What is Poetry?

Class Definition of Poetry

Sons of Poetry• Link for Sons of Poetry

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmICU1gMAAw

Appreciating Poetry

What makes a song unforgettable? Perhaps it is the rhythm of the music or the catchy lyrics. A song might also speak to you because it reminds you of something in your own life. Like a song, a poem can capture your imagination with what it says and how it sounds.

Song or Poem … Could it Be Both?

Listen to Adele’s song: “Set Fire to the Rain”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsBObg-1BQClass Discussion: How is this song poetic? What

poetic elements are included? How does this song speak to you? Can you relate in any way?

Poetic Form• How does a poem speak to you from the

page? Aside from its unique sound, a poem also conveys meaning through its form and its speaker.

• FORM is the way a poem’s words and lines are laid out on the page. Lines may or may not be complete sentences and can vary in length.

Poetic Form: • I let it fall, my heart,

And as it fell you rose to claim itIt was dark and I was overUntil you kissed my lips and you saved me

My hands, they're strongBut my knees were far too weak,To stand in your armsWithout falling to your feet

But there's a side to youThat I never knew, never knew.All the things you'd sayThey were never true, never true,And the games you playYou would always win, always win.

• Class Discussion: Using the definition below, discuss the form of the poem. Are all of the lines complete sentences? Discuss the use of white space left from the shorter sentences. What is the purpose?

• FORM is the way a poem’s words and lines are laid out on the page. Lines may or may not be complete sentences and can vary in length.

Poetic Form: Speaker

A poem’s personality depends on its speaker as well as its form. The speaker in a poem is the voice that talks to the reader. The speaker may be the poet, or it may be a character created by the poet .

Who is the speaker in Adele’s song? Is it Adele or a character she created?

Poetic Form:Lines/Stanz

a• In some poems, the lines are arranged into groups, called stanzas.

Each stanza helps to convey a poem’s overall message. The end of a stanza signifies the end of one thought.

• For example: But there's a side to youThat I never knew, never knew.All the things you'd sayThey were never true, never true,And the games you playYou would always win, always win.

How is a stanza like a paragraph in an essay? Why is it important that all of these lines read together? What is the main idea or overall message of this stanza?

Poetic Form: Traditional Vs.

Free VerseSome poems have traditional, or structured forms. Traditional poems follow fixed rules; for instance, they might have a certain number of lines or a repeating pattern of rhythm or rhyme. Poems that do not follow set rules are called free verse.

Poetic Form: Free VerseThe following poem “Street Corner Flight” by Norma

Flores is written in free verse. Because it has no regular pattern of rhythm or rhyme, the poem sounds like everyday speech.

From this side … of their concrete barrio two small boys hold fat white pigeonstrapped in their trembling hands.Then gently, not disturbing their powers of flight, release themInto the air.

Types of Poems• There are many different types of poems, but for this unit we

will be studying the following: • -Narrative (concentrating on historical context)• -Lyric • -Diamante • -Cinquain• -Haiku (traditional Japanese)• -Sonnet• -Limerick• -Ballad• -Epic• -Ode

Types of Poetry: Narrative1. Narrative poem – a poem that tells a story.

Example: “Little Orphan Annie” by James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphan Annie's come to my house to stay. To wash the cups and saucers up and brush the crumbs away. To shoo the chickens from the porch/dust the hearth and sweep, And make the fire/bake the bread to earn her board and keep. While all us other children, when the supper things is done, We sit around the kitchen fire and has the mostest fun, A listening to the witch tales that Annie tells about And the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!

Types of Poetry: Lyric Poetry2. Lyric – a short poem in which a single speaker

expresses personal thoughts and feelings. Lyric poems cover many subjects, from love and death to everyday experiences.

For example: I thought the earth remembered me, shetook me back so tenderly, arrangingher dark skirts, her pocketsfull of lichens and seeds.

Types of Poetry: Diamante

3. Diamante - A diamante is a seven line poem, shaped like a diamond that describes opposites.

squaresymmetrical, conventional

shaping, measuring, balancingboxes, rooms, clocks, halos

circling, turning, orbitinground, continuous

circle

Diamante Format • Line 1: one word

(subject/noun that is contrasting to line 7) • Line 2: two words

(adjectives) that describe line 1 • Line 3: three words

(action verbs) that relate to line 1 • Line 4: four words (nouns)

first 2 words relate to line 1; last 2 words relate to line 7 • Line 5: three words

(action verbs) that relate to line 7 • Line 6: two words

(adjectives) that describe line 7 • Line 7: one word

( subject/noun that is contrasting to line 1)

Types of Poetry: Cinquain

5. Cinquain - A five line poem which consists of 1 noun, 2 adjectives, 3 “ing” words, 4 feeling words, and a synonym for the noun.

The first line is just one word, which is often the title of the poem. The second line has two words which describe the first line. The third line has three words, and is mostly the action part of the poem. The fourth line is four words describing the feelings. And the fifth line, again, has just one word which is the title of the poem.

Cinquain Pattern

• Line1: A noun• Line2: Two adjectives• Line 3: Three -ing words• Line 4: A phrase• Line 5: Another word for the noun

Cinquain Example

KnightsArmour ,shields

Fighting, charging, slaughteringWorried, delighted, brave, fearsome

Crusaders

Types of Poetry: Haiku4. Haiku – a form of poetry that originated hundreds

of years ago in Japan. In a haiku, poets seek to create a clear picture with few words. A haiku centers on a symbol that instantly reminds its reader of a season. You must use symbols and imagery and pay attention to syllables and line count.The entire poem consists of just 17 syllables arranged in three lines. The first and third lines each contain five syllables, and the second line has 7 syllables.

