Download 8th Grade Poetry Unit

POETRY
Poetic
GENRES
Poetic GENRES
To begin with,
let’s remember
that most poetry
does NOT rhyme.
Poetic GENRES
Lyric poetry
DEFINITION: highly musical verse that expresses
the observations and feelings of a single speaker. It
creates a single, unified impression.
 Short
 Usually in 1st person point of view
 Expresses emotion or describes a scene
 Does NOT tell a story
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic GENRES
Acrostic poetry
DEFINITION: a poem in which the first letter of
each line spells a word or phrase that is the topic of
the poem.
 Oftentimes done about a name
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic GENRES
Ballad poetry
DEFINITION: a poem that tells a story in a musical
way or with a musical feeling
 Can be as long as the story requires
 Odd-numbered lines longer than evennumbered lines
 Even-numbered lines should rhyme
Poetic GENRES
Epic poetry
DEFINITION: a long narrative poem about the
adventures of gods or a hero. Serious in tone and
broad in theme.
 Very long
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic GENRES
Concrete or Form poetry
DEFINITION: a poem with a physical shape that
suggests the subject/topic. The poet arranges the
letters, punctuation, and lines to create an image, or
picture, on the page.
 Length – must fit into the shape
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic
Forms
Poetic Forms
Haiku
DEFINITION: a Japanese poem about nature.
by Rolf Nelson
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator
hAIKU
NOTE: not technically a haiku
because it’s not about nature
by Jonathan Stephens
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
Tell me I'm like light,
light that reflects off windows
right into your eyes
by Jonathan Stephens
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
I long for summer
Swinging in my green hammock
The oak leaves whistling
by Matsuo Basho
2 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
6 SYLLABLES
Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps' nest.
NOTE: But that’s not the right
syllables! How is it a haiku?
Poetic Forms
Haiku
DEFINITION: a Japanese poem about nature.
 Length – 3 lines
 5-7-5
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic Forms
Cinquain
DEFINITION: can be about anything
“November “by Adelaide Crapsey
2 SYLLABLES
4 SYLLABLES
6 SYLLABLES
8 SYLLABLES
2 SYLLABLES
Listen . . .
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.
“Snow” by Adelaide Crapsey
2 SYLLABLES
4 SYLLABLES
6 SYLLABLES
8 SYLLABLES
2 SYLLABLES
Look up . . .
From bleak’ning hills
Blows down the light, first breath
Of wintry wind . . . look up, and scent
The snow!
“Guarded Wound” by Adelaide Crapsey
2 SYLLABLES
4 SYLLABLES
8 SYLLABLES
9 SYLLABLES
3 SYLLABLES
If it
Were lighter touch
Than petal of flower resting
On grass, oh still too heavy it were,
Too heavy!
Cinquains
Poetic Forms
Cinquain
DEFINITION: can be about anything
 Length – 5 lines
 2-4-6-8-2
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic Forms
Tanka
DEFINITION: can be about anything
by Margaret Chula
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
hazy autumn moon
the sound of chestnuts dropping
from an empty sky
I gather your belongings
into boxes for the poor
by Lenard D. Moore
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
The night is too long
A tavern just off the road
With only one car,
But the man and woman hug
To the song on the jukebox
by David Rice
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
5 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
7 SYLLABLES
yellow daffodils
in both our growing gardens
I worship mine most,
more than my neighbor's practice
though they look the same as mine
Tankas
Poetic Forms
Tanka
DEFINITION: can be about anything
 Length – 5 lines
 5-7-5-7-7
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Poetic Forms
Villanelle
DEFINITION: highly specialized 6-stanza, 19-line
poem that features two repeating lines
Villanelle
A1
B
C1
The flashlight almost hit us again
Guards patrol the hill to keep us from our goal
We are going to get the flag
D
B
A1
We dart from rock to tree in pursuit of the dream
Crawling through bushes and pine trees, clothes black as coal
The flashlight almost hit us again
D
B
C1
We have to get the flag before the other four teams
Red and white striped on the hill, in a field, atop a pole
We are going to get the flag
D
B
A1
Snaking like snipers through the trees avoiding the beams
We crawl, one behind the other, through brush and through holes
The flashlight almost hit us again
D
B
C1
An open field is our last obstacle but all around flashlights gleam
We military crawl through the foot-high grass barely avoiding a patrol
We are going to get the flag
D
B
A1
C1
We have to grab the flag before we are seen
Across the shining moonlit grass field we can see the flag, our goal
The flashlight almost hit us again
We are going to get the flag
Poetic Forms
Villanelle
DEFINITION: highly specialized 6-stanza poem
that features two repeating lines
 Length – 19 lines
 No syllable requirements
 Rhyme scheme:
A1
D
D
D
D
D
B
B
B
B
B
B
C1
A1
A1
A1
C1
C1
C1
Poetic Forms
Shakespearean Sonnet
DEFINITION: a type of sonnet made famous by
William Shakespeare
 Length – 14 lines
 10 syllables per line
 Rhyme scheme:
A
C
G
E
B
D
G
F
A
C
E
B
D
F
Romeo & Juliet
the
Prologue
Shakespearean Sonnet
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
Two households, both alike in DIGNITY
(In fair Verona, where we lay our SCENE),
From ancient grudge break to new MUTINY,
Where civil blood makes civil hands UNCLEAN.
