EWRT 30

Class 2

AGENDA

Groups and Participation Points

Discussion: Haiku

Terms 6-10

Lecture: Blank Verse: Form, Meter, and Structure

Guided Writing (Color Poem)

Participation PointsHint: this is not participating!

All participation points must

be earned in class

You will earn some points in teams during discussion.

You will earn some points in teams for reading your original

work.

You will earn some points in teams during vocabulary games

You will earn some points for attending writers’ workshops

There may be other opportunities to earn points.

If you are not in class, you cannot earn points.

2. The teams will remain the same through the discussion, reading, workshops, and vocabulary of one project.

3. You must change at least 50% of your team after each project is completed.

4. You may never be on a team with the same person more than twice.

5. You may never have a new team comprised of more than 50% of any prior team.

1. We will often use teams to earn participation points. Your teams can be made up of 3 or 4 people.

Points will be earned for correct answers to questions, meaningful contributions to the discussion, and the willingness to share your work. Each team will track their own points, but cheating leads to death (or loss of 25 participation points).

Answers,

comments, and

questions must be

posed in a manner

that promotes

learning. Those

who speak out of

turn or with

maliciousness will

not receive points

for their teams.

At the end of each

class, you will turn in a

point sheet with the

names of everyone in

your group and your

accumulated points

for the day.

It is your responsibility

to make the

sheet, track the

points, and turn it in.

Sit near your team

members in class to

facilitate ease of

group discussions

Your Poetry

Group!

Get into groups of

three or four. (1-2

minutes)

If you can’t find a

group, please raise

your hand.

Once your groups is established, choose

one person to be the

keeper of the points.

Write down

members’ names

Turn in your sheet at

the end of the class

period.

In your groups: 5-6 minutes

Review the first five vocabulary words.

Be prepared to offer definitions

Read your Haiku to each other.

Identify the conventions you used in your haiku

Prepare one or two to read aloud to the class

The Review

Green

sheet

Syllabus

Website

Terms 1-5

What are the

traditional

Conventions?

Conventions of Haiku

the line and syllable count

the use of a word that marks a season

the “phrase and fragment” style (the description and reflection, usually marked with punctuation).

Volunteers to Read!

What conventions do you recognize?

Terms 6-10

6. Blank verse

A line of poetry or prose in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Shakespeare's sonnets, Milton's epic poem Paradise

Lost, and Robert Frost's meditative poems such as

"Birches" include many lines of blank verse. Here are the

opening blank verse lines of "Birches": When I see birches

bend to left and right / Across the lines of straighter

darker trees, / I like to think some boy's been swinging

them.

7. Meter

The measured pattern of rhythmic accents in poems. An

iamb is an example of meter.

9. Metaphor

A comparison between essentially unlike things

without an explicitly comparative word such as like or

as. An example is "My love is a red, red rose.”

10. Simile

A figure of speech involving a comparison between

unlike things using like, as, or as though. An example:

"My love is like a red, red rose."

Blank Verse

Blank verse is a form of poetry, obviously. What sets

it apart from all the other forms is that blank verse

does not rhyme. The meter is usually iambic (a pattern of unstressed syllables followed by

stressed), and pentameter ( a line consisting of five

feet). A line of blank verse would go like this:

Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit Detroit

OR

I watch the rolling hills fly by my eyes

Though, technically, all lines are supposed to be

exactly iambic, sometimes it doesn't want to quite

work out that way.

Scansion is the act of marking a poem to show

the metrical units of which it is composed. It

means any attempt, by signs, to indicate the

beat of a line of poetry and to mark off the

division of feet.

Each team will scan one verse of the poem

“Mending Wall.” When you are done, write it on

the white board. (5-7 minutes)

http://poemshape.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/robert-frost-iambic-

pentameter-mending-wall/

1. Read the verse out loud and see if you notice a particular rhythm in your first reading.

2. Count the number of syllables in each line, and write that number at the end of the line. Do you see a pattern in the number of syllables?

3. Put an accent mark (/) over any syllables that absolutely have to be stressed. The way you can figure this out is by trying to say the word

several times, each time exaggerating a different syllable. ("AR-tist"

or "ar-TIST”). Put a "u" over the unstressed syllables.

4. Once you see a pattern (for

example, unstressed, unstressed, stressed; unstressed, unstressed, stressed . . . ), mark a vertical line between

each unit of the pattern. Those are your "feet.”

5. Read the poem aloud again, this time really accentuating the words you have marked as "stressed." Does it sound right?

6. Count how many feet each line has. It will probably be one of these:

Monometer (one foot), Dimeter (two feet), Trimeter (three

feet), Tetrameter (four feet), Pentameter (five feet), or Hexameter (six feet).

7. Copy your scanned verse onto the board.

Guided WritingHearing Colors: A poem in blank verse

Pick a color to write about.

Then, assign qualities to your color. I know this is a stretch, but try

to imagine the color with your other senses.

These qualities will help you connect your color to abstract

ideas and events and describe it through alternative mediums.

Soft or hard

Wet or dry

Big or little

Loud or quiet

Natural or man-made

Smooth or textured

Happy or sad

Hot or cold

Dense or porous

Spring fall summer or winter

Thick or thin

Slippery or sticky

Inside or outside

Funny or serious

Old or new

Cheap or expensive

Plain or ornate

Common or uncommon

Casual or formal

Energetic or relaxed

Realistic or fantastic

Strong or frail

Questions to consider in

writing Verse One

If your color were music, what kind would it be?

Who would play it and where would you hear it?

Which song would it be?

Why or how does this music reflect your color?

Verse Two

If your color were dance it would be which?

Who would dance it and where would you see it

done?

Describe the movements of the dance.

Why is this dance like your color?

Verse Three

If your color were a smell, it would be which?

Where would you smell it?

What does it remind you of?

How is this smell like your color?

Verse Four

If your color were a food it would be which?

Where and when would you eat it?

How does it taste?

How does it remind you of your color?

Verse Five

If your color were an event it would be which?

Specific example

When do you go there?

How is your color like your event?

Verse Six

If your color were a place it would be what or

where?

Describe it.

When do you (or other people) go there?

How is your color like your place?

Verse Seven

If your color were a person, who would it be?

Where would you see this person?

Describe this person.

How is your color like the person?

Verse Eight

If your color were an animal, which would it be?

Where would you see this animal

Describe the animal

How is your color like the animal

Verse Nine

If your color were a game, what kind would it

be?

Which one in particular?

Who would play it?

Describe the game.

Verse Ten

If your color were a book, what kind would it

be?

Which one in particular?

Who would read it?

Describe the theme, plot, mood, or purpose.

Ending

Finish the poem with one or two more

lines!

Blank Verse: Conventions

Once you finish writing your

poem, put it into blank verse.

This means each line will have ten

syllables or five iambic feet.

It should not rhyme!

Consider other conventions

Simile:

A figure of speech in which things are compared using the words “like” or “as”

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which things are compared by stating that one thing is another

Alliteration

Repetition of words with the same beginning sounds

Onomatopoeia

Words that sound like the objects or

actions they refer to

Assonance:

Identity or similarity in sound

between internal vowels in

neighboring words. example: hot

dog

Remember

Once you have completed your verses, you can eliminate one or two or even three if they are not

working in your poem.

You can add other verses that help you describe

your color.

This guided writing is set up as quatrains (four lines

per verse), but you can change that if you would

like.

Homework

Post #2 Blank Verse: Color Poem

Reading: Sonnets

Study Terms 1-10