Intro to PoetryIntro to PoetryIntro to PoetryIntro to PoetryWhy Write it? Why Write it?

What does it do?What does it do?

What’s inside a poem?• Poetry includes certain things that

make it different from prose. • Prose is any writing that is not

poetry.

Images• When a poet tries to capture in

words how something looks, tastes, smells, feels, or sounds, those descriptions are called images.

Images• “The hare limped

trembling through the frozen grass.”

• John Keats

Imagery Expert• Meet Sandra

Cisneros• Most famous for

her book House on Mango Street and her Latin American themes.

Imagery Expert• Meet John Updike• Most famous for a

series of books about a character, Rabbit.

• Two of them won the Pulitzer Prize, which honors great American fiction, usually about the American life.

Now, Find the Images• “Good Hot Dogs for

Kiki” by Sandra Cisneros

• “September” by John Updike

• What did you find?• Dash those hot dogs

into buns and splash on all the good stuff

• What did you find?• The days are

polished with a morning haze

Word Music• Good poets pick their words very

carefully. They are concerned as much about what the word means as how it sounds. Some word music imitates sounds, and some word music repeats them.

Word Music• “buccaneers of

buzz”(referring to bees)• Emily Dickinson

• “the silken, sad, uncertain rustling in our ears.”

• Edgar Allan Poe

Word Music Expert• Meet Patricia

Hubbell• East Coast poet.• Has written many

poems for kids.

Word Music Expert• Meet Walt Mason• Known as “Uncle

Walt.”• Known as a poet

philosopher

Now, Find the Word Music

• “Flittermice” by Patricia Hubbell

• “Football” by Walt Mason

• What did you find?

• What did you find?

Beats that Repeat• Poems have rhythms you can see,

hear, and feel ... like a kid swinging on a swing. Beats in poetry are made up of silences and whams. We call a wham a “stress.”

Beats that Repeat• We Real Cool• THE POOL LAYERS. • SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL

• We real cool. We• Left school. We

• Lurk late. We• Strike straight. We

• Sing sin. We• Thin gin. We

• Jazz June. We• Die soon.• Gwendolyn Brooks

Beats that Repeat Expert

• Meet Robert Louis Stevenson

• Most famous for Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

• Literary celebrity during his lifetime.

Beats that Repeat Expert

• Meet Charles R. Smith, Jr.

• Went to elementary school in Compton, CA. and now lives in upstate New York.

• Loves his job combining photography, poetry, and sports.

Now, Find the Beats that Repeat

• “Windy Nights” by Robert Louis Stevenson

• “Allow Me to Introduce Myself” by Charles Smith, Jr.

• What did you find?

• What did you find?

Likenesses• Poets train themselves to see

things in ways others don’t. They are always putting things together in unexpected ways.

LikenessesThunder threatensLike a sound that rolls around

and aroundIn a mean dog’s throat--Martha Sherwood

Likenesses Expert• Meet Langston

Hughes• Most famous for

his innovation of jazz poetry.

• Active member of Harlem Renaissance.

Likenesses Expert• Meet Christina

Rossetti.• English poet most

famous for her long poem, “Goblin Market.”

Now, Find the Likenesses

• “Dreams” by Langston Hughes

• “The Horses of the Sea” by Christina Rossetti.

• What did you find?

• What did you find?

Word Play• Poets are word lovers. They love

“rhymes, and chimes, and echoes.” They also tend to invent new words, combine words in strange ways, and use puns and jokes. They play with words.

Word PlaySing me a song of teapots and trumpets:Trumpots and teapetsAnd tippets and taps,Trippers and trappersand jelly bean wrappersand pigs in pajamaswith zippers and snaps--N.M. Bodecker

Word Play Expert• Meet E.E.

Cummings.• Wanted to be a

poet as a kid and wrote poetry daily, from eight to 22!

• Was once a prisoner of war!

Word Play Expert• Meet Jack

Prelutsky.• Grew up a poor

kid in the Bronx, NY.

• Has written more than 50 poetry collections.

Why write poetry?1. To make someone smile: Some

poems are just for fun!

To Make Someone Smile

Commas Do commas have mommas Who teach them to pause,Who comfort and calm them,And clean their sharp claws?Who tell them short storiesOf uncommon commasAnd send them to bedIn their comma pajamas?--Douglas Florian

To Make Someone Smile

Find One:p17 A Time to Talk, Robert Frost37 Oranges, Gary Soto77 If I Can Stop One Heart From

Breaking, Dickinson109 Legacy II, Leroy V. Quintana108 The Courage That My Mother

Had, Edna St. Vincent Millay112 The Secret Heart, Robert P.

Tristram Coffin180 The Listeners, Walter de la Mare

Why write poetry?2. To tell a story: The very first

stories weren’t told in books, they were sung or spoken in verse . . . from memory. Some, called ballads, are long while other recent story poems are short.

To Tell a StoryThe PuristI give you now Professor Twist,A conscientious scientist.Trustees exclaimed, “He never bungles!”And sent him off to distant jungles.Camped on a tropic riverside,One day he missed his loving bride.She had, the guide informed him later, Been eaten by an alligator.Professor Twist could not but smile.“You mean,” he said, “a crocodile.”--Ogden Nash

Why write poetry?3. To send a message: Poems often

have a point; they leave us with something to think about.

To Send a MessageThe Golf LinksThe golf links lie so near the millThat almost every dayThe laboring children can look outAnd see the men at play.-- Sarah N. Cleghorn

Why write poetry?4. To share feelings: Poets feel

strongly and want the reader to experience that “feeling moment” with them. Poets express happiness, sadness, anger, fear, loneliness, etc.

To Share Feelings4. To share feelings: Poets feel

strongly and want the reader to experience that “feeling moment” with them. Poets express happiness, sadness, anger, fear, loneliness, etc.

Why write poetry?5. To help you understand people:

What makes Jimmy avoid other kids? How does it feel to be homeless? Poems can give us insight into why people make the choices they do.

Why write poetry?6. To make people wonder: People

love magic and mystery: ghosts, dragons, creatures. Sometimes, they weave a more ordinary magic: finding the wonder in an ordinary magnet, for example.

ReferenceYou must determine your own

opinions about what constitutes the best poetry.

This presentation was developed with the ideas from Knock at a Star: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy.