Unit 1
Narrative Writing
Write a Narrative Poem
Narrative Poem
What is a narrative poem?
• A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story.
• A traditional form of narrative is the epic, a long
story often told in verse that features heroes and
foes and provides a portrait of a culture.
• In this assignment, you will write a
narrative poem about a contemporary
hero facing a contemporary “foe.”
Assignment
• Compose a narrative poem about a modernday hero
Purpose
• To describe a contemporary hero using
traditional poetic conventions
Audience
• An author interested in using your narrative
poem to introduce a book on your hero
WRITING RUBRIC
A successful narrative poem has these
qualities:
 tells the story of a hero facing a challenge
 uses poetic conventions such as stanza,
meter, and rhyme
 uses imagery, sound devices, and figurative
language
 Prewrite
Select a Topic
• Many people can be considered modern-day
heroes:
—police and firefighters protecting lives
—teachers improving minds
—scientists curing diseases
• What other modern-day heroes
can you think of?
 Prewrite
Select a Topic
• Make a list of three or four specific people who are
possible heroes.
• For each, identify a challenge he or she faces.
• Choose the hero you feel you can best portray in a
narrative poem.
 Prewrite
Gather Information
• Research your hero to learn more about his or her
life.
—If the person is famous, use both library and Internet
resources.
—If the person is not famous, talk to others or draw from
your own experience with this individual.
• Gather information about this
person’s background, personal
qualities, and accomplishments.
 Prewrite
Gather Information
• Also gather information about the foe or challenge
your hero has faced.
—Is it another person or group of people?
—Is it a custom or law?
• Look into the background of the foe, and identify
its qualities.
• Determine how this foe has stood in opposition to
your hero.
• Record your research findings using a graphic
organizer like the one on the next slide.
Hero Chart
HERO
FOE
Background
Background
Qualities
Qualities
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
RESULTS
 Prewrite
Organize Ideas
• Review the information you recorded on each side
of the chart.
—Which details best represent the qualities and
achievements of your hero?
—Which details best represent those of your foe?
• Put checkmarks next to five or so items on each
side that you will use to tell your hero’s story.
• Identify information from the bottom “RESULTS”
section to use to create an overall impression of
your hero and his or her challenge.
 Prewrite
Write an Organizing Statement
• Based on the items you have chosen, write one
sentence that states the message you want to
convey about your hero.
• This sentence will not appear in your narrative
poem but will help you focus on your message.
• One student wrote this organizing statement:
Martin Luther King Jr. was determined to
bring about change using peaceful means,
no matter what his opponents did to him.
 Draft
Conventions of Poetry
• Writing a poem involves using the unique
conventions of poetry.
• For instance, whereas a work of prose, such as an
essay, is written in paragraphs, a poem is written in
stanzas.
• Common types of stanzas include couplets,
comprised of two lines, and quatrains, comprised
of four lines.
 Draft
Conventions of Poetry
• Traditional poems also have meter and rhyme.
—A regular rhythmic pattern in poetry is called meter.
Meter is determined by the number of beats, or stresses,
in each line.
—The repetition of sounds at the ends of words, as with
sight and rite, is called rhyme. Many poems have end
rhyme, in which the words rhyme at the ends of lines.
—A common rhyme scheme, or pattern of end rhymes, is
to have every other line rhyme.
 Draft
Conventions of Poetry
• Other conventions of poetry relate to how words
are used, or word choice.
• By using literary devices such as imagery and
figures of speech like simile and metaphor, poets
can mold language in unique ways.
Example of Simile
The stars against the midnight sky
were sparkling like mica in a riverbed.
from Gilgamesh
 Draft
Conventions of Poetry
• For this assignment, focus on writing a traditional
narrative poem that
—is organized into stanzas
—has both meter and rhyme
• In addition, experiment with using at least two
literary devices, such as imagery, alliteration, and
metaphor.
“Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that
which is distorted.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley
 Draft
Structure
• Unlike an essay or report, a poem does not have an
introduction, body, and conclusion.
• However, as a story, a narrative poem should be
structured to provide an opening and a closing in
addition to the details of the story.
• Follow the three-part structure outlined on the
following slide.
Narrative Poem Structure
Opening stanza
• Introduce your hero, and create a context
for his or her story.
Middle stanza
• Write one stanza for each main point you
want to make about your hero.
