How do poets use rhythm to impact
the feeling of their writing?
In this lesson you will learn how
rhythm adds to a poem by tracking
the beat and then matching the
rhythm with the feeling.
Let’s Review
SYLLABLES = Building blocks of words
Ice - 1
Water - 2
Goodbye - 2
Worrying - 3
Let’s Review
SYLLABLES
Stressed
Unstressed
CHICKen, not chickEN
Let’s Review
Stressed / unstressed pattern
creates RHYTHM in a poem
A Common Mistake
Not reading aloud = not hearing the rhythm
CoreLesson
Lesson
Core
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
By: Robert Frost
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
And sorry
‘ I could
‘ not ‘travel both
‘
And ‘be one ‘traveler, long
‘ I stood
‘
And looked
‘ down one
‘ as far‘ as I could
‘
To where it bent
‘ ‘
‘ ‘ in the undergrowth;
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
CoreLesson
Lesson
Core
How does the
rhythm sound to
our ears? Is it
fast or slow?
Smooth or
choppy?
CoreLesson
Lesson
Core
How does the rhythm impact the feeling of
the poem? Does the rhythm support or
contrast with the meaning so far?
The smooth but measurable rhythm supports
the thoughtful mood of the poem. As the
speaker is weighing two options, the rhythm
matches the speaker’s feeling.
CoreLesson
Lesson
Core
1
Read the poem aloud, noticing the
rhythmic pattern.
2
How does the poem sound?
(fast or slow? smooth or choppy?)
3
Visualize: “Does the rhythm sound like it
matches what is happening in the poem?”
In this lesson you have learned
how rhythm impacts a poem by
tracking the beat of a poem and
then matching the rhythm with
the feeling.
Guided Practice
Mark the rhyming pattern in
stanza 2 of “The Road Not
Taken”.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
By: Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Guided Practice
Then, determine what the rhythm sounds like
and decide whether it supports or contrasts
with what’s happening in the stanza.
The
rhythm (choose one)
supports / contrasts with the mood of the
poem because:
Extension Activities
Mark the stressed syllables in the following lines.
I walked through the door
And what did I see
But a cat on the floor
Staring at me!
Is there a rhythmic pattern? Explain.
Extension Activities
Write one poem with a strong rhythmic
pattern, and then re-write the poem without
rhythm, by changing as few words as
possible.
How does the rhythm affect the poem?
Quick Quiz
Quiz
Quick
Mark the rhythm and the
stressed syllables in “Cripple”
by Carl Sandburg.
Quick Quiz
Quiz
Quick
Then, look at the rhythm of the poem as
a whole. How does the rhythm impact
the poem’s overall feeling?