I’m a Wizard of Poetry
How to Eat a Poem
How To Eat a Poem
by Eve Merriam
Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the
juice that
may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.
You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.
For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.
Alliteration
Poets want their work to sound interesting. Once way they do this is
by using alliteration (a-lit-ter-a-shun).
Alliteration is when authors repeat the first sound of a work in a piece
of writing. The same beginning sounds create an almost musical
effect for the audience.
For example:
“We're off the see the wizard,
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!”
“You billowing bale of bovine
fodder!”
Write sentences using alliteration:
For example:
Dorothy didn’t want to drag Toto down the dreary path.
1.
2.
3.
Underline the examples of alliteration. Write the letter of the repeated sound
next to each line. A few have been done for you.
SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT
WOULD NOT TAKE THE GARBAGE OUT
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (S)
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans, (SC)
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans and tangerines,
Crusts of black burned buttered toast,
Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . .
The garbage rolled on down the hall,
It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . .
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Globs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from green baloney,
Rubbery blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk and crusts of pie,
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold french fried and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That it finally touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,
"OK, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too late. . .
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sarah met an awful fate,
That I cannot now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!
Shel Silverstein, 1974
Figurative Language- Using Similes
A simile is a phrase comparing one ting or another using
the words “like” or “as”.
For example:
“When the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were
being rocked gently, like a baby.”
In this example from the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy rocking is being
compared to a baby. Does this help you understand how she must
have felt? We can tell that she probably wasn’t scared or hurt
because a baby rocking is very calm and smooth.
“His body was as round as a ball”
In this example from the Wizard of Oz, the author is comparing
the tin man’s body to a ball. Doesn’t this help us picture how
he looked?
Look at how using similes helps a writer to explain what he/she
wants the reader to understand. UNDERLINE THE SIMILES IN THE
EXAMPLES BELOW.
Without Similes
The witch was
mad.
Toto ran fast.
Dorothy was
nervous.
The winds blew.
With Similes
The witch was as mad as a grizzly
bear that was just awakened in the
middle of his hibernation.
Toto ran down the lane like a rocket.
Dorothy was as nervous as a turkey on
the day before Thanksgiving.
The winds blew as strong as an ox.
The munchkins
sang.
The munchkins sang as merrily as a
nest of baby birds.
Now you try it! Take these boring phrases and make them
descriptive by using similes. BE CREATIVE!
The bell rang.
 The bell rang as loudly as a plane taking off.
The boy ran.

It was hot.

Toto was brown.

The witch was ugly.

Glinda was kind.

Onomatopoeia
Definition: onomatopoeia is words that sound like the objects or animals they name
or the sounds they make.
Look at the example of onomatopoeia from the song
below.
Ha, ha, ha
Ho, ho, ho
And a couple of tra - la - las
That's how we laugh the day away
In the Merry Old Land of Oz
Bzz, bzz, bzz
Chirp, chirp, chirp
And a couple of la - di - das
That's how the crickets crick all day
In the Merry Old Land of Oz
Here is another example of a poem that uses
onomatopoeia:
30 seconds 'til the game is over.
Tick tock.Tick tock.
Oh no!
Slap!
Bang!
There goes the puck!
Clink! Clank!Clink!Clank!
The puck is heading for the goal!
Clang! Clang!Goal!
Buzz!Buzz!Buzz!
Game over!
Rustle!Clap!
Yackety Yak!
We won!
By: Rachel
Here is a famous one from Mother Goose. Make the onomatopoeia
words bold. The first one has been done for you.
Animals
Bow-wow, says the dog,
Mew, mew says the cat,
Grunt, grunt, goes the hog,
And squeak goes the rat.
Tu, whu, says the owl,
Quack, quack, says the duck,
And what the cuckoo says you know.
By Mother Goose
Now: You write your Own Poem using Onomatopoeia
Directions: Use your favorite scene from the Wizard of Oz. Then, use the format to
write a poem about it.
Sound word, sound word
Line describing action
Sound word, sound word
Line describing action
Sound word, sound word
Line describing action
Sound word, sound word
Line describing action
Line telling which scene you are describing.
Imagery
Writers use imagery to “paint a word picture” for their readers. Imagery draws the reader into
experiences by touching the senses which the reader already knows. This intensifies the impact of the
work and helps the reader to feel like t hey were really there.
Our five senses are : sight, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling.
Read the following poem by Shel Silverstein. See if you can find examples of
imagery.
SICK
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay,
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash, and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue-It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke-My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is---Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
~Shel Silverstein~
Now, you try it! Pick an object from the list below or choose another
object that is important in the Wizard of Oz:
Courage, brains, home, Dorothy’s shoes, Glinda’s wand, The witch’s crystal
ball, Tin man’s heart, The Emerald City, The haunted Trees, or something
from the movie that you think is memorable.
Now, describe it using your senses:
Item:
How does it look?
How does it sound?
How does it feel?
How does it taste?
How does it smell?
Write an imagery poem using the chart you just completed.
Cinquain:
A cinquain is a five line poem. There are different versions of
the cinquain. Here is a common example:
Use the format below to write a cinquain about a character from
the Wizard of Oz.
_____________________________
Name of character
_______________________________________,
___________________________________,
adjective describing the character,
adjective describing the character
___________________________, ___________________________,
___________________________,
Something the character does (Use ‘ing’ form),
Something the character does (Use ing form),
Something the character does (Use ‘ing’ form)
as _________________________ as a
_____________________________________
adjective
noun
_____________________________
Name of character
Synonym Poem
Synonym poems use words that mean the same things.
BIG
I’m talking big
!
I’m talking huge!
I’m talking enormous, immense,
Tremendous!
I’m talking hulking, towering,
Titanic, mountainous!
I’m talking maximum, massive,
Stupendous, gigantic, monumental!
Now you try it!
Choose a character from the Wizard of Oz: _________________
Now think of a word to describe him/her or it:
_______________________
Using the format, write a synonym poem using your describing
word.
Your character:________________________
I’m talking ________________________________
(Your describing word)
I’m talking _____________________________!
(Synonym for your describing word)
I’m talking ______________________, ________________________,
(synonym)
(synonym)
_______________________________!!
(synonym).
I’m talking ______________________, ________________________,
(synonym)
(synonym)
_______________________________,
_______________________________!!
(synonym)
(synonym
I’m talking ______________________, ________________________,
(synonym)
(synonym)
_______________________________,
_______________________________,
I’m talking _______________________________!!
(Your character’s name).
5 W’s poem
A 5 W’s Poem has 5 lines. Each line answers a question
beginning with the letter W. Who? What? Where? When?
Why?
For example:
Yum!
My Grandma (who)
Makes he best pizza (what)
In NJ (where)
Because she loves me! (why)
To write your own 5 W’s poem, you need to do the
following.
First: Choose a part of the Wizard of Oz. Summarize it
in your own words using the 5W’s. Then, create your
poem.
Example:
Meanie
Almyra Gulch
Tries to take away Toto
From Dorothy’s Farm
Because she is a miserable, lonely meanie!
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
Why:
Concrete Poem:
A concrete poem is one that takes the shape of the object it describes.
Give it a try!
First, pick a theme or topic.
from the Wizard of Oz!)
(I’d like you to pick something
Next, pick a shape.
Write your poem. Do not worry about the shape yet; just write
your poem. Concrete poems don't have to rhyme. Think about what
you love the most about it. Think about its qualities. Whatever
moves your heart will make a wonderful poem. Remember to add
details!
Now that you have your poem written, draw the shape you choose
from step 3 with a pencil on a piece of plain paper.
Copy your poem into the shape. You may have to play around with
the shape so that your poem fits.