to the kitchen Lay down on the floor Made me a poem And I still got it And I still got it.

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“Rules” for composing verse for children

1. must be graphic 2. must be a rapid change of images 3. verbal painting must be lyrical 4. must be a moving and changing of

rhythm 5. must be heightened musicality 6. must be frequent rhyming

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7. rhyming words must carry the meaning 8. every line must have a life of its own 9. do not crowd the poem with adjectives (use

more verbs 10. verse must be suitable for play and games 11. verses for children must have the skill,

virtuosity and soundness of poetry for adults 12. through your verse you try to bring children

within reach of adult perceptions and thoughts

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Questions and comments for poetry conferences

• How’s it going? How can I help? • What do you think about your poem? • Where are you now with your poem? • I noticed your first and last lines are the same. • I noticed you picked something very important

to write about. • What were you thinking as I read it to you?• Does it feel complete? • How did it sound? Any places where it sound

great? Any places where it clanked? • Which part did you feel was most like what

you wanted to say?

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Acrostic

In acrostic poems, the letters in a word are used as the initial letters of all the lines in the poem

P udge porkersI n need of a bathG uzzling up their foodS quealing

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Ballads

Ballads usually tell a folk story, often about a hero e.g. “The Man from Snowy River” by Banjo Paterson. They may use short stanzas and commonly have a chorus that is repeated after each verse. The simplest verse form commonly found in ballads is the quatrain or four line stanza. Ballads are often set to music and sung.

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Catalogue Poems Catalogue poems create lists which provide a collage of

images of a particular idea, event or person. • Black is the color of coal• From which beautiful diamonds are formed.• Black is the color of oil,• The Black Gold that keeps people warm.• Black is the colour of the rich, dark earth• That can grow the food you need.• Black is the colour of a panther• an animal known for beauty and speed.• Black is the color of the midnight sky.• With the stars that glitter in your eyes.• Black is the colour of the rainbow blended together• Black is the color of me.

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Cinquain

A cinquain is a five line poem which present a compact image of an object, person or idea.

Line 1 – one word to state the subject Line 2 – two words to describe the subject Line 3 – three words to describe the subject Line 4 – four words about the subject Line 5 - one word to comment on the subject

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Cinquain

Hamburgerjuicy and deliciousbacon and egghave one for lunchyummy

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Shape Poetry

Shape/concrete poetry uses words, visual images and layout to make a witty comment.

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Diamante

A diamante consists of seven lines. It presents an image of an object, person or idea through cataloguing a series of adjectives and participles.

Line 1 – one word to name the first subjectLine 2 – two adjectives to describe the first subjectLine 3 – three participles (ing words) related to the

first subject Line 4 – four nouns – the first two related to the first

subject, the second two related to the second subject

Line 5 – three participles (ing words) related to the second subject

Line 6 – two adjectives to describe the second subject

Line 7 – one noun to name the second subject

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Diamante

Tadpole transparent, small quivering, shaking, trembling eyes, tail, feet, legs leaping, jumping, hopping shiny, green frog.

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Dylan Thomas Portrait

Dylan Thomas portraits begin with a question. The question is answered with an intricate noun group comprising four pairs of adjectives or three pairs of adjective and a single noun to finish.

Have you ever seen a dragon?Fire-breathing, scaly-backed, ferocious reptile, fairy tale creature

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Epics

Epics are long poems describing great deeds and events. They usually tell a story. “Hiawatha” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which tells a story of the Indian, Hiawatha, is an example of an epic poem.

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Ezra Pound Couplet

Ezra Pound Couplets use two contrasting images to make a comparison which illuminates the first image.

A bicycle winding in and out of traffic A pilot fish in a school of sharks

or An acrobat dangling on a tightrope A spider hanging from a silken thread.

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Haiku

Haiku is a Japanese poem that succinctly describes an aspect of nature. A Haiku poem has three lines. The first line contains five syllables. The second line contains seven syllables. The third line contains five syllables.

