Poetry“I have begun to believe in, and even to

preach, a poetry of necessity. This is a

recognition not just of the necessity of

poetry to our lives, but also the fact that

necessity is what drives most of the

poetry that matters, or the way that it

matters.”

- Kevin Young

What is poetry?

Type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses

figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the

reader’s emotions & imagination.

Two major types:

1. Lyric poems

2. Narrative poems

What is the difference between lyric &

narrative poems?

NARRATIVE POEMS:

Poems that tell a story.

Examples are EPICS &

BALLADS.

LYRIC POEMS:

Poems that do not tell a

story, but is aimed at

expressing a speaker’s

emotions or thoughts.

Major type of lyric

poem is the SONNET &

HAIKU.

One Liner Poetry A poem can be a collection of one-liners that

follow the same pattern.

Example:

I used to be but now I am…

I’ll never tell you…

I remember…

I wish…

The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen…

Minimum 20 lines

Also…

One – liners can be taken seriously or humorously.

Try them both ways and see what you come up

with.

This pattern is best when it is as wild, zany, and

imaginative as possible:

I wish I were ____adj____ ____color_____

___person or thing___ _________verb

phrase________.

I wish I were a hilarious pink billboard squatting

on Mars.

Universe Poem

How do you place yourself in the world?

Use following poem by Stephen Crane as a

guideline

Minimum 10 lines

“A Man Said to the Universe”

by: Stephen Crane

A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!"

"However," replied the universe, "The fact has not

created in me A sense of obligation.“

Trust Poem

Use the following Edward Field poem as a

guideline

Minimum 15 lines

The Farewell

Edward FieldThey say the ice will hold

so there I go,

forced to believe them by my act of trusting people,

stepping out on it,

and naturally it gaps open

and I, forced to carry on coolly

by my act of being imperturbable,

slide erectly into the water wearing my captain's helmet,

waving to the shore with a sad smile,

"Goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one,"

as the ice meets again over my head with a click.

Contrast Poem

2 parts, each part shows a different side of a

person, a thing, or an idea.

Choose two different ways of describing or

looking at the subject.

Let your subject be your title.

Minimum 10 lines

Traveling

Cars

Zoom on the highway.

Drivers worry about getting

there on time

I watch them as I walk along.

No Hurry. But plenty to see.

Why? Poem

Use the following as a guide:

“When I was three”

When I was three, I had a friend Who asked me

why bananas bend, I told him why, but now I'm

Richard Edwards--four I'm not so sure...

Minimum 10 lines

What is a sonnet?

14 line lyric poem.

Iambic pentameter: rhythm of natural language.

- iamb: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (ex: before).

- pentameter: 5 stressed syllables, or beats, in each line.

Follows a regular rhyme pattern.

Fear Poem

Use “Life doesn’t frighten me” by Maya Angelou

as a guide

See link to access Maya Angelou’s Poem

http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/life_mayaang

elou.htm

Minimum 15 lines

Surviving Poem

Use “The Favor” as a guide

Minimum 10 lines

“The Favor” by Austin Strauss

Surviving A Broken Heart

You did me

a favor

Breaking my heart

Into tiny pieces

I learned how

To mend it

Paste-pot poem

A found poem about anything you’d like

Could be about yourself

Could be about a specific subject

Is formed from cut out images and phrases

Minimum 15 lines

DiamanteWrite down a noun

Two adjectives describing the noun

Three participles (words ending in “ing” or “ed”)

Four nouns related to the subject – the second two

nouns have meaning opposite to the first two

Three participles indicating change or

development of the subject

Two adjectives that carry on the idea of change

and development

A noun that is the opposite of the subject

Stranger

New, different

Seeing, meeting, talking

Acquainted, associate – member, pal

Liking, enjoying, seeking

Familiar, trusted

Friend

Remember Poem

Remembering, I see his/her face __

A face ________________.

A face ________________.

A face ________________.

Remembering his/her face I see

How ______________.

And how ______________.

This face means ______________ to me.

Remembering, I see her face

A face downtrodden with years of abuse

A face swollen from malnutrition

A face telling me of inconsolable sadness

Remembering her face I see

How evil the world can be

and how helpless I am to heal her

This face means how much I have been given to

give to others.

Free Verse

Use one of your WN entries from so far this

semester as inspiration

Read examples from blue book on student writing:

Pgs. 25, 118, 130, 131, 149

Be creative

Be free

20 + lines

How important is imagery to poetry?Imagery: language that appeals to the senses

(sight, hearing, touch, smell, & taste).

Imagery is present in all poems.

It shapes how we interpret a poem by influencing

our feelings about it.

Images may be pleasant/ unpleasant.

Spotlight on imagery poem: use imagery

abundantly

Minimum 15 lines

Do poems have to rhyme?

is poetry which does not follow regular Free verse

rhyme & meter patterns.

Rhythm is created through repeated words or

lines.

Language sounds ordinary.

Is there only one way to rhyme?

Rhyme: the repetition of accented vowel sounds, & all

sounds following them, in words that are close

together in a poem.

End rhymes: occur at the ends of lines.

Internal rhymes: occur in the middle of a line.

Approximate rhymes: 2 words have a sound in

common but do not necessarily rhyme.

How do rhyme & rhythm shape

poems?

, the pattern of end Rhyme schemerhymes in a poem, defines the shape

of a poem.

is a musical quality based on Rhythmrepetition.

is a regular pattern of stressed Meter& unstressed syllables in each line of

poetry.

Spotlight on Rhyme Poem

Develop/use a particular rhyme scheme

There must be a pattern

Dividing into stanzas will help

Minimum 20 lines