From forth the fatal loins of these two FOES
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their LIFE;
Whose misadventured piteous OVERTHROWS
Doth with their death bury their parents’ STRIFE.
The fearful passage of their death-marked LOVE
And the continuance of their parents’ RAGE,
Which, but their children’s end, naught could REMOVE
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our STAGE;
The which, if you with patient ears ATTEND,
What hear shall miss, our toil shall strive to MEND.
Shakespearean Sonnet
A
B
A
B
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Two households, both alike in DIGNITY
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
10
(In fair Verona, where we lay our SCENE),
1
2 3
4
5 6 7 8 9 10
From ancient grudge break to new MUTINY,
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9
10
Where civil blood makes civil hands UNCLEAN.
Shakespearean Sonnet
A
B
A
B
˘
/
˘
/ ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Two households, both alike in DIGNITY
˘ / ˘ /˘
/
˘ /
˘
/
1 2 3 4 5
6
7 8 9
10
(In fair Verona, where we lay our SCENE),
˘
/ ˘
/
˘
/ ˘
/ ˘ /
1
2 3
4
5 6 7 8 9 10
From ancient grudge break to new MUTINY,
˘
/ ˘ /
˘ / ˘ /
˘
/
1
2 3 4
5
6 7 8
9
10
Where civil blood makes civil hands UNCLEAN.
Poetic Forms
Shakespearean Sonnet
DEFINITION: a type of sonnet made famous by
William Shakespeare
 Length – 14 lines
 10 syllables per line
 Rhyme scheme:
A
C
G
E
B
D
G
F
A
C
E
B
D
F
Romeo & Juliet
the
first kiss
Act 1 | Scene 5 Party
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
If I profane with my unworthliest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much
Which mannerly devotion shows in this
For saints has hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.
They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.
Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take.
I Sat & Pondered
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
by Jonathan Stephens
I sat and pondered the way I would die
wishing a death fit for history books
hoping to someday fight a tall grizzly
on a bridge by a small creek in the woods.
It would be a heroic death for me
to battle the brute of a bear like this,
His instinct, my mind, his power, my speed,
my courage and strength will stand against his.
My last crusade of great valor and moves.
Think of the death, the sharp paws bludgeoning,
swatting, pawing, the roar of the bear proves
this death’s valor, the makes of a legend.
My thoughts can yet determine my ending.
In sleep? Passive? My death is my sending.
Poetic Forms
Limerick
DEFINITION: a humorous, musical-feeling poem
that oftentimes makes fun of or tells a story about a
specific person.
LImerick
There once was a Thingamajig
Like a Whatsis, but three times as big.
When it first came in view,
It looked something like you
But it stayed and turned into a pig.
Poetic Forms
Limerick
DEFINITION: a humorous, musical-feeling poem
that oftentimes makes fun of or tells a story about a
specific person.
 Length – 5 lines
 3 beats – 3 beats – 2 beats – 2 beats – 3 beats
 Rhyme scheme: A-A-B-B-A
LImerick
There was a young fellow who thought
Very little, but thought it a lot.
Then at long last he knew
What he wanted to do,
But before he could start, he forgot.
LImerick
There once was an ape in a zoo
Who looked out through the bars and
saw YOU!
Do you think that it’s fair
To give poor apes a scare?
I think it’s a mean thing to do.
LImerick
I've been studying all night and I'm
tired,
But I can't sleep because I'm so wired.
So I'll play on the net
'Stead of going to bed,
And my tests will seem a quagmire.
Poetic Forms
Ode
DEFINITION: a formal lyric poem with a serious
theme. It is usually long and may be written for a
private occasion or a public ceremony. Odes often
honor people, commemorate events, or respond to
natural scenes.
 Length – usually long
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Ode
William Wordsworth’s
“Ode Composed on a May Morning”
While from the purpling east departs
The star that led the dawn,
Blithe Flora from her couch upstarts,
For May is on the lawn.
A quickening hope, a freshening glee,
Foreran the expected Power,
Whose first-drawn breath, from bush and tree,
Shakes off that pearly shower . . .
Poetic Forms
Elegy
DEFINITION: a solemn and formal lyric poem
about death. It may mourn a particular person or
reflect on a serious or tragic theme, such as the
passing of youth, beauty, or a way of life
 No length requirements
 No syllable requirements
 No rhyme scheme requirements
Thomas Gray’s
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
. . . Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wish'd) a
friend.
Elegy
Poetic
Techniques
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Line
DEFINITION: basic structural component of a
poem. Literally, a row of words that ends
somewhere.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Stanza
DEFINITION: a formal division of lines in a poem
that is considered as a unit. Separated by spaces.
Like prose paragraphs, only for poetry. Conveys a
single idea.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Types of Stanzas
Couplet
Triplet (tercet)
Quatrain
Quintet (cinquain)
Sestet (sextet)
Septet (heptastich)
Octave
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
2-line stanza
3-line stanza
4-line stanza
5-line stanza
6-line stanza
7-line stanza
8-line stanza
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Meter
DEFINITION: the rhythmical pattern of the poem.
Determined by the number of stresses or beats in
each line.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Foot
DEFINITION: a basic unit of a meter. Normally
contains either two or three syllables with varying
patterns of stress.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Types of Meter
monometer
dimeter
trimeter
tetrameter
pentameter
hexameter
heptameter
octometer
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
1 foot per line
2 feet per line
3 feet per line
4 feet per line
5 feet per line
6 feet per line
7 feet per line
8 feet per line
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Now practice them aloud…
monometer
dimeter
trimeter
tetrameter
pentameter
hexameter
heptameter
octometer
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
mon – ah – meh – ter
dih – meh – ter
trih – meh – ter
teh – tra – meh – ter
pen – ta – meh – ter
hex – a – meh – ter
hept – a – meh – ter
oct – ah – meh – ter
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Types of Feet
iambic
trochaic
anapestic
dactylic
–
–
–
–
unstressed, stressed ˘ /
stressed, unstressed / ˘
unstressed, unstressed, stressed ˘ ˘ /
stressed, unstressed, unstressed / ˘ ˘
˘ /
/ ˘ ˘ ˘ / / ˘ ˘
before listen in a jiff run in a
[iambic]
[trochaic]
[anapestic]
[dactylic]
Shakespearean Sonnet
FOOT
A
B
FOOT FOOT FOOT FOOT
˘
/
˘
/ ˘ / ˘ /
˘ /
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Two households, both alike in DIGNITY
˘ / ˘ / ˘
/
˘ / ˘
/
1 2 3 4 5
6
7 8 9
10
(In fair Verona, where we lay our SCENE),
Type of foot =
Type of meter =
iambic
pentameter
Limerick
FOOT
A
A
B
FOOT
FOOT
˘
/ ˘ ˘ / ˘ ˘ /
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
There once was an ape in a zoo
˘
˘
/
˘
˘
/
˘ ˘
/
1
2
3
4
5 6 7 8
9
Who looked out through the bars and saw YOU!
˘
˘
/
˘ ˘ /
1
2
3 4 5 6
Do you think that it’s fair
Type of foot =
Type of meter =
anapestic
trimeter
by Timothy Steele
FOOT
A
A
FOOT
FOOT FOOT
/
˘
/ ˘
/ ˘ / ˘
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8
First come I; my name is Jowett.
/
˘
/ ˘
/ ˘ / ˘
1
2 3
4
5 6 7 8
There’s no knowledge but I know it.
Type of foot =
Type of meter =
trochaic
tetrameter
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Types of Rhymes
End/Audible
Visual
Near/Incomplete
Internal
–
–
–
–
words at the ends of lines rhyme
words look like they should rhyme
(see assonance & alliteration)
words inside the line rhyme with
words at the end of the line
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Rhyme Scheme
DEFINITION: a regular pattern of rhyming words
in a poem. Each new rhyme is assigned the next
letter of the alphabet, while repeat sounds get
whatever letter they were first assigned.
What’s the rhyme scheme?
From “Fireflies” by Owl City
You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep
Cause they fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude, but I
Would just stand and stare.
A
A
B
C
C
A
C
I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd
Rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
Cause everything is never as it seems.
B
B
A
B
B
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Alliteration
DEFINITION: the repetition of initial consonant
sounds. Writers use alliteration to draw attention to
certain words or ideas, to imitate sounds, and to
create musical effects.
Alliteration
Paul McCann’s
“Dewdrops Dancing Down Daisies”
Don't delay dawns disarming display.
Dusk demands daylight.
Dewdrops dwell delicately
drawing dazzling delight.
Dewdrops dilute daisies domain.
Distinguished debutantes. Diamonds defray delivered
daylights distilled daisy dance.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Assonance
DEFINITION: the effect created when words with
the same vowel sound are used in close proximity,
but where the consonant sounds in these words are
different.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Consonance
DEFINITION: the effect created when words with
the same consonant sound are used in close
proximity, but where the vowel sounds in these
words are different.
