What is Poetry?

How do we define it?

• Haiku • Limerick• Acrostic• Concrete• Elegy• List• Ode• Ballad• Villanelle• Free Verse • Sonnet• And many many more…

Is this?

Wordsworth in Graffiti?

This is a haiku… in a toilet stall

Do all poems have to rhyme?

• Roses are red, Violets are blue, Some poems do rhyme, And some do not.

How do we compare quality?

Shakespeare vs. Emma (age 4)

6 Word Memoir Genre

Write your own 6 Word Memoir

• Style • It can only have 6 words and should

summarize your life’s biography• Share with the class

A Poem

I tried. Can’t do it. Brain’s empty.

-Sharon Creech From Love that Dog

Defining Poetry

• Noun• 1. The art of rhythmical composition, written

or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts

• 2. Literary work in metrical form; verse• 3. Prose with poetic qualities

It’s all Poetry!

• Many authors have unique styles, phrasing, imagery, word choice (even Emma)

• Finding your voice as a poet is important • Standards are only relative to the person

reading that poem • As we move through the unit and you practice

writing and reading poems, you will find you connect to certain voices.

Shel Silverstein

The Tyger – William Blake 1757-1827

Who will your favourite poet be?