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CINQUAIN
cinquain (SIN-cain): an unrhymed poem consisting of five lines arranged in a special way.
Planet
Graceful, ringed
Spinning, whirling, twirling
Dances with neighbor Jupiter
Saturn
CINQUAIN
The word cinquain comes from the Latin root for “five.” Notice that the cinquain has five lines that
follow this sequence:
Line A: One vague or general one-word subject or topic
Line B: Two vivid adjectives that describe the topic
Line C: Three interesting -ing action verbs that fit the topic
Line D: Four-word phrase that captures feeling about the topic
Line E: A very specific term that explains Line A
Here’s another example:
Insect
Hidden, hungry
Preening, searching, stalking
Waits as if praying
Mantis
CINQUAIN
Word Pair Ideas: General topic / specific topic
● bird / parrot (or crow, canary, dove)
●
fruit / apple (or pear, banana, watermelon, peach, etc.)
●
season / spring (or summer, fall, autumn, winter)
●
winter / January (or spring / April, summer / July, autumn / October)
●
candy / jawbreaker (or Snickers, jelly beans, licorice)
●
storm / tornado (or hurricane, blizzard, squall)
●
water / river (or ocean, lake, stream, creek)
●
grandparent / Nana (or Grandma, Papa, Pops)
CINQUAIN
Line A: Name a general topic (see suggestions above for ideas).
Line E: Rename your topic, being more specific. This will be the last line of your cinquain.
Line B: Brainstorm 5-6 vivid, concrete adjectives to describe the topic on Line E.
Do not choose words that end in “-ing.”
Line C: Brainstorm 5-6 descriptive participles (verbs ending in -ing) that fit the topic on Line E.
Line D: Brainstorm several four-word phrases that capture some feeling about the topic on Line E.
Follow these tips to develop an effective phrase:
● Do not use any “to be” verbs or vague words.
●
Do not repeat any words used elsewhere in the cinquain.
●
If you can’t think of something, using a combination of adjective + noun + verb + adverb will
often help you come up with the most concrete phrase possible.
CINQUAIN
Write Your Cinquain
Your cinquain should have 5 lines and the finished poem should only have 11 words.
Line A. _______
Line B. _______ , _______
Line C. _______ , _______, _______
Line D. _______ _______ _______ _______
Line E. _______
DIAMANTE
Diamante: A seven-line poem that takes the shape of a diamond.
Lion
Majestic, proud
Roaring, snarling, prowling
Mane, muscle . . . Fleece, fluff
Bleating, leaping, grazing
Meek, gentle
Lamb
DIAMANTE
A Poem of Opposites
Remember that the first and last words of a cinquain are synonyms—the last word of the poem
renames the first. Diamantes, however, are poems about opposites: the first and last words have
opposite meanings (or convey opposite ideas).
A diamante has seven lines that follow this sequence:
Line A: Topic A (must be a noun)
Line B: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic A
Line C: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic A
Line D: Two concrete nouns about Topic A and two about Topic G
Line E: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic G
Line F: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic G
Line G: Topic G (must be a noun)
DIAMANTE
Here’s another example:
Light
Clear, brilliant
Glowing, shining, revealing
Mirror, candle . . . Whisper, shadow
Deepening, sleeping, shrouding
Black, quiet
Darkness
DIAMANTE
Opposite Word Pair Ideas
●
thunder/lightning
Correct: age/youth (nouns)
Incorrect: old/young (adjectives)
● cat/dog
●
earth/sea
●
rose/thorn
●
victory/defeat
●
peace/turmoil
●
boy/girl
●
hamburger/Coke
●
pencil/paper
●
sandals/sneakers
●
king/queen
●
fire/ice
DIAMANTE
Line A: Name a topic (see the suggestions above for some ideas).
Line G: Name an opposite topic. (This will be the LAST line of your diamante.)
Remember—topics must be nouns.
Line B: Brainstorm 5-6 vivid, concrete adjectives to describe Topic A. Do not choose words
that end in “-ing.”
Line C: Brainstorm 5-6 highly descriptive participles (verbs ending in “-ing”) that fit Topic A.
Line D: Brainstorm several nouns that tell something about Topic A and Topic G. Be
careful—make sure you choose NOUNS, not ADJECTIVES!
Line E: Brainstorm 5-6 highly descriptive participles (verbs ending in “-ing”) that fit Topic G.
Line F: Brainstorm 5-6 vivid, concrete adjectives to describe Topic G. Do not choose words
that end in “-ing.”
DIAMANTE
Writing Your Diamante
1.
Pick out your most descriptive words from your brainstorming and put your diamante
together. Diamantes do not need titles.
2.
When you are satisfied, recopy the poem onto clean notebook paper.
3.
Center your diamante on the paper.
4.
Begin each line with a capital letter, and remember your commas. Do not use ending
punctuation.
5.
Include three spaced periods in the middle of Line D.
6.
When finished, double-check for concreteness!
DIAMANTE
Line A. _______
Line B. _______ , _______
Line C. _______ , _______ , _______
Line D. _______ , _______ . . . _______ , _______
Line E. _______ , _______ , _______
Line F. _______ , _______
Line G. _______
DIAMANTE
Sun
Golden, glorious
Warming, burning, shining
Day, bright, night, crescent
Illuminating, shimmering, orbiting
Silvery, shadowy
Moon
Dreams
delightful, wonderful
exciting, daring, fascinating
kings, queens, monsters, giant skittels
raging, horrifying, terrifying
vicious, horrible
nightmares