Download For my Sister Molly Who in the Fifties

Literature
&
Composition
POETRY
PACKET
Q3
NAME_________________________
1
Literature & Composition
Poetry
Name________________________
What is Poetry, and why is it so darn scary?
As we begin our poetry mini-unit, I want you to remain open-minded about the beauty and
complexity found in poetry. Many students are intimidated by poetry, and yet simple poetry—
rhymes and limericks—were often our most favorite pieces of literature as children. I challenge
you to approach the poetry we read with the same wonder and enthusiasm you did the rhymes and
verses you found in Shel Silverstein as a child.
Read the following poem by poet Billy Collins and answer the following questions in your assigned
group on a separate sheet of paper.
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Questions
1. Who is the speaker of the poem? Describe him or her using clues from the poem.
2. To whom is the speaker referring when he/she speaks of “them?” Why do you think this?
3. What do you think the speaker means when he/she states that they only want to “torture
a confession out” of a poem?
4. How does the speaker want us to approach poetry? Is this a valid approach? Why?
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Literature & Composition
Name:
Poetry: A brief introduction
“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.” ~Plato
Figures of Speech
Devices of Sound
Figures of Speech
Simile
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
Metaphor
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
3
Personification
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
Hyperbole [high-per-bowl-lee]
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
Imagery
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
Symbolism
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
4
Irony
Definition:
Example:
Example from a song:
Devices of Sound
Onomatopoeia
Definition:
Example:
Assonance
Definition:
Example:
Consonance
Definition:
Example:
Alliteration
Definition:
Example:
5
Rhyme
Definition:
Example:
Iambic Pentameter
-The most common verse line in English poetry.
-It consists of __________________verse feet.
-A foot is an ________________________________________________
is followed by a _____________________________________________
-_______________________________________________________plays are written almost exclusively in
iambic pentameter.
-Sonnets are often written in iambic pentameter.
SCAN THESE LINES!
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
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LOVE IS AN ARROW
Aberfeldy
Love is a thing that I can't describe
It sounds so foolish if I even try
Love is an arrow and it points at you
It tells you what you gotta do
Love is a verb and a noun as well
You find it in a dictionary under 'L'
To give you a description to spell it out
But they don't say what it's all about
Love is a fire that you can't control
It burns in the middle and it leaves a hole
You can fill it up and you don't know when
It's gonna start to burn again
Love is a good way to lose a friend
It's a two-faced liar that you can't defend
Love is a virus that invades your heart
It starts to take it all apart
Love is a shape that you can't define
With an odd set of angles and uneven sides
your head's that paper and your hearts the pen
Gonna do this sum again
Gonna do this sum again
Gonna do this sum again
Do this sum again
Love is a verb and a noun as well
You find it in the dictionary under 'L'
Love is an arrow and it points at me
It tells me how it's gonna be
It tells me how it's gonna be
It tells me how it's gonna be
It tells me how it's gonna be
7
"Cannonball"
DAMIEN RICE
Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
Still a little hard to say what's going on
Still
Still
You
Still
a little bit of your ghost your witness
a little BIT of your face I haven't kissed
step a little closer EACH DAY
I can't SAY what's going on
Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannonball
Still a little bit of your song in my ear
Still a little bit of your words I long to hear
You step a little closer TO ME
So close that I can't see what's going on
Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannon
Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage!
Teach me to be shy
'Cause it's not hard to fall
And I don't WANNA scare her
It's not hard to fall
And I don't wanna lose
It's not hard to grow
When you know that you just don't know
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Daughters
JOHN MAYER
I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
but she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hand
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me
Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
