Thematic Unit: Love Poetry “Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye Haiku poetry by Chora, Chiyo, Basho, and Issa “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke “Combing” by Gladys Cardiff “Harlem” by Langston Hughes English I ECHS C. Edge

Reading Skills and Strategies: Poetry Look for punctuation in the poem telling you where sentences begin and end. Do not make a full stop at the end of a line if there is no period, comma, colon, semicolon, or dash there. If a passage of a poem is difficult to understand, look for the subject, verb, and complement of each sentence.

“Daily” Naomi Shihab Nye Quickwrite, p. 494

“Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye Catalog poem – The repetition of items in the list creates a rolling rhythm when the poem is read aloud.

Poetry Analysis of the Poem What is the poem about? Number of Stanzas? Number of Lines per Stanza? Speaker? Rhyme Scheme? Examples of repetition? Examples of imagery? Examples of symbolism?

Identify the repetitive images and language in ll. 16-18. Daily  Naomi Shihab Nye These shriveled seeds we plant, corn kernel, dried bean, poke into loosened soil, cover over with measured fingertips These T-shirts we fold into perfect white squares These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl This bed whose covers I straighten smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket and nothing hangs out This envelope I address so the name balances like a cloud in the center of the sky This page I type and retype This table I dust till the scarred wood shines This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again like flags we share, a country so close no one needs to name it The days are nouns: touch them The hands are churches that worship the world Identify the repetitive images and language in ll. 16-18. How does this catalog of images affect the poem’s rhythm?

What might the metaphor in l. 21 mean? Daily  Naomi Shihab Nye These shriveled seeds we plant, corn kernel, dried bean, poke into loosened soil, cover over with measured fingertips These T-shirts we fold into perfect white squares These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl This bed whose covers I straighten smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket and nothing hangs out This envelope I address so the name balances like a cloud in the center of the sky This page I type and retype This table I dust till the scarred wood shines This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again like flags we share, a country so close no one needs to name it The days are nouns: touch them The hands are churches that worship the world What might the metaphor in l. 21 mean?

What might the metaphor in l. 22 mean? Daily  Naomi Shihab Nye These shriveled seeds we plant, corn kernel, dried bean, poke into loosened soil, cover over with measured fingertips These T-shirts we fold into perfect white squares These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl This bed whose covers I straighten smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket and nothing hangs out This envelope I address so the name balances like a cloud in the center of the sky This page I type and retype This table I dust till the scarred wood shines This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again like flags we share, a country so close no one needs to name it The days are nouns: touch them The hands are churches that worship the world What might the metaphor in l. 22 mean?

The images in this poem come from the speaker’s everyday life. She reveals her wonderment by giving each image a special role in her day and poem. Some of the simple things are compared to awe-inspiring concepts.

“Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye Write a catalog poem or paragraph that lists images of things in your daily life that are miracles or make you happy to be alive.

Take notes on important elements of Diego Rivera's The Grinder: subject, colors, shapes, the feelings it evokes, the story you see in it.

Question #1, p. 498 When you think of images in the world that give you joy or that fill you with wonder, do you look at ordinary things, as Nye does? Talk over your responses to the poet’s source of wonder and joy.

Question #2, p. 498 What do Nye’s particular images tell you about her life and where she lives? Images of planting corn and beans and frying tortillas suggest that Nye lives in the American southwest; images of housework suggest that she has a home and a family to care for; images of typing suggest that she writes.

Haiku Poetry Miura Chora Chiyo Matsuo Basho Kobayashi Issa Quickwrite, p. 499

Haiku poetry Japanese poetry form 17 syllables Line one = 5 syllables Line two = 7 syllables Line three = 5 syllables Presents images of everyday life Usually contains a seasonal word or symbol (kigo) Presents a single moment of discovery or enlightenment (satori)

Poetry Analysis of the Poem What is the poem about? Number of Stanzas? Number of Lines per Stanza? Speaker? Rhyme Scheme? Examples of repetition? Examples of imagery? Examples of symbolism?

Haiku 1 Miura Chora  Get out of my road  and allow me to plant these bamboos, Mr. Toad.  What does this haiku reveal about the speaker’s view of living creatures?

Haiku 2 Chiyo  A morning glory  Twined round the bucket:  I will ask my neighbor for water.  In haiku, comparisons are suggested, but not stated directly. What comparison is suggested in this haiku? Why does the speaker need to get water from the neighbor?

Matsuo Basho The old pond; A frog jumps in: Sound of water. Haiku 3 Matsuo Basho  The old pond;  A frog jumps in:  Sound of water.  What might the speaker be doing? Traditional haiku contain kigo, or words associated with a season. The Japanese would know, for example, that snow indicates winter and evening showers mean that it is summer. Here, the word frog suggests spring.

Kobayashi Issa A dragonfly! The distant hills Reflected in his eyes. Haiku 4 Kobayashi Issa  A dragonfly! The distant hills Reflected in his eyes. Punctuation in a haiku—colons, dashes, or exclamation marks—indicate a shift in subject or mood. Ask students to practice reading the haiku aloud, capturing the change in the speaker’s mood after his surprise at seeing the dragonfly.

Question #1, p. 507 “Haiku” and “Fog” All of these poems contain images of moments and miracles in nature. What image in the haiku, in “Fog,” and in “in Just-” did you find most striking, original, or powerful? 

Question #2, p. 507 “Haiku” One of the characteristics of a haiku is that it presents a moment of discovery or revelation. In your own words, describe the moment frozen in each of the haiku in this group of poems.

Question #3, p. 507 “Haiku” In Chiyo’s haiku, the plant is a “morning glory.” How could these words also describe what the poet experienced at her morning encounter?

Question #7, p. 507 “Haiku” Inside each of the haiku there is a person. Put yourself in each person’s shoes, one by one. Consider:  In the first haiku, do you wait for the toad to move, or do you poke it?  In the second haiku, do you ever use that bucket again?  In the third haiku, what do you think you were doing the minute before the frog jumped in?  In the fourth haiku, how long are you able to see the hills? 

“My Papa’s Waltz” By Theodore Roethke Quickwrite, p. 561

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke Elements of Literature—rhyme Rhyme – the repetition of accented vowel sounds, and all sounds following them, in words that are close together Approximate rhyme – rhymes that do not rhyme exactly, but appear to Rhyme scheme – the pattern of rhyme in a poem

Poetry Analysis of the Poem What is the poem about? Number of Stanzas? Number of Lines per Stanza? Speaker? Rhyme Scheme? Examples of repetition? Examples of imagery? Examples of symbolism?

My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke        The whiskey on your breath         Could make a small boy dizzy;         But I hung on like death:                                              Such waltzing was not easy. 5      We romped until the pans         Slid from the kitchen shelf;         My mother’s countenance         Could not unfrown itself.         The hand that held my wrist 10    Was battered on one knuckle;         At every step you missed         My right ear scraped a buckle.         You beat time on my head         With a palm caked hard by dirt, 15    Then waltzed me off to bed         Still clinging to your shirt. Listen for the waltzing rhythm created by the words in this poem. The/ whis/key/ on/ your/ breath da DA da DA da DA Could/ make/ a/ small/ boy/ diz/zy da DA da DA da DA da Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem.

What kind of work does the father do What kind of work does the father do? What evidence is there in the story? He works with his hands doing manual labor.

p. 563, Question 1 How do you think the speaker feels about his father and the rough waltz?

p. 563, Question 2 How does the mother feel about the waltz? How would you explain her reaction? 

p. 563, Question 3 How would you interpret line 3, “But I hung on like death”?

p. 563, Question 4 Death is a word that usually has connotations of loss and sadness. Which other words and images in the poem have negative connotations? Which have positive connotations? You could prepare your response by making a chart like the one below. 

p. 563, Question 5 How would you express the poem’s message, or theme? (Hint: Does the poem say anything about love?) 

p. 563, Question 6 The title promises music, and Roethke delivers a three-beat waltz rhythm and a regular rhyme scheme. Scan the poem to show its meter. What is the rhyme scheme? Read the poem aloud. Do you think it sounds happy or sad?

“Combing” By Gladys Cardiff Quickwrite, p. 566

“Combing” by Gladys Cardiff Repetition – Alliteration – Assonance –

Poetry Analysis of the Poem What is the poem about? Number of Stanzas? Number of Lines per Stanza? Speaker? Rhyme Scheme? Examples of repetition? Examples of imagery? Examples of symbolism?

Bending, I bow my head And lay my hand upon Her hair, combing, and think How women do this for Each other. My daughter’s hair Curls against the comb, Wet and fragrant—orange Parings. Her face, downcast, Is quiet for one so young. I take her place. Beneath My mother’s hands I feel The braids drawn up tight As a piano wire and singing, Vinegar-rinsed. Sitting Before the oven I hear The orange coils tick The early hour before school. She combed her grandmother Mathilda’s hair using A comb made out of bone. Mathilda rocked her oak-wood Chair, her face downcast, Intent on tearing rags In strips to braid a cotton Rug from bits of orange And brown. A simple act, Preparing hair. Something Women do for each other, Plaiting the generations.

Repetition Find examples of alliteration in this poem: Find examples of assonance in this poem:

Plaiting or braiding is the act of tying strands of hair together into one bigger strand. The bigger strand is obviously stronger than the individual hairs are. What do you think this symbolizes in this poem? What other activity in the poem could be seen in a similar way?

Question 1, p. 568 What gifts are giving in “Combing”?

Question 4, p. 568 What do you think the poet means in “Combing” when she refers in the last line to women “plaiting the generations”?

Question 5, p. 568 What other things do family members do that tie or braid generations? What other gifts do parents give children?

Scansion – Rhythm – Meter – Feet – Common types of feet: iamb – Trochee – Anapest – Dactyl – Spondee –

“Harlem” by Langston Hughes Quickwrite, p. 590

Poetry Analysis of the Poem What is the poem about? Number of Stanzas? Number of Lines per Stanza? Speaker? Rhyme Scheme? Examples of repetition? Examples of imagery? Examples of symbolism?

Tone – Figure of speech – Simile – Metaphor –

What happens to a dream deferred   What happens to a dream deferred?         Does it dry up         like a raisin in the sun?         Or fester like a sore— 5      And then run?         Does it stink like rotten meat?         Or crust and sugar over—         like a syrupy sweet?         Maybe it just sags 10    like a heavy load.         Or does it explode?  

What does Hughes compare a dream to? How would you describe his tone?

Question 3, p. 596 The word deferred in line 1 of “Harlem” means “delayed,” “postponed,” What is the dream that is being postponed here?

Question 4, p. 596 What are the five similes that Hughes uses to restate the first question—that is , what does he compare a “dream deferred” to?

Question 5, p. 596 What final metaphor is implied with Hughes uses the word explode – what are we to understand that the dream might become? Why might a “dream” deferred one day explode?

Question 9, p. 596 “Harlem” was published in 1951. What conditions still exist that make this poem relevant to people’s lives today?