JOURNAL - September 2nd  To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"  What do you hope to accomplish? Leave behind? Influence? Remembered for? What verse will you contribute to the drama of human existence?

POETRY TERMS The basics: Line – A group of words or a single word, that make up the same horizontal line of text. Rhyme – Two words that end in the same sound in their final syllable. Stanza – Two or more lines grouped together within a poem.

Types of stanzas: Couplet – A stanza consisting of 2 lines. Wave after wave in hills each other crowds, As if the deeps resolved to storm the clouds. Tercet – A stanza consisting of 3 lines. Quatrain – A stanza consisting of 4 lines. I never saw a Moor I never saw the sea Yet know I how the Heather looks And what a Billow be. Sestet – A stanza consisting of 6 lines. Octave – A stanza consisting of 8 lines.

Common Types of Poetry: Narrative poetry – Poems that tell a story. The Odyssey is an epic, narrative poem. Lyric poetry – Poems that express the thoughts and feeling of the author, usually rhymed. Most poems. Prose poetry – Poems written in normal prose instead of verse (rhythmic lines) but contains other poetic conventions such as strong imagery. Haiku – Japanese, three-line poems that consist of seventeen syllables and usually captures an image from everyday life. Sonnet – A fourteen lined poem that follows a strict rhyme scheme and structure.

 Sestina – Composed of 6 sestets (six line stanzas). The same six words that end lines are repeated throughout. The last three lines also contain these six words.  Villanelle – A poem with 5 tercets followed by a quatrain. The first tercet contains two refrains which are repeated throughout.  Ode – a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter.  Free Verse – Poems that are not written within formal constraints of rhyme and meter.

Figurative language: Imagery – Words used to describe things in a way that appeals to the reader’s senses. Metaphor – A comparison between two seemingly unrelated subjects. “All the world’s a stage” (comparing the world to a stage) Simile – A comparison using like or as. “Fast like a cheetah” or “Hungry as a bear” Personification – Assigning human characteristics to non- human things. “The school was impressed by his talents and abilities” Hyperbole – Exaggeration used to express strong emotions or make a point. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse”

Onomatopoeia – the use of sounds that echo their meaning “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” Pun – play on words “What do you call the world’s largest cow? Legendairy.” Paradox – seems contradictory or impossible, but contains a degree of truth or validity “that’s so cold it burns”, “I love you so much I hate you” Oxymoron – two words together with opposite meanings “jumbo shrimp” or “honest thief”

JOURNAL  What is your favorite type of figurative language to use? Why?  Write three original examples of this type.

Other poetic conventions: Speaker – The voice that communicates with the reader. Rhyme scheme – The pattern of rhyming in a particular poem. There once was a big brown cat a That liked to eat a lot of mice. b He got all round and fat a Because they tasted so nice. b There once was a big brown cat a That liked to eat a lot of mice. b He got all round and fat a Because they tasted so nice. b Internal Rhyme – Rhyming that occurs within a line. Example: The cat was fat End Rhyme – More common than internal rhyme, end rhyming occurs at the end of a line. Repetition – Repetition of anything within a poem, examples: sounds, syllables, words, phrases, lines, stanzas, or metrical patterns. Sans eyes, sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything.

Consonance – Repetition of a consonant sound (not in the beginning of the word). “blank think tank” Assonance – Repetition of a vowel sound. “ice might trip me twice” Alliteration – Beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound “try trivial hobbies to entertain trolls” Allusion – A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing “chocolate is her Achilles’ Heel” (reference to The Iliad)

Rhythm in Poetry  Meter - The rhythm of the poem as determined by the stressed and unstressed syllables.  Scansion - identification of the meter of the poem  Foot - Rhythmic unit within a line Iambic foot: ˘ ¯ unstressed, stressed Iambic foot: ˘ ¯ unstressed, stressedExamples: Fort Bend allureagree

Iambic Pentameter  Iambic: ˘ ¯ unstressed, stressed  Pentameter: each line of iambic pentameter contains 5 metric feet.  Example: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? ALL sonnets are written in iambic pentameter.

English/Shakespearean Sonnets Written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables in a stressed/unstressed pattern) Written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables in a stressed/unstressed pattern) Three quatrains Three quatrains Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efefRhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef Couplet at the end Couplet at the end Rhyme scheme: ggRhyme scheme: gg

SONNET 18  Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?  Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?  Thou art more lovely and more temperate:  Thou art more lovely and more temperate:  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  And summer's lease hath all too short a date:  And summer's lease hath all too short a date:  Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,  Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,  And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;  And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;  And every fair from fair sometime declines,  And every fair from fair sometime declines,  By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;  By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;  But thy eternal summer shall not fade  But thy eternal summer shall not fade  Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;  Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;  Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,  Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,  When in eternal lines to time thou growest:  When in eternal lines to time thou growest:  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

JOURNAL – September 3rd  “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”  “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”  Paraphrase and explain this quotation.  Why write poetry? What are its advantages over prose?  What inspires YOU to write poetically?