Ooh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now shes left
cleaning up the mess he made
So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
Boys, you can break
You find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from
A woman's good, good heart
On behalf of every man
looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world
So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters, too
So mothers be good to your daughters, too
So mothers be good to your daughters, too.
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Across the Universe
Beatles
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
That call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing
Through my open views inviting and inciting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
10
I Am a Rock
Simon and Garfunkel
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window
To the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need for friendship
Friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock
I am an island
Don't talk of love
Well, I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber
Of feelings that have died
If I'd never loved,
I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room
Safe within my womb
I touch no-one and no-one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island
And the rock feels no pain
And an island never cry
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Autowreck
By Mr. Karl Shapiro
Its quick soft silver bell beating, beating.
And down the dark one ruby flare
Pulsing out red light like an artery,
The ambulance at top speed floating down
Past beacons and illuminated clocks
Wings in a heavy curve, dips down,
And breaks speed, entering the crowd.
The doors leap open, emptying light;
Stretchers are laid out, the mangled lifted
And stowed into the little hospital.
Then the bell, breaking the hush, tolls once,
Rocking, slightly rocking, moves away,
As the doors, and afterthought, are closed.
We are deranged, walking among the cops
Who sweep glass and are large and composed.
One still making notes under the light.
One with a bucket spills ponds of blood
Into the street and gutter.
One hangs lanterns on the wrecks that cling,
Empty husks of locusts, to iron poles.
Our throats were tight as tourniquets,
Our feet were bound with splints, but now,
Like convalescents intimate and gauche,
We speak through sickly smiles and warn
With the stubborn saw of common sense,
The grim joke and the banal resolution.
The traffic moves around with care,
But we remain, touching a wound
That opens to our richest horror.
Already old, the questions Who shall die?
Becomes unspoken Who is innocent?
For death in war is done by hands;
Suicide has cause and stillbirth, logic;
And cancer, simple as a flower, blooms.
But this invites the occult mind,
Cancels out physics with a sneer,
And spatters all we knew of denouement
Across the expedient and wicked stones.
12
Man Dies as Vehicle Strikes Pole in Seattle
A 31-year-old man was killed yesterday when the car he was driving went out of control
and struck a light pole just east of Seattle. Joe Jones was traveling south on Copley Road
about one mile south of Southeast 250th Place when the accident occurred. State patrol
officials said Jones had no permanent address.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
How are the poem and the article similar?
In what ways do they differ in their treatment of the same event?
What is the purpose of the first writer of “Autowreck”?
What is the purpose of the second writer?
Which of these is “open text” (open to multiple interpretations) and which is closed (shows
concrete facts and single interpretation)?
13
For my Sister Molly
Who in the Fifties
Alice Walker
Once made a fairy rooster from
Mashed potatoes
Whose eyes I forget
But green onions were his tail
And his two legs were carrot sticks
A tomato slice his crown.
Who came home on vacation
When the sun was hot
And cooked
And cleaned
And minded least of all
The children's questions
A million or more
Pouring in on her
Who had been to school
And knew (and told us too) that certain
Words were no longer good
And taught me not to say us for we
No matter what "Sonny sayd" up the
road.
For my sister Molly who in the fifties
Knew Hamlet well and read into the night
And coached me in my songs of Africa
A continent I never knew
But learned to love
Because "they" said she could carry
A tune
And spoke in accents never heard
in Eatonton.
Who read from Prose and Poetry
And loved to read "Sam McGee from Tennessee"
On nights the fire was burning low
And Christmas wrapped in angel hair
And I for one prayed for snow.
Who in the fifties
Knew all the written things that made
Us laugh and stories by
The hour. Waking up the story buds
Like fruit. Who walked among the flowers
