Introduction to 9th Grade Poetry A unit where you read, write, create and analyze poetry!!!

This is poetry…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAx845QaOck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqu4ezLQEUA&list=PLGlW86vQH0GU1j2xpF8m89v9aRAGoe7De&index=18 https://www.youtube.com/watchv=T3dpghfRBHE&list=PLgXWEdt3114YDiFJ4ooIYmwCHa4FMbxAI&index=36 https://www.youtube.com/watchv=ND1r3beO6k&index=32&list=PLgXWEdt3114YDiFJ4ooIYmwCHa4FMbxAI

Poetry Poetry is the most misunderstood form of writing. It is also arguably the purest form of writing. Poetry is a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty and expressing this through words. It is art. Like art it is very difficult to define because it is an expression of what the poet thinks and feels and may take any form the poet chooses for this expression.  

Poetry, cont. Poetry is not easily defined. Often it takes the form of verse, but not all poetry has this structure. Poetry is a creative use of words which, like all art, is intended to stir an emotion in the audience. Poetry generally has some structure that separates it from prose.  

“In a poem the words should be as pleasing to the ear as the meaning is to the mind.” -- Marianne Moore

Each half has its own function The Human Brain Divided into 2 parts Each half has its own function Right Brain: Creativity Emotions Left Brain: Logic Reality

To clarify . ... . When you are looking at big puffy clouds . . . Your right brain tells you, “Hey! That one looks like a bunny.” While your left brain tells you . . .

It’s a cloud, Stupid!

So, which half do you use when studying poetry? Here are a few hints: Poetry requires creativity Poetry requires emotion Poetry requires an artistic quality Poetry requires logic .

both

We’ll start with the sound devices: For the Left Brain: Recognizing certain devices used within a poem will give the left brain something to concentrate on. We’ll start with the sound devices:

˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ She Walks in Beauty I. She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which Heaven to gaudy day denies. Reading this poem out loud makes the rhythm evident. ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ ˘ ΄ II. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. Count the syllables in each line. Do you notice anything? III. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent!

Structure of Poetry The basic unit of poetry is the line. It serves the same function as the sentence in prose, although most poetry maintains the use of grammar within the structure of the poem. Most poems have a structure in which each line contains a set amount of syllables; this is called meter. Lines are also often grouped into stanzas.   The stanza in poetry is equivalent or equal to the paragraph in prose. Often the lines in a stanza will have a specific rhyme scheme. Some of the more common stanzas are: Couplet: a two line stanza Triplet: a three line stanza Quatrain: a four line stanza Cinquain: a five line stanza  

Structure/Meaning 2 Phase Poems Climb Mount Fuji, O Snail, But slowly! Slowly! Issa Evening sky – over the city lights stars hardly seen. Goal Warning Observation Realization Alexey Andreyev

Structure/Meaning Multiple Phases Passing Observing Resolving Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Frost

A poem uses sound devices Noise Day by Shel Silverstein Let’s have one day for girls and boyses When you can make the grandest noises. Screech, scream, holler, and yell – Buzz a buzzer, clang a bell, Sneeze – hiccup – whistle – shout, Laugh until your lungs wear out, Toot a whistle, kick a can, Bang a spoon against a pan, Sing, yodel, bellow, hum, Blow a horn, beat a drum, Rattle a window, slam a door, Scrape a rake across the floor . . .. Onomatopoeia Several other words not highlighted could also be considered as onomatopoeia. Can you find any?

A poem uses repetition and rhythm In this next poem, listen closely for each

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Remember this

Look familiar? I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing of my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them, They say they still can’t see. I say, It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, . . . The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Look familiar?

A poem uses comparisons and rich imagery Ars Poetica By Archibald MacLeish A poem should be palpable and mute as a globed fruit, Silent as the sleeve-worn stone Of casement ledges where the moss has grown— A poem should be wordless As the flight of birds.

Literary Terms Throughout this unit, we will be looking at examples of 18 poetry terms & devices.

Poetry uses Imagery is an appeal to the senses. The poet describes something to help you to see, hear, touch, taste, or smell the topic of the poem.     Therefore, poetry employs the senses to get directlu to our emotions Fog The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.   Carl Sandburg  

Stanza & Sentence Stanza In poetry, stanza refers to a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that may have a set pattern of meter and rhyme. Consider it a paragraph. Poetry is written in sentences and should be read in sentences to be understood!!!

Verse Verse- poetic lines composed in a measured rhythmical pattern, that are often, but not necessarily, rhymed. As opposed to “Prose,” the ordinary language used in speaking and writing

Blank Verse Blank verse Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the English verse form closest to the natural rhythms of English speech

Free Verse Free verse is just what it says it is - poetry that is written without proper rules about form, rhyme, rhythm, and meter. In free verse the writer makes his/her own rules. The writer decides how the poem should look, feel, and sound. 

Final Thoughts Some might consider the study of poetry old fashioned, yet even in our hurried lives we are surrounded by it: children's rhymes, song lyrics, raps, trite commercial jingles, sermons, speeches, and well written texts. Any time we recognize words as interesting for sound, meaning or construct, we note poetics.  

The real power of poetry is that it is like music, a pure form of expression. Often it is raw, disturbing, unsettling, beautiful, and profoundly moving In few words poets can express what takes most of us a thousand