Poetry
Language Arts Enrichment
1. Ballad: narrative composition in
rhythmic verse suitable for singing.
The Mermaid
by
Unknown author
Oh the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping aloft
And the land lubbers lay down below, below,
below
And the land lubbers lay down below.
2. couplet: two successive lines of
verse that have the same rhyme.
My Basement
By Jacob L.
My basement is very scary.
I think there is a monster that is hairy.
3. fluency: clear, easy, written, or
spoken expression of ideas.
4. free verse: poetry that lacks
regular rhyme patterns, but sounds
like everyday speech.
Song of Myself
by Walt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loaf and invite my soul,
I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
5. genre: category used to classify
literary works.
6. irony: use of a word or
phrase to mean the exact opposite
of its literal or usual meaning.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
irony
7. meter: repetition of stressed
and unstressed syllables in a line of
poetry.
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads / di verged / in a yel / low wood
(spondee) (iambic) (anapest) (iambic)
And sor / ry I could / not trav / el both
( iambic ) (anapest) (iambic) (iambic)
And be / one trav el / er long / I stood
(iambic) (dactyl) (iambic) (iambic)
8. rhyme: identical or very similar
repeating final sounds usually at
the end of lines of a poem.
I’m thinking of you
With joy and pleasure,
Remembering times
I’ll always treasure.
rhyme
9. rhythm: the beat of a poem.
By the shore of Gitchie Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited.
10. interpret: to explain, or provide
the meaning of.
11. poetic purpose: text with
language referring to poetry.
12. rhyme scheme: the pattern of
rhyming lines in a poem. The letters
indicate which lines rhyme.
Bid me to weep, and I will weep
While I have eyes to see;
And having none, and yet I will keep
A heart to weep for thee.
A
B
A
B
13. satire: literary tone used to
ridicule or make fun of human
weaknesses.
14. sonnet: lyric poem of 14 lines
whose rhyme scheme is fixed.
15. stanza: lines grouped together
like a paragraph.
I AM FAST AND FUN
by Tasha (Age 9)
I am fast and fun.
I can dream, dreams that nobody has dreamt before.
I would go on adventures all over the world.
I want to write out my imagination.
I enjoy seeing peace.
I am fast and fun.
I want to fly and taste the air.
I am not afraid to say what I want.
I feel such smooth things that touch my fingers.
I find such pretty things in nature.
I am fast and fun.
I want to be a soccer star.
I think hard about things.
I wonder where we go when we fade.
I feel so great when I help someone.
3 stanzas
16. symbolism: a device in
literature when an object
represents an idea.
LOVE
17. theme: the overall meaning of
the poem.
18. end rhyme: rhyme that
occurs in the last word on a line.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
end
rhyme
19. line: rows of words in poetry.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow
4
lines
20. mood: the feeling you get after
reading a poem.
21. narrative poetry: poetry told
like a story, with no real rhythm or
rhyme.
SUMMER
Why am I here?
I told them not to sign me up.
I ran out of 6th period yesterday
Knowing a journey had begun.
22. narrator/speaker: the voice
you hear or imagine as you read a
poem.
23. haiku: a three-line poem with
a 5-7-5 syllable structure on the
topic of nature.
Falling to the ground,
I watch a leaf settle down
In a bed of brown.
5
7
5
24. Concrete poem: A poem
whose meaning is conveyed
through its graphic shape or
pattern on the printed page.
I
am
a very
special
shape I have
three points and
three lines straight.
Look through my words
and you will see, the shape
that I am meant to be. I'm just
not words caught in a tangle. Look
close to see a small triangle. My angles
add to one hundred and eighty degrees, you
learn this at school with your abc's. Practice your
maths and you will see, some other fine examples of me.
25. Limerick: A five-line poem. The
first, second, and fifth lines
rhyme. The third and fourth lines
have a different rhyme.
There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamed of eating his shoe,
He awoke with a fright,
In the middle of the night,
And found that his dream had come true!