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And brought them inside the house
And smelled as good as they
And looked as bring.
Who made dresses, braided
Hair. Moved chairs about
Hung things from walls
Ordered baths
Frowned upon wasp bites
And seemed to know the endings
Of all the tales
I had forgot.
Poem of Dedication or Tribute
You will write a poem that shows what you value, respect, and admire about another
person or character. Below are suggested guidelines for how to arrange that poem.
Person’s name:_________________________________________
First brainstorm their unique qualities, then turn them into similes and metaphors to add
spice.
Brainstorm 1: Physical description: what about this person’s hair, dress, posture,
movements, etc. help us to understand this person’s character?
Examples: who gets her hair braided like an African queen
a wearisome farmer, eyes bloodshot and hands rough like sandpaper
Brainstorm 2: Behaviors/habits, specific interests
Examples: who knew Tom Sawyer, Scout, and Juliet in her childhood
who does math homework as easily as folding socks
Brainstorm 3: Voice/ Sounds/ Things s/he says:
Examples: whose voice is like a squeaky bird
who laughs like the letter K
who tells me, “You are my flower.”
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Poem of Dedication or Tribute
Below are five categories about characters. Each category has space for two details
about your character. Try to write at least one detail for each category.
Your poem must:
1. Appeal to the senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste).
2. Use examples, names, specifics, 1 metaphor, 1 simile, 1
personification, and 1 hyperbole.
Physical Description (Hair, dress, posture, movement, general appearance
Examples: whose hair is made of fur
who gets her hair braided like an African queen
a wearisome farmer/with heartbreaking/Nails
Detailed examples for your character:
1.
Who wears _________________________________________
2.
_________________________________________________
What He or She Says
Examples:
who tells me in Spanish you are my diamond
who says, “Go to school/and you’ll be a doctor someday!”
who tells me you are a flower
Your character:
1.
Who says, _________________________________________
2.
_________________________________________________
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Voice/Sounds
Examples:
whose voice is squeaky like a bird
who used to laugh like the letter k
who snores up and down and up and down again
Your character:
1.
_________________________________________________
2.
_________________________________________________
Behavior/Habits/Specific Interests
Examples: who knew Hamlet well and read into the night
who ordered baths/Frowned on wasp bites
who does division homework for me
Your character:
1.
_________________________________________________
2.
_________________________________________________
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Literature & Composition
Poet_____________________________________
Beginning
Poetic Devices
of Sense
Poetic Devices
of Sound
Word Choice
Continuity
and Form
Tribute Poem
Block_________
Developing
Accomplished
Exceptional
Poet does not use
any figures of
speech.
Poet uses one or two
of the devices.
Poet effectively uses
metaphor, simile,
personification,
imagery and
hyperbole.
Poet effectively uses
all devices of sense.
Poet does not use
any devices of
sound.
Poet uses one or two
devices of sound.
Poet effectively and
artistically uses
some devices of
sound.
Poet uses devices of
sound to aid the
meaning and overall
effect of the poem.
Poet does not
consider the words
and images used in
the poem.
Poet selects some
words that
appropriately
capture the person
described.
Poet uses carefully
selected, descriptive
words, which help to
paint a picture of the
person for the
reader.
Word choice is
cohesive, original,
and descriptive.
No poetic form
used: paragraphs
and sentences.
The poem is just the
lines presented on
the attached
worksheet.
The poem has clear
stanzas. The poet
uses phrases that
help to capture the
essence of the
person AND help to
contribute to the
sound of the poem.
The form helps to
create the meaning
and overall effect of
the poem. Stanzas
and repetition add
rhythm and
cohesiveness.
_______/50
Comments:
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Literature & Composition
Sonnets
The sonnet is a very structured poem form. Even though some poets might shy away from a very distinct
structure, the sonnet’s formulaic line structure encourages witty and romantic verse.
Poets primarily used two types of sonnets at this time: Petrarchan and Elizabethan. Today we will study the
Elizabethan sonnet. Take Advanced Literary Analysis to explore sonnets in more depth!
William Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”

