1. “Poetry can be enjoyed before it is understood” –poet T.S. Eliot

2. Definition of Poetry -One of three major types of literature (other two are prose and drama) -Most poems use highly concise, musical, and emotionally charged language -Many also use imagery, figurative language (writing not meant to be interpreted literally), and special devices of sound (such as rhyme) -Often divided into lines and stanzas and use rhythmical patters or meters

3. 3 Categories of Poetry:  Lyric- expresses vivid thoughts and feelings  Narrative-tells a story  Dramatic-uses techniques of drama, such as speaker and conflict, to tell a story

4. How to Read Poetry 1. How to read a poem. Read it aloud at least once. Read the poem two or three times. 2. Paraphrase the poem by stanza or line  Determine meaning of the title  Read each sentence and then pause to summarize. Use punctuation, not the end of a line, to know where to pause!  Identify and define specific or unusual words 3. Answer the five W’s  Who, what, when, where, why 4. Identify the theme, message, or topic  What is the author trying to say?  What is the point of the poem? 5. Identify and highlight examples of literary techniques  Simile, metaphor, imagery, alliteration, personification, point of view, tone, etc.

5. Some examples… -Modern poetry from a poetry slam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCj3jsbcqs -Traditional poetry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie2Mspukx1 4

6. The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

7. Writing Poetry Fixed form poems – poems that conform to definite pattern of line and stanza (ex. sonnets, ballads, haiku, etc.) Free verse– poems not written in a regular rhythmical pattern or meter.

8. Free verse example  E. E. Cummings (1894 - 1962) E. E. Cummings Your Little Voice your little voice Over the wires came leaping and i felt suddenly dizzy With the jostling and shouting of merry flowers wee skipping high-heeled flames courtesied before my eyes or twinkling over to my side Looked up with impertinently exquisite faces floating hands were laid upon me I was whirled and tossed into delicious dancing up Up with the pale important stars and the Humorous moon dear girl How i was crazy how i cried when i heard over time and tide and death leaping Sweetly your voice

9. Stanza- The number of lines in a unit of poetry. Stanzas are sometimes named according to the number of lines found in each:  couplet = 2 lines  tercet = 3 lines  quatrain = 4 lines  cinquain= 5 lines  sestet = 6 lines  heptastich = 7 lines  octave = 8 lines

10.  Check out “Poetry Unit” on class wiki for examples of types of fixed-form poetry!!