Poetry Study Guide
Poetry Unit
English 8
Ms. Condon
This unit will encompass four weeks of 45 minute class time. Students have been introduced to poetry in seventh grade.
Overview:
Days 1-3: Review terms
Days 4-9: Learn different styles and write to mimic
Days 10-15: Poetry poster
Days 16-20: Poetry Presentation
Day 1: The next few days will focus on reviewing terms and introducing ways to determine meaning in poems. The information is divided up into four sections according to their textbook: Form, Sound, Imagery, and Theme. We focus on Form and Sound first.
I. Materials
A. Copies of Poetry Study Guide for students
II. Procedure
A. Hand out copies of Study Guide
1. Instruct students to write down important information: Definitions, examples, things that are repeated, etc.
2. Inform students that learning form and sound are two ways to figure out the meaning of a poem.
B. Give definitions and examples for Form
1. Form: the way the poem looks
2. Line: one row of words on a page
3. Stanzas: an arrangement of a certain number of lines, forming a division of a poem.
a. Couplet: A stanza of two lines
b. Quatrain: A stanza of four lines
C. Give definitions and examples for Sound
1. Rhyme: Words that end in the same sound
2. Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhyming words, marked with letters of the alphabet
3. Internal Rhyme: Multiple words within the line rhyme
4. Repetition: Repeat sounds, words, phrases, or whole lines
a. Emphasizes an ideas or feeling
5. Rhythm: the “beat” of the poem.
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
Form: It looks like full lines, sort of like a paragraph, or story.
Lines: four lines, almost the same length
Stanza: quatrain, entire poem is uniform in this.
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB
Internal Rhyme: Dreary and Weary, Napping and Tapping
Repetition: knocking on the door
Rhythm: like a heart beat, stressed, unstressed, etc.
Homework: Find a poem with distinct Sound or Form and bring in with brief explanation, using terms discussed in class.
Day 2: We will focus on Imagery, which entails both sense and figurative language. Figurative language will be broken up between the days. Today, students will learn about the five senses.
I. Materials
A. Students Poetry Study Guide
B. Overhead of Mary O. Fumento’s poem “The Sorcerer”
II. Procedure
A. Imagery: words that help us to imagine something. These words always refer to our senses.
B. Have students brainstorm for example words for each sense
1. Hearing – electric guitar, whisper
2. Sight – purple, dazzling
3. Touch – silky, rough
4. Smell – roses, bacon frying
5. Taste – bitter, salty
C. Finding Imagery
1. Put the overhead up for the students to view. It is the same poem that is in their study guide. Have the students circle and label the senses as you find them on the overhead
a. Hearing – whining, scamper, howl
b. Sight – flickering, mellow eyes, darkness, gleam, shimmer, flashes, black and white
c. