{ Poetry Unit

Dead Poet’s Society

YAWP! A BARBARIC CRY…

{{ Clip 1  What is the introduction saying about poetry, and how we analyze/study poetry?  What is it saying about how we determine whether it is great or not?  Why do you think the teacher disagrees with this?  Why do you think he wants the students to rip it out?  How do the students react to this? Why do you think they react this way?  How does the other teacher react, and why do you think he does? Clip 2  What does the first student write about?  What does the teacher say about his poem?  When the other student doesn’t do the assignment, the teacher gives what explanation for why he didn’t do it?  Why do you think he makes him YAWP?  What ‘exercise’ does he ask the student to do, and what effect does it have? Dead Poet’s Society Clip Discussion

  What is poetry?   What is a poet?   Name some poets you are familiar with:   Where do you encounter poetry?   What are some common subjects of poetry? Answer the Following Questions:

 Poetry: Poetry Uses verse instead of prose Has a meter or rhythm, giving it a sing-song feel Generally made up of a more elevated or sophisticated speech  A poet is: Someone who writes poetry One who uses words to creatively express their thoughts and feelings A poet expresses their opinion or their ideas on a subject, and may not care if anyone likes it How many of you have written poetry? You are all poets!  Poetry is found in the Bible, songs, children’s rhymes/books, advertisements (jingles, slogans, billboards…)  Common subjects in poetry: nature, love, tensions (race, gender, etc.), war/death (current events)

Why do we read and write poetry?

I didn't go to church today I trust the Lord to understand The surf was swirling blue and white The children swirling on the sand He knows, He knows how brief my stay How brief this spell of summer weather He knows when I am said and done We'll have plenty of time together “I Didn’t Go to Church Today” by Ogden Nash abcbadedabcbaded

I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert.... Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.” “Ozymandius” by Percy Bysshe Shelley abacadedfeghghabacadedfeghgh

Rhyme Scheme and Structure

Poems reveal secrets when they are analyzed. The poet’s pleasure in finding ingenious ways to enclose her secrets, should be matched by the reader’s pleasure in unlocking and revealing those secrets. Explicating Poetry

  Finding the rhyme scheme is about looking for a pattern – No pattern = No rhyme scheme   Defining the rhyme scheme is explaining the pattern and can be done in two ways: with letters – abbab or with words – In each stanza the 1 st & 4 th lines and the 2 nd, 3 rd, & 5 th lines rhyme. Figuring out Rhyme Scheme

  Use lower case letters (not capital letters)   Start with the first line, assign a letter to each end word, starting with “a”   End words that rhyme are assigned the same letter   Do not start over for each stanza To find the pattern:

  Perfect Rhyme – The words rhyme exactly   Near Rhyme – They rhyme based on similar sounds (consonant or assonant)   End Rhyme – The rhyming words are at the end of the line   Internal Rhyme – Words that rhyme are found in the middle of the line   Identity Rhyme – Use of the exact same word to rhyme Important terms to know:

Poems are made up of stanzas   2 line stanzas = Couplet 2 line stanza that rhymes is called a rhyming couplet.   3 line stanzas = Tercet   4 line stanzas = Quatrain   5 line poem or stanza = Cinquain   6 line stanzas = Sestet   7 line stanzas = Septet   8 line stanzas = Octet Defining Structure:

A form is the physical structure of the poem:   Length of lines   Rhythm   Rhymes and Repetition   Pattern of the above   Some are simple, and others very complex   Why does a poet use a particular form?   To create strong images for the reader   A poem form is straightforward and easy to grasp   It makes the poem concise; there is an end in sight   It is a challenge because there is a maximum thought unit Poetry Forms “In poetry you have a form looking for a subject, and a subject looking for a form. When they come together successfully you have a poem.” W.H. Auden

Example: Sonnet comes from the Italian word “sonnet,” which means, little song. Gertrude White said: “It is far more logical in structure, more logical in thought, more concise and unified in both substance and design than the ordinary lyric.”   List   Japanese   Concrete   Cinquain   Pantoum   Villanelle   Elegy   Ballad   Ode   Blank Verse   Open Form   Sonnet Poem forms are considered very lyrical:

  Have exactly 14 lines   Written in iambic pentameter – or five metric feet iamb = foot, a foot consists of one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable penta = five two syllables x five feet means that each line has approximately ten syllables   Usually begins by describing a problem, and ends by describing a solution Sonnets

  Petrarchan, or Italian Sonnet Two stanzas = First stanza has eight lines (octet) with an abbaabba rhyme scheme Second stanza has six lines (sestet) with a cdecde or cdccdc rhyme scheme   Shakespearian, or English Sonnet Three stanzas and one rhyming couplet = First stanza has four lines (quatrain) with an abab rhyme scheme Second stanza has four lines (quatrain) with a cdcd rhyme scheme Third stanza has four lines (quatrain) with an efef rhyme scheme Rhyming couplet is two lines with a gg rhyme scheme There are two main types of sonnets:

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