Having Fun with Poetry Exploring different types of poetry, their structure and the rules they follow.

We’re going to be looking at: Limerick Haiku Acrostic Diamante Cinquain Kennings Free Verse Sonnet Concrete

Limerick Five Lines One couplet One triplet a a b b a rhyme pattern Funny – contains a punch line

Notice the rhyme pattern - A flea and a fly in a flue a Were caught, so what could they do? a Said the fly, “Let us flee.” b “Let us fly,” said the flea. b So they flew through a flaw in the flue. a - Anonymous

There once was a pauper named Meg Who accidently broke her _____. Notice the distinctive beat pattern? It is just as important as the rhyme. Try completing this limerick - There once was a pauper named Meg Who accidently broke her _____. She slipped on the ______. Not once, but thrice Take no pity on her, I _____.

Haiku From Japanese culture Meaningful yet compact Everyday things Nature, feelings, experiences Three lines 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. No rhyme

A Haiku must paint a mental image A Haiku must paint a mental image. The challenge is to put the poem’s meaning and imagery in the reader’s mind in only 17 syllables and 3 lines. Examples The Rose By Donna Brock The red blossom bends And drips its dew to the ground. Like a tear it falls A Rainbow By Donna Brock Curving up, then down, Meeting blue sky and green earth Melding sun and rain.

From the Greek words acros (outermost) and stichos (line of poetry). Acrostic From the Greek words acros (outermost) and stichos (line of poetry).

How to create your own Acrostic - Write the first name of someone you admire. Think about how to describe that person and what they mean to you. One scratch paper, write out your ideas. Proofread. Revise. Using word processing program, type the letter that will form your acrostic (the person’s name). We will change the color of the font to make your first letters a different color than the rest of your poem. Capitalize them and make them bold. Align the poem. Find or draw a picture of the person you described to illustrate you acrostic.

Examples - Tumbling through the air Ready to become Air born at any Moment, feeling the springs Push you up Over and around again and again Light as a feather Instantly rebounding, Naturally full of Energy - - - - - Laura F.

Creating your own - Try out this activity to create your own Acrostic

Diamante A poem that requires specific types of words that structure the poem to create a diamond shape.

How to create a Diamante poem- You need – A subject Two adjectives describing the subject Three words ending in “ing” telling about the subject Four words (the first two describe the subject the last two describe it opposite) Three words ending in “ing” telling about the opposite Two adjectives describing the opposite An opposite

Example - Winter Rainy, cold Skiing, skating, sledding Mountains, wind, breeze, ocean Swimming, surfing, scuba diving Sunny, hot Summer

Try out this activity to create your own

Cinquains are made up of five lines Line one - 2 syllables Line two - 4 syllables Line three - 6 syllables Line four - 8 syllables Line five - 2 syllables

Example - Baseball Bat cracks against The pitch, sending it out Over the back fence, I did it! Homerun (by Cindy Barden)

Kennings A kenning is a very compressed form of metaphor originally used in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry. In a kenning an object is described in a two word phrase, such as cat-chaser for a dog. In a Kennings poems you describe something without saying what it is by using a series of these two word phrases. Choose a subject and decide on two good words to describe it. Create a series of lines like this. Kennings poems often take the form of a riddle.

Example - A Fox Kenning riddle (by Mike Garry) Quiet prowler Night howler Free mealer Chicken stealer Rusty splasher Hunter dasher What am I? A Fox

Now try creating your own – Think of an object or animal you could describe and use the kenning form to create a riddle about it. See if your fellow classmates can guess what it is.

Free Verse Free verse poems do not contain a structured set of rules. They are meant to flow easily, but still have a fluid rhythmic sound. Free verse can rhyme, but if a rhyme pattern is created, it is no longer free verse.

Example - Messy Room by Shel Silverstein   Whosever room this is should be ashamed! His underwear is hanging on the lamp. His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair, And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp. His workbook is wedged in the window, His sweater's been thrown on the floor. His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV, And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door. His books are all jammed in the closet, His vest has been left in the hall. A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed, And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall. Whosever room this is should be ashamed! Donald or Robert or Willie or-- Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear, I knew it looked familiar!

Sonnet A lyrical poetic form from Europe. Most famously used by Shakespeare. A Shakespearean, or English, employs Iambic Pentameter.

A Shakespearean sonnet includes - 14 lines 10 syllables in each line Iambic pentameter Unemphasized followed by emphasized – repeated five times Rhyme scheme - ababcdcdefef gg Last two lines are rhyming couplet

William Shakespeare - Sonnet #18 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 oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd: But thy eternal Summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Concrete Also known as pattern or shape poetry. In concrete poetry the shape of the poem is just as important as the words within. A concrete poem uses words to create a visual shape, giving meaning to the poem.

Examples -

Now you try - Think of something you would like to write about. Visualize it in your mind. Draw an outline of what it looks like. Now format your words to fill this outline. How would you write to fill the shape of a house? Or a star? Get creative!