Haiku Example

On sweet plum blossomsThe sun rises suddenly.Look, a mountain path!

Types of Poetry: Sonnet

6. Sonnet- This type of poem contains fourteen lines, each line containing ten syllables, and follows the traditional rhyme scheme.

Read Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 while listening to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Osse7w9fs&list=RDhrFyvB6Nmpcle

Sonnet 18• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

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 dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st 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.

Sonnet 18 Paraphrase

SONNET 18 PARAPHRASE

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Shall I compare you to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: You are more lovely and more constant:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: And summer is far too short:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, At times the sun is too hot,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; Or often goes behind the clouds;

And every fair from fair sometime declines, And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; By misfortune or by nature's planned out course.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade But your youth shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, Nor will death claim you for his own,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long as there are people on this earth,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee. So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.

Types of Poetry: Limerick

7. Limerick - The standard form is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another.

The first line traditionally introduces a person and a place, with the place appearing at the end of the first line and establishing the rhyme scheme for the second and fifth lines.

Limerick Example

There was a young person of Smyrna (Smurna)Whose grandmother threatened to burn her; But she seized on the cat, and said, “Granny, burn that! You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!”

Listen to the Limerick Song: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Limerick+song&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=04A2F3A4FE196D8E605E04A2F3A4FE196D8E605E

Types of Poetry: Ballad

8. Ballad - a narrative folk song or poem. Its distinctive style began in Europe in the late Middle Ages as part of the oral tradition, and it has been preserved as a musical and literary form. The folk ballad typically tells a compact tale with deliberate starkness, using devices such as repetition to heighten effects.

Turn to page 638 in lit. book and read “Boots of Spanish Leather.”

Listen to Bob Dylan singing the folk song: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Boots+of+Spanish+Leather+Song&FORM=VIRE3#view=detail&mid=BE4005676A94CCAFA740BE4005676A94CCAFA740

Did listening to the song help you to understand the poem any better? Does it give density to the poem?

Types of Poetry: Epic• A very long narrative poem about a hero with

superhuman abilities who goes through trials to overcome some obstacle.

• Example: “The Song of Hiawatha” p. 640 Lit.• Listen to song: http://

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Song+Of+Hiawatha+1997&Form=VQFRVP#view=detail&mid=5E390FF55E6680A595615E390FF55E6680A59561

• Pay attention to the rhythm and meter. Hint: Drum it out on your desk. • In what way does the rhythm Longfellow uses relate to the musical culture

of Native Americans?

Types of Poetry: Ode

• A lengthy lyrical poem, usually rhymed, praising an object, person, or quality. Greek odes were originally poetic pieces accompanied by symphonic orchestras.

• Form groups of two – four and read the poem paraphrasing each stanza. Pay attention to word choice and discuss in relation to the theme. How can you identify this poem as an ode? (handout)

• “Ode on Solitude” by Alexander Pope on p. 622 in literature book. ‘O Captain, My Captain is also an example of an Ode.

Poetic Devices• There are a multitude of poetic devices, but

for this unit we will concentrate on the three categories below:

• Sound Devices• Figurative Language• Word Choice / Imagery

Poetic Devices: Sound Alliteration/Assonance

1. Alliteration – repetition of beginning consonant sounds. Example: fabulous feast, big bad bear, lazy lizard.

2. Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds Example: “e” sound in “can ever dissever

Poetic Devices: Sound -

Onomatopoeia3. Onomatopoeia – words whose sounds

resemble that which is being described.

Example: “hiss,” “tinkle,” “boom.”

Poetic Devices: Sound – Rhythm and

Rhyme4. Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. • Example: p. 578 – “Afternoon on a Hill”

5. Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words. • Example: p. 578 - sun and one.

6. Rhyme Scheme is the pattern that the end rhyming words follow. To identify rhyme scheme, assign a letter to each new sound.

For example, the stanza "The cat spilled milk/all over my shirt/which happened to be silk/my feelings are hurt" would be labeled ABAB.

Poetic Device: Sound -

Repetition7. Repetition – the use of a word, phrase, line, or sound more than once.

• Example: I will be the gladdest thingUnder the sun

I will touch a hundred flowers

And not pick one.

Poetic Devices: Figurative Language - Metaphor

1. Metaphor – compares two unlike things without using the word like or as.

Example: The stars were torches in the night.

The stars are being compared to torches because of the way they light up the night.

Poetic Devices: Figurative

Language - Simile2. Simile – compares two unlike things using the word like or as.

Example: The stars flamed like torches. The stars are compared to torches using “like.”

Poetic Device: Figurative Language:

Personification3. Personification – gives human qualities to an animal, an object, or an idea.

Example: Whispering trees, or angrily marching ants

Poetic Device: Symbol

4. Symbol- the use of something to stand for or represent something else• Examples: flag— symbol of freedom; wedding

ring— symbol of marriage

Poetic Device: Imagery

9. Imagery – consists of words and phrases that appeal to your senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Poets use imagery not only to vividly describe things, but also to communicate feelings and ideas.

Imagery ExampleYesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.A soft rain stole in, un-helped by any breeze.

The images “palm of the night” and “soft rain” appeal to your senses of sight and touch. These phrases also suggest a sense of troubled thoughtfulness and perhaps a feeling of change.

MLA Works Cited• For your poetry project, you will need a Works Cited

Page to give credit for your borrowed poems. • The format is shown below:

• Author Title of Poem Title of Book

Burns, Robert. "Red, Red Rose." 100 Best- Editor Publishing City

Loved Poems. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Publisher Copyright Page Medium

Dover, 1995. 26. Print.