26. Lyrical Poem: Expresses the
thoughts and feelings of the poet. Lyric
poetry does not tell a story which
portrays characters and actions. The
lyric poet addresses the reader
directly, portraying his or her own
feeling, state of mind, and perceptions.
Ode to Joy
I've had cabbage, lettuce, blackberries
Pasta, oats and strawberries
Bagels, beans and hot dogs
Eggplant, ham and cheese logs
I've had pumpkin and potato
Truffles and tomato
Diced, sliced, cubed and riced
Boiled and fried
Soaked and dried
Burgers, tacos, ice cream too
Radishes red and berries blue
Despite all this, I'm feeling thinner...
Still, that was lunch, now what's for dinner?
27. Imagery: a word or group of
words that appeal to one or more
of the senses. It allows the
reader to picture the events in
their mind.
Use figurative language and adjectives to add imagery to your poetry.
28. Characterization: to describe or
portray the particular qualities,
features, or traits of.
29. Compare/Contrast: similarities
and differences between two
items, such as two poems.
A Pug is a Dog
A pug is a dog with a
curlicue tail. He eats
like a hog and he
snores like a whale.
He's flat in the snout
and his belly is big. The
pug came about just by
misspelling pig.
--Kenn Nesbitt
If School Were More Like
Baseball
If school were more like baseball
we'd only have to play.
We'd hang out in the sunshine
and run around all day.
We wouldn't have to study.
We'd practice and we'd train.
And, best of all, they'd cancel
whenever there was rain.
--Kenn Nesbitt
Rhyme schemes?
Winter’s Embrace
When winter blows its cold breath everywhere,
And throws a chill white blanket on the ground,
The sun makes sparkling diamonds on the snow,
And trees with icy diamonds are crowned.
It’s time to snuggle in for winter fun
In cozy places, maybe by a fire.
A good book and some cocoa feel just right
In flannels, sweaters, winter’s warm attire.
Winter’s gloom is comforting somehow,
As life retreats from its rushed and frantic pace.
We’re ready now to stay indoors awhile,
As we settle into winter’s calm embrace.
Steam Shovel
by Charles Malam
The dinosaurs are not all dead.
I saw one raise its iron head
To watch me walking down the road
Beyond our house today.
Its jaws were dripping with a load
Of earth and grass that it had cropped.
It must have heard me where I stopped,
Snorted white steam my way,
And stretched its long neck out to see,
And chewed, and grinned quite amiably.
1. The machine “grinned quite amiably”. Used
this way, amiably means
a. in a lonely way.
b. in an unfriendly way.
c. in the middle of.
d. in a good-natured way.
2. Based upon the description Malam uses, you
would characterize the steam shovel as
a.
b.
c.
d.
rude.
bored.
friendly.
loving.
3. The poet uses a dinosaur to compare to a
steam shovel rather than another creature
because
a. steam shovels were also prehistoric
creatures.
b. dinosaurs ate earth and grass.
c. steam shovels are huge and have long
necks.
d. dinosaurs are buried deeply where steam
shovels dig.
4. The details in this poem support the idea that
Malam wrote it
a. to show that dinosaurs had personalities.
b. to increase the reader’s understanding of
dinosaurs.
c. to teach the reader about driving steam
shovels.
d. to give a light, humorous look at a large
machine.
5. The effect of the line “snorted white steam my
way” is to
a. compare the speaker’s fear to the shovel’s
size.
b. establish the historic validity of dinosaurs.
c. continue the comparison between the shovel
and a dinosaur.
d. emphasize the insignificance of humans
when.
6. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
a. aabcbddcee.
b. aabbcbbcdd.
c. aababccdee.
d. aabbbccdee.
7. How many stanzas are in the poem “Steam
Shovel”?
a. 1.
b. 2.
c. 3.
d. 4.
8. What literary element is often used in this
poem?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Simile
Personification
Idiom
onomatopoeia
9. What type of poem is “Steam Shovel”?
a. Haiku
b. Humorous Poem
c. Narrative
d. Concrete poem
10. How many lines are in the poem “Steam
Shovel”?
a. 10
b. 15
c. 20
d. 25