Poetry Unit

ENG2D Poetry Unit • Name: _________________________

Term Definition

Acrostic A poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.

Ballad A poem that can be sung or recited, telling a story in a simple but dramatic way. In the past, ballads were passed from generation to generation orally, helping people to remember their history. Since then, poets and singers have used the traditional ballad form to create “literary” ballads.

Blank Verse Verse without rhyme, especially that which uses iambic pentameter.

Caesura (in Greek and Latin verse) A break between words within a metrical foot. (in modern verse) A pause near the middle of a line.

Concrete Poetry in which the meaning or effect is conveyed partly or wholly by visual means, using patterns of words or letters and other typographical devices.

Elegy A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

Enjambment (in verse) The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Epic A long and highly stylized narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject, celebrating the heroic achievements of its hero and events significant to a culture or nation. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are usually regarded as the first important epic poems, and much later, Paradise Lost by John Milton, and are considered to define the form.

Found Does not originate as poetry. The poet finds an interesting selection or excerpt and arranges the words or sentences into poetic form.

Free Verse Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter. Also called vers libre.

Haiku A Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. Formal Japanese haiku are based on three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively Using the senses, the poet observes and records his or her experiences in exact language.

Kinetic Poetry that presents the words of a poem in motion. The graphic representation must give the reader the sound, the shape, and the meaning. The print determines how the poem should be read aloud.

Limerick A poem of five lines. A humorous, frequently bawdy, verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba, popularized by Edward Lear.

Lyric Is a song-like work, often with the theme of nature’s beauty, expressing the writer's emotions, usually briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms.

Narrative Tells a story. The story can be presented from the viewpoint of a character in the poem or of a narrator.

Ode A lyric poem in honour of a particular person, object, or subject, often elevated in style or manner to be dignified and sincere, and written in varied or irregular meter.

Parallel A poem that is a series of comparisons. The poem has one theme, and each of the lines describes a new aspect of the subject.

Parody An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Rhyming Couplet A unit of verse consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming and having the same meter and often forming a complete thought or syntactic unit.

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Poetry Glossary

Term Definition

Rondeau A thirteen-line poem, divided into three stanzas of 5, 3, and 5 lines, with only two rhymes throughout and with the opening words of the first line used as a refrain at the end of the second and third stanzas.

Scansion The action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm.

Sonnet A lyric poem of fourteen lines that follow a definite rhyming scheme. There are two types of sonnets: the Italian (with end rhymes abba abba cde cde) and the English (with end rhymes abab cdcd efef gg). The first eight lines describe the poet’s feelings, and the last six lines comment on those feelings.

Verse Writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme. A group of lines that form a unit in a poem or song; a stanza.

Definitions from ABC’s of Creative Writing by David W. Booth/Stanley Skinner and Oxford American Dictionaries

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In this activity, you are to break into 7 groups of approximately 4 people each. Designate one person in the group as the secretary, who will be writing for the group.

I will give each group an envelope. In that envelope will be a poem cut into its individual lines. Each group’s task is to arrange the lines in the order they believe the poem should be. The secretary’s job is to write this below, in the space provided, when the group comes to consensus about the order of the lines. When that has all been decided and transcribed, your group will decide on a title for the poem, then write the poem on the chart paper, and tape it to the wall or chalkboard.

Each group will then orally explain why they made the choices they made in arranging the poem. What clues helped you make your decisions, etc? What have you learned about the organization and structure of language?

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Poem Title: ____________________________________________________________

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Poetry Puzzle Poetry Activity

In this activity, you are to break into 4 groups of approximately 7 people each. A series of seven images will be placed face-down on each student’s desk. When I tell you to turn the image over, you will have 20-30 seconds to look over the image. In that time, you will write the first word, phrase, thought, or memory that comes to mind upon seeing the image, beside the corresponding number below.

After everyone in the group has viewed all seven images, have one person in the group collect all seven images and return them to your teacher. In the next part of the activity, one image will be face-down on the desk of one student in each group. When told, that student will look at the image briefly, then show the rest of the group. Everyone in the group will write the first word, phrase, thought, or memory that comes to mind upon seeing the image, just as was previously done for the first part of the activity. After 20-30 seconds, each group will pass the image to a person in the group to the right of their group. That one person will look at it briefly, then show the rest of their group. This will continue until there are no more images.

When all images have been viewed by the class, each student will look at their list of words, phrases, thoughts, and/or memories, and attempt to create a poem from them–independently! You do not have to use every item in your list, or in the order they appear. The idea here is to start a poem from a thought or memory that has inspired you somehow. It can be from one or two items on your list, and you can extrapolate from there.

As we already know, it does not have to rhyme just because it is a poem. In fact, most forms of poetry in the provided list do not rhyme. Let your thoughts roam freely as you do this activity. Remember, as with anything you hand in, presentation is everything. Feel free to do a good copy of the poem and dress it up prior to handing it in.

Write the word/phrase/thought/memory beside the number for each picture you view:

1. _______________________________________ 13. ______________________________________

2._______________________________________ 14. ______________________________________

3._______________________________________ 15. ______________________________________

4._______________________________________ 16. ______________________________________

5._______________________________________ 17. ______________________________________

6._______________________________________ 18. ______________________________________

7._______________________________________ 19. ______________________________________

8._______________________________________ 20. ______________________________________

9._______________________________________ 21. ______________________________________

10_______________________________________ 22. ______________________________________

11._______________________________________ 23. ______________________________________

12._______________________________________ 24. ______________________________________

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Poetry Image-Inspired Poetry Activity • Name: _______________

In this activity, you will be working independently. I can provide you with scissors, glue sticks, and blank sheets of paper. However, you are expected to provide your own magazines and newspapers.

You are to flip through your magazine or newspaper and cut out any words or phrases that jump out at you, that catch your eye. Only words or phrases are to be cut out, not individual letters; this is not a ransom note! You will then take all of the words and phrases you have cut out and arrange them on your desk in the order you think best encapsulates a theme or topic you wish to create a poem about. Give your poem a title. On your page, you will start to glue them down. Remember, as with anything you hand in, presentation is everything. Keep it neat! Feel free to dress it up prior to handing it in.

Here are a couple exemplars of this activity:

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Poetry Found Poetry Activity • Name: ______________________