Assonance
Cormac McCarthy’s
Outer Dark
And stepping softly with her air of blooded ruin about
the glade in a frail agony of grace she trailed her rags
through dust and ashes, circling the dead fire, the
charred billets and chalk bones, the little calcined
ribcage.
alliteration
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Free Verse
DEFINITION: poetry not written in a regular,
rhythmical pattern, or meter. The poet is free to
write lines of any length or with any number of
stresses, or beats. Free verse is therefore less
constraining than metrical verse, in which every line
must have a certain length and a certain number of
stresses.
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Blank Verse
DEFINITION: Poetry without a rhyme scheme, but
it has meter of some kind.
MARULLUS
Where is thy leather apron and thy rule?
What dost thou with thy best apparel on?
You, sir, what trade are you?
Second Commoner
Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but,
as you would say, a cobbler.
From william shakespeare’s
First Commoner
Why, sir, a carpenter.
Julius caesar
FLAVIUS
Hence! home, you idle creatures get you home:
Is this a holiday? what! know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a labouring day without the sign
Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou?
Blank verse
Poetic TECHNIQUES
Refrain
DEFINITION: a regularly repeated line or group of
lines in a poem or a song
Refrain
From Ludo’s “Love Me Dead”
VERSE
Love me cancerously
Like a salt-sore soaked in the sea.
'High-maintenance' means
You're a gluttonous queen
Narcissistic and mean.
Kill me romantically
Fill my soul with vomit
Then ask me for a piece of gum.
Bitter and dumb
You're my sugarplum.
REFRAIN (CHORUS)
You're awful, I love you!
She moves through moonbeams slowly
She knows just how to hold me
And when her edges soften
Her body is my coffin
I know she drains me slowly
Poetic
Devices
Poetic Devices
Simile
DEFINITION: a figure of speech that uses like or as
to make a direct comparison between two unlike
ideas.
EXAMPLES:
He is as tall as a redwood tree.
She runs like a snail.
Poetic Devices
Metaphor
DEFINITION: a figure of speech that describes
something as though it were something else.
EXAMPLES:
from Tombstone >>> “Why Wyatt, you’re an oak.”
You are such a stick in the mud.
Poetic Devices
Idiom
DEFINITION: an expression that has a meaning
particular to a language or region. A phrase in which
the literal meaning of the words does not add up to
the actual meaning.
idioms
EXAMPLES:
to go bananas = to get super excited
on pins and needles = waiting with much anxiety
hit the ground running = to get a quick start on something
copycat = someone who copies or mimics
in the doghouse = on someone’s bad side / in trouble
fly off the handle = to get super angry, very fast
Poetic Devices
Analogy
DEFINITION: makes a comparison between two or
more things that are similar in some ways but
otherwise unalike – typically, A : B :: C : D –
2 things compared to 2 things.
EXAMPLES:
A glove is to hand as monitor is to computer.
Horses are to past societies as computers are to future
societies.
Poetic Devices
Hyperbole
DEFINITION: obvious and intentional exaggeration
EXAMPLES:
These books weigh a ton.
I’m so tired I could sleep for a year.
Poetic Devices
Litote
DEFINITION: a form of understatement, always
deliberate and with the intention of emphasis.
Oftentimes, comes in the form of sarcasm
or complaint.
EXAMPLES:
His skin is as smooth as sandpaper.
“Yeah, you’re hilarious.”
“But I’m not going to have anything to wear.”
Poetic Devices
Symbol
DEFINITION: anything that stands for or represents
something else. Symbols are common in everyday
life.
EXAMPLES:
See the following slides…
What do
the following
things usually
stand for in
literature
and film?
the color
black
the color
white
the color
green
the color
blue
Poetic Devices
Personification
DEFINITION: a type of figurative language in
which a nonhuman subject is given human
characteristics.
EXAMPLES:
Nature speaks to people.
The window winked at me.
Poetic Devices
Pun
DEFINITION: the humorous use of a word or
phrase to emphasize or suggest different meanings
or applications; words that are alike or nearly alike
in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.
EXAMPLES:
Illusionists always find themselves in tricky situations.
Romance isn't a science . . . it's a heart.
Pun
See www.PunOfTheDay.com
Poetic Devices
Irony
DEFINITION: literary techniques that involve
surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions
EXAMPLES:
from Sideshow Bob on the Simpsons:
“I'm aware of the irony of appearing on TV in order to
decry it.”
(decry - condemn or denounce)
Poetic Devices
Parody
DEFINITION: a humorous or satirical imitation of a
serious piece of literature or writing
EXAMPLES:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Parry Hotter and the Seamy Side of Magic
Poetic Devices
Onomatopoeia
DEFINITION: the use of words that imitate sounds
and can help put the reader in the activity of a poem.
EXAMPLES:
Thump
Phlblblbplb
Kerplunk
Squish
Thwack
Splink
POETRY