Poetry Unit
* Questions to Think About *
1. What do you think of when you hear the word “poetry”? ____________________________
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2. List anything you know about poetry. __________________________________________
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* Poetry Vocabulary *
1. Voice: (Who is speaking? How are they speaking?) Voice is a word used to describe the way a
poem “talks/speaks” to the reader.
Example: Lyric poems express the feelings of the writer. A narrative poem tells a story.
2. Stanza: A stanza is a group within a poem, which may have two or many lines. They are like
paragraphs, except used in a poem not a story, essay, or composition.
3. Sound: A pattern in a poem such as rhyme, repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc…
4. Rhythm: Describes what kind of “beat” or meter a poem has. Diameter (2 beats),
Trimeter (3 beats), Tetrameter (4 beats), Pentameter (5 beats), Hexameter (6 beats)
5. Figures of speech: Also known has figurative language.
6. Form: Represents different standards/types of poems.
* Forms of Poetry *
Although there are a wide variety of poetry forms, listed below are the specific forms that we
will be focusing on in our poetry unit.
1. Alphabet Poem
2. Ballad
3. Cinquain and Diamante Poems
4. Haiku
5. Limerick
6. Rhyming Poem
7. Shape (Concrete) Poem
8. Free Verse Poem
** When a new form of poetry is introduced, we will begin by exploring the key
components and important facts of each form. Following a discussion and viewing a variety
of samples, you will be responsible to create your own poem for each particular style of
poetry that we will be studying. **
Alphabet Poetry
* Important Facts *
-
Each line begins with the letters of the alphabet in order (some contain all 26 letters)
Free verse
Has a title
Focuses on a particular topic
Selects words that describe the topic
Arranges the words in alphabetical order
Poet decides how many words go on each line
Poet may use "poetic license" – the word used may not be spelled correctly to fit in the
spot, but it sounds like it fits – for example, xceptional could be used for exceptional or
xciting for exciting or xit for exit
* Examples *
Lucky Day
A young girl was busy working on her project for school
But suddenly she had a question.
Could this be her lucky day?
Deciding to find out, she
Entered her backyard and
Found hundreds of green shamrocks waiting for her.
Snowflakes
Astonishingly beautiful
Cold, darting
Exciting frost
Graceful heavens
Icy jewels
Keen lace
Majestic needles of pretty, quiet,
Raining snow
Turning under
Vibrant Winds
Xciting,
yearly
Zany
Ballad Poem
* Important Facts *
- Ballads are often used in children’s poetry.
- Ballads typically tell a story (childhood memory).
- Ballads are meant to be song-like and emphasize strong rhythms, repetition of key phrases,
and rhymes.
* Ballad Format *
- A traditional ballad is made up of groups of stanzas.
- In a traditional ballad, the FIRST and THIRD LINES have FOUR STRESSES and the
SECOND and FOURTH have THREE.
- Each stanza MUST HAVE FOUR LINES!!!
- The SECOND and the FOURTH LINES RHYME!!!
- In some ballad poems, each line contains 8 syllables.
* Examples on the back! *
** Practice **
1. Topic: Write about a special event or favorite memory you have experienced or pick
a famous/historical individual and write about a special event or achievement in their
life.
2. Write a ballad poem containing 3-4 stanzas.
3. Be sure that you have FOUR LINES in each stanza and that the SECOND and
FOURTH LINES RHYME!!!
4. Try repeating important phrases such as in the last line of each stanza.
Ballad Poem Examples
The Bee Poem
A poem is a busy bee
Buzzing in your head.
His hive is full of hidden thoughts
Waiting to be said.
His honey comes from your ideas
That he makes into rhyme.
He flies around looking for
What goes on in your mind.
When it's time to let him out
To make some poetry,
He gathers up your secret thoughts
And then he sets them free.
A Poem Is a Little Path
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.
Happy Halloween!
I'd rather be foolish than ghoulish,
I'd rather dress up as a clown;
I'd rather wear clothes with polka dot bows,
I'd much rather smile than frown.
I'd rather be kooky than spooky,
I'd rather be friendly than mean;
I'd rather go greeting than tricking and treating,
I'd rather have fun Halloween!
Cinquain Poems
* Important Facts *
- A cinquain poem has FIVE lines.
- The word comes from the French word cinq, which means five.
- The best-known form of a cinquain was created in the early 1900’s.
- Similar to a haiku, the rules for writing a cinquain are based on SYLLABLES.