Written in ________________________________

Published in______________________________

One of his most famous sonnets. (You discover why.)

Elizabethan Sonnet:
Also known as:

14 line iambic pentameter poem

14 lines =_______________quatrains, ending in a couplet

Quatrain:

Couplet:

Rhyme Pattern:

Iambic Pentameter:
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
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Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?
William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed*;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st*,
Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade.
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see.
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
untrimmed*=without trimmings/decorations
ow’st*=own
In William Shakespeare’s day, any gentleman was expected to be able to produce a sonnet
in praise of someone he loved. Very few sonnets seem to be written by the women of those
times. To write a sonnet was a challenge, a kind of game. The writer wanted to see how
well he could express his feelings while following certain rules. He also wanted to see how
close to natural speech his formal poem could sound.
In a Shakespearean sonnet, each quatrain usually makes a point or presents an example.
The couplet at the end usually sums up the message of the sonnet.
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“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”
1. What two things are being compared in this poem?
2. What are the negative qualities of summer?
3. How does the speaker feel about his subject? How can you tell? (Look carefully at
the lines you mentioned in your response to question #2.)
4. Why does he say “thy eternal summer” and that Death will never take away her
beauty?
5. Explain the last two lines (the rhyming couplet). Particularly, what is “this” in line
14? How does it give life to “thee?”
6. Scan enough of the poem to determine its foot and line measurement (how many of
each foot?).
7. Label the rhyming pattern on the sonnet—A, B, C, etc. List the pattern below.
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Literature & Composition
Poetry Introduction
Name_______________________
Radio Poetry
After empowering you by providing you with the tools necessary to analyze poems, I want
you to use these tools in the most readily accessible poetic medium available to you: music.
Your assignment is
 Find a meaningful song that contains many of the poetic devices. Remember songs
must be school appropriate. You should be comfortable presenting your song
analysis to your principal.
 Find the lyrics to your song on the internet or type them out.
 Identify the different elements on the printed lyrics sheet.
 Be ready to present your song to a group of your classmates. Extra bonus points if
you bring the song on a CD to play for the class the day you present.
REMEMBER your song must be appropriate. PG language and themes please.
Literature & Composition
Poetry Introduction
Name_______________________
Radio Poetry
Grading Guide
Song Appropriate
________/2
Devices of Sound Identified Correctly
________/5
Devices of Sense Identified Correctly
________/13
***********(At least FOUR are present in the song.)
_________/20
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Sonnet Challenge Activity
Literature & Composition
Directions: In groups—write your own Elizabethan Sonnet. You
may use your notes.
Be sure to stick with the main idea of
school/ Literature & Composition class throughout the entire
poem. Include comparisons and contrasts to school/class.
Be sure to use poetic devices such as: metaphors, similes and
personification.
Structure: You will have 3 quatrains and end with a couplet.
*Begin with the first 2 lines--Rhyme Scheme
We
are/ students/ we love/ to go/ to school
A
____ Lit/ and Comp/ kids al.../ways work/ real hard
2
B
-Continue to talk about your idea—use devices
3
A
-Continue to talk about your idea-use devices
4
B
Line #
1
-Talk about another aspect of your idea-use devices
5
C
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
6
D
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
7
C
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
8
D
-Talk about a third aspect of your idea-use devices
9
E
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
10
F
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
11
E
-Continue to talk about this aspect-use devices
12
F
-Sums up the main idea/ presents a solution
G
-Sums up the main idea/ presents a solution
G
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13
14
Got Rhythm?
Get the Beat:
syllable
U=unstressed syllable
and
/=stressed
- The sonnet’s rhyme should be:
U/U/U/U/U/
- Mark your lines—you need 10 syllables in each line
-The first syllable is UNSTRESSED
- The second syllable is STRESSED
Got Rhyme?
Notice that line 3 RHYMES with line 1. Line 4 RHYMES with line
2.
Line 7 RHYMES with line 5 and so on.
Finally, be sure
Lines 13 & 14 RHYME.
Sonnet Title (No “Sonnet”)_____________________________________________
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Literature & Composition
Group Members______________________________________________________________
Block_______
Beginning
Developing
Accomplished
Exceptional
The lines of the poem
do not work together.
The sonnet does not
make sense.
The sonnet has one
focused topic, but the
topic is not developed.
The sonnet uses each
quatrain to develop a
central idea and theme.
The couplet solves or
summarizes the
conflict in the sonnet.
All parts of the sonnet
are used to create a
clear and original
message
The sonnet is not
written in iambic
pentameter. Fourteen
lines are not present.
No rhyme scheme
present.
The sonnet is written
in iambic pentameter
but does not follow the
proper rhyme scheme.
All elements are
artistically used.
No poetic devices are
present.
The sonnet uses one or
two poetic devices.
The sonnet is written
in iambic pentameter,
uses the proper
quatrain and couplet
structure, and
conforms to the rhyme
scheme.
Figurative language is
appropriately used
throughout the sonnet.
The sonnet is
mechanical and
disconnected.
One idea controls the
entire poem, but
phrasing is colloquial.
Phrases and wording
show thought, depth,
and originality.
Word choice is
expertly thought
through. The topic is
dealt with in a new and
inventive way.
Cohesion
Conventions
Poetic Devices/
Figurative
Language
Originality
Original Sonnet
The sonnet is
enhanced by the use of
figurative language.
________/50
COMMENTS:
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