A fallen blossom is coming back to the branch.

Look, a butterfly!

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Limerick

• A limerick is a five-line poem which recounts a comic incident. Lines 1,2, and 5 rhyme with each other and lines 3 and 4 with each other. The longer lines have three strong beats, while the sorter lines have only two.

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Limmerick

There once was a man from Barcoo Who discovered a mouse in his stew Said the waiter, “Don’t shoutAnd wave about, Or the rest will be wanting one too.”

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Lyrics and Songs

Lyrics and songs are usually short poems that express a particular feeling or emotion. They generally have a regular rhythmic pattern and musical qualities.

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Odes

Odes are reflective poems that usually praise a person, object or incident using highly expressive language, e.g. "Bellbirds" by Henry Kendall or “To Autumn” by John Keats. Sometimes the ode form is used to satirize a person or event.

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Sonnets

Sonnets are lyric poems that have fourteen lines. Sonnets usually have a structure rhythmic and rhyme patter, e.g. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day by William Shakespeare.

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Diamond Poems

• Pick 2 things that are opposites • 1.Write 1 of the 2 things on the first line of the poem. • 2. On the next line, write 2 words that tell about the thing.• 3. Write 3 words that tell about the things on the next line. • 4. On the next line, write 2 more words that remind you of the

things. Then write 2 words that remind you of its OPPOSITE. • 5. The next line has 3 things that tell about this opposite thing. • 6. The next line has only 2 words that describe the opposite. • 7. Finish the poem by writing the opposite

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Diamond Poems

landrocky, flat

fields, cities, hillsgreen, soft – blue deep

wave, cool, dropsfloating, clear

Water

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Poet's ChecklistPatricia Hubbard

• Always start with ideas that sing in your heart.• Choose sharp, juicy, whistling words.• Rhyme is fine, but it must shine.• Over and over and over—write, read, revise.• See, touch, taste, smell, listen to your poem.• Too sloppy? Recopy.• Ideas dance on the polished page.• Celebrate—you are a poet. Share, speak, sing.

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Why rap?

• “as a composition, rap highlights the ingredients in most good writing: it is poetic and rhetorically forceful; it incites pleasure and surprise while, at the same time, it sends a meaningful message; it transforms language into action by whether moving people (both emotionally and physically) or offering an alternative way to perceive and live in the world.” Strode

and Wood (2008)

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• “hip hop emerged at a time of crisis for youth in urban communities. Its roots have a rebellious and gritty nature that was also packed with resistance. Hip hop provided a forum from which (black) youth can portray what it means to be young and black in America and protest against it” (Stapleton, 1998).

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When you really listen to rap songs

You notice new things in the familiar lyrics: wordplay, metaphors and similes, rhymes upon rhymes, even within the lines. You notice structures and forms, sound and silence. You even start to hear a beat; it comes from the language itself, a rhythm the words produce in your mind. (Bradley 2009 p. x)

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• Alexander-Smith, AnJeanette C. (2004). Feeling the Rhythm of the Critically Conscious Mind. English Journal, 93(3).

• Bradley, Adam. (2009). Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

• Dyson, Michael Eric. (2001). Holler if you Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

• Hill, Marc Lamont. (2009). Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity. New York: Teachers College Press.

• Kitwana, Bakari. (2005). Why White Kids Love Hip Hop. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

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• Parmar, Priya. (2005). Cultural Studies and Rap: The Poetry of an Urban Lyricist. Taboo, 9(1).

• Perry, Imani. (2004). Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham: Duke University Press.

• Ross, A., & Rose, T. (Eds.). (1994). Microphone fiends : youth music & youth culture. New York : Routledge.

• Stapelton, Katina. R. (1998). From the Margins to Mainstream: The Political Power of Hip-hop. Media, Cultural & Society. London: SAGE Publication, 20.

• Strode, Tim & Wood, Tim. (Eds.). (2008). The Hip Hop Reader. New York: Pearson Longman.

• Vendler, Helen. (2002). Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.