Poetry – English 10
Mr. Dils
1.
2.
3.
What makes a good poem?
What are the devices and strategies writers use to create their poems?
How do writers use devices and strategies to develop ideas and themes within their poems?
Part I – Understanding and Analyzing Poetry
1. Literary Terms Handout
2. Poetry Quotations
3. Starting Poems: “We Real Cool”/Brooks; “Punk”/Burt; “The Lady Knife-Thrower”/
Halpern; “Gretel in Darkness”/ Gluck
5. Narrative Poems: “The Skater of Ghost Lake”/ Benét; “The Centaur”/ Swenson; “Louis B.
Russell”/ Guernsey; “First Practice”/ Gildner;
6. Metaphor: “The White Man Pressed the Locks” “Metaphor”/ Plath; “When She Was Here
Li Bo…”/ Williams; “The One Girl at the Boys Party”/ Olds
Poetry Forms: Villanelle, Pantoum, Sonnet
Part II – Writing Poetry
1. POEM-A-NIGHT 2005
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read Starting Poems
study for vocabulary #5 quiz
read “The Skater of Ghost Lake”
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1/10
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begin studying poetry terms for quiz on Friday
read the rest of Narrative Poems
look for contemporary poem & poet
study for poetry terms quiz
read Metaphor Poems; decide on poem for paper/reading
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1/17
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no school
work on draft of poetry explication
read Poetry Forms poems
work on draft of poetry explication—bring to class
finish poetry explication
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1/24
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prepare for dramatic reading of your poem
vocabulary #1 (quarter 3)
POEM-a-NIGHT #1
POEM-a-NIGHT #2
study for vocab. quiz
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1/31
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POEM-a-NIGHT #3
POEM-a-NIGHT #4
draft #2
draft #3
finish final draft
ASSIGNMENT #1 – DUE: Monday, January 24
Research a poet who has published new poetry within the last 35 years and choose a poem of your liking.
Your poem should not pre-date 1970. The poem should be substantial enough to generate a three-page paper.
You will be writing an EXPLICATION of the poem, which means you will explain all aspects of the poem,
including LITERAL MEANING, SOUND (meter and devices), FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, TONE, and
THEME. The important question to answer in this explication is: how do the devices of the poem (sound,
figurative language) contribute to and develop the writer’s theme? More details will follow as we move
closer to writing about poetry.
ASSIGNMENT #2 – DUE: Monday, February 7
You will write a new poem each night, spending at least 45 minutes on each poem. Each poem should be a
completed draft. Here are a few ground rules:
All poems should be 12 lines or longer. Play with word combinations. Experiment with line breaks.
Experiment with the visual presentation of your poem. Strive for originality. Keep it concrete. Take risks.
ALWAYS read your poems out loud when writing and revising—poetry is rhythm and sound.
REMEMBER: Each day, one or more of your classmates will read your poem, and on one day all of
your classmates will read your poem. Also, you may be asked to read your poem to your classmates. With
this idea in mind, be sure the copy of the poem you bring to class is typed, or VERY NEATLY hand-written.
Topics for each poem are as follows:
NIGHT #1 -- ALTER EGO
Create an alter ego and put that person in action. Rely on strong verbs. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO
SOUND. Try to match the sound of your poem with the subject.
NIGHT #2 -- CHOICE NIGHT -- EMOTION
A. Capture an emotion (longing, pain, sorrow, elation, lust, etc.) in a situation or scene without mentioning
the emotion in the poem or in its title.
OR…
B. Write a poem to your real or imagined worst enemy.
NIGHT #3 – METAPHOR
Choose a subject and describe it in metaphors or similes. You may choose to use an extended metaphor (ex.
“White Man Pressed the Locks”) or a series of metaphors (ex. Plath’s “Metaphors”).
NIGHT #4 – FIXED FORM
Write a pantoum, a villanelle, or a sonnet. Or, you may write a poem with a fixed meter and regular rhyme
scheme. Remember, all poems should be twelve lines or longer! Avoid cheesy and predictable rhymes!
DRAFTS – Once you have completed all four drafts, you will decide which poem you are going to develop
into your final poem. You will play with and work on three more versions of your poem in addition to the
one you’ve already written. The fourth and final version of your poem will be the one that you will turn in
and that I will grade. You will also turn in all of your other poems, for a grand total of 8 poems (4 originals, 2
drafts, 1 final product).