* Cinquain Format *
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
2
4
6
8
2
syllables
syllables
syllables
syllables
syllables
* Alternate Format *
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
1
2
3
4
1
word
words
words
words
word
Although there are no specific rules for writing a cinquain aside from the number of
lines and syllable or word count, here are suggested ways to organize your ideas.
Title (1 word)
Description of the title (2 words)
Some action about the title (3 words)
Feeling about the title (4 words)
Synonym (similar word) for title (1 word)
One noun (2 syllables)
Adjectives describing noun (4 syllables)
Verbs showing action (6 syllables)
Feeling words about noun (8 syllables)
Another noun similar to the first (2 syllables)
Cinquain Poem Examples
My Best Pumpkin (Word Cinquain)
Jack-o-lanterns
Orange pumpkin
Picking, growing, rolling
I’ve got a big pumpkin.
Pumpkin
Birthday (Syllable Cinquain)
Party
Happy, cheerful
Singing, eating, playing
My surprise tenth birthday party
Perfect
Favorite Snack (Syllable Cinquain)
Apple
Red, delicious
Crunching, chewing, eating
My favorite childhood treat
Delight
Free Verse Poems
* Important Facts *
-
In a free verse poem, there are pretty much NO RULES!
It is the job of the poet to make up their own rules.
Unlike other styles of poetry, a free verse DOES NOT need to have a specific number of
stanzas, lines, syllables, or even rhyme.
Although it may SEEM easier, it can be difficult to write a free verse poem because
there is not a specific format.
* Tips for Writing a Free Verse *
-
Brainstorm (Think about) How are you feeling at the moment? What is going on in your
life? What is the first thought that pops into your head?
Write down any of these thoughts that you are having or feelings you are experiencing.
Then go back and read what you have brainstormed. Look for a specific topic or pattern
to expand upon.
Decide how you want to arrange your poem. How many stanzas do you want to include? Do
you want your poem to rhyme? Is there going to be a syllable pattern?
Try incorporating elements from other styles of poetry.
Sample Brainstorm
How do I feel? Excited
Why? Almost summer
Why is this exciting? Graduation, vacation, free time, beach, sleeping late, no homework,
no tests, swimming, ice cream
* Now incorporate these ideas into a poem *
* Guidelines *
-
You must have a title for your free verse poem.
Your poem must also have a specific topic and single focus.
Everything else is UP TO YOU!!!
* Famous Free Verse Poems *
I Dream'd in a Dream
by Walt Whitman
I DREAM'D in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the
whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream'd that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led
the rest,
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.
Fog
by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Passing Time
Your skin like dawn
Mine like musk
One paints the beginning
of a certain end.
The other, the end of a
sure beginning.
By Maya Angelou
Haiku Poems
* Important Facts *
- The word “haiku” is a traditional form of Japanese poetry.
- The lines in a haiku rarely rhyme. That is up to you if you would like to rhyme or not!
- Since haikus are such short poems, they are usually written about SIMPLE TOPICS.
* Haiku Format *
- Haiku poems consist of THREE LINES.
- The FIRST LINE and the LAST LINE have FIVE SYLLABLES!
- The MIDDLE LINE has SEVEN SYLLABLES.
* Guidelines *
- Your haiku MUST follow the ABOVE haiku FORMAT! Do not forget a TITLE!
- Try picking a simple topic for your haiku. Not one you have written about already!
* Haiku Poem Examples *
How to write a haiku
I am first with five
Then seven in the middle -Five again to end.
Beaches
Sand scatters the beach
Waves crash on the sandy shore
Blue water shimmers
Easter Chocolate
Easter bunny hides
Easter eggs are out of sight
Kids look everywhere
Limerick Poems
* Important Facts *
- A limerick is a silly poem with FIVE LINES.
- They are often FUNNY or NONSENSICAL (do not make sense).
- Limericks were made famous by Edward Lear in the 1800’s.
* Limerick Format *
- The FIRST, SECOND, and FIFTH LINES RYHME and CONTAIN EIGHT or NINE SYLLABLES.
- The THIRD and FOURTH LINES RYHME and CONTAIN FIVE or SIX SYLLABLES.
- Limericks often start with the line “There once was a…” or “There was a …”
* Guidelines *
- Your limerick MUST follow the ABOVE limerick FORMAT! Do not forget a TITLE!
- Tip: Most lyrics focus on a person and tell a silly or made up story.
* Limerick Poem Examples *
STAR
by Kaitlyn Guenther
There once was a wonderful star
Who thought she would go very far
Until she fell down
And looked like a clown
She knew she would never go far.
There was an Old Man in a Boat
by Edward Lear
There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, 'I'm afloat, I'm afloat!'
When they said, 'No! you ain't!'
He was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.