Closing stanza
• Show how the story ends, and create a
final impression of your hero.
 Draft
Opening Stanza
• The opening stanza of your narrative poem should
introduce your hero and set the stage for his or her
story.
 Draft
Middle Stanza
• To write the middle stanzas, use the information
you mapped out in the Prewrite stage.
—Look at the items you checked off in your Hero Chart.
—Plan to write one stanza for each main point you want
to make about this person.
—Begin by jotting down each point in a phrase or two.
—Focus on the key words associated with this point, such
as the person’s name, and use these words in creating
rhyme.
 Draft
Final Stanza
• Your final stanza should do two things:
—Bring the story to an end
—Leave the reader with a final impression
DOVE
Rita Dove, former poet laureate and
Pulitzer Prize winner, notes that “poetry
is language at its most distilled and most
powerful.” Making careful word
choices is critical to poetry. Dove also
says about writing poetry,
• “In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger
poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I
discover things.”
• “In order to convey things accurately, the human being is
almost forced to find the most precise words possible,
which is a precondition for literature.”
DRAFT STAGE
Opening Stanza
A dream was born one winter day.
Georgia had found a King.
Establishes subject
and context
A man set out to pave the way
for civil rights to begin.
Defines challenge
REVISE STAGE
Opening Stanza
A dream was born one winter day.
Georgia the South had found sired a
its King.
Improves meter and
rhyme
A man set out to pave the way
Creates alliteration
and imagery
for civil rights to begin sing.
DRAFT STAGE
Third Stanza
He went on and on, not one to quit
while others fought and raged.
Identifies events in
hero’s life
They bombed his house and soiled
his name
but they could not make him stop.
Focuses on his courage
REVISE STAGE
Third Stanza
He went on and on, On he went, not
one to quit
while others fought and raged.
They bombed his house and soiled
his name
but they could not make him stop
change.
Improves meter and rhyme
DRAFT STAGE
Final Stanza
Some of the people he fought
Brings story to an end
wanted him to stop.
With a bullet he was killed—
but his ideas, they could not end.
Creates final impression
REVISE STAGE
Final Stanza
Sadly, some of the people those he
fought
Creates alliteration
and metaphor
wanted him to stop would rather
break than bend.
With a bullet shot he was killed
stopped—
but his ideas dream, they could not
end.
Improves meter and rhyme
Creates better final
impression
 Revise
Evaluate Your Draft
• You can evaluate your own poem or exchange
poems with a classmate and evaluate each other’s
work.
• Either way, think carefully about what works well
and what can be improved.
• Start by looking at the content and organization.
• Make sure that the poem tells a story based on the
organizing statement.
 Revise
Evaluate Your Draft
• Each stanza should present a new idea about the
hero.
• The poem also should follow the poetic
conventions of stanza, meter, and rhyme.
• It should use at last two literary devices, such as
imagery, alliteration, and metaphor.
• Make notes directly on the poem about what
changes need to be made.
• Use the Revision Checklist on the next two slides
to guide your evaluation.
REVISION CHECKLIST
Content & Organization
 Does the opening stanza introduce the hero
and set the context for his or her story?
 Does each stanza relate clearly to the
organizing statement?
 Does each stanza use rhyme, and meter?
 Does each stanza use literary devices, such
as imagery and figures of speech?
REVISION CHECKLIST
 Does the closing stanza finish the story and
create a final impression of the hero?
Grammar & Style
 Do all of your subjects and verbs agree?
 Do you use pronouns correctly throughout?
Do the pronouns agree with their
antecedents?
 Revise
Proofread for Errors
• Read through your poem again to check for any
remaining errors.
• Use proofreader’s symbols to mark any errors you
find.
• Print out a final draft and read the entire poem
once more before turning it in.
Student Model
Review the Student Model final draft on page
85 of your textbook and answer the questions
that appear in red in the margin.
Writing Follow-Up
Publish and Present
• Perform your poem for the class using costumed
readers, props, and musical accompaniment.
• Show the class a videotaped presentation of
your poem.
• Enhance the storytelling aspect
of your narrative poem by
illustrating one stanza from it.
Writing Follow-Up
Reflect
• Think of several contemporary heroes from
television programs, movies, and novels.
—How is the modern-day hero alike and different from
the hero depicted in Anglo-Saxon literature?
—Which hero do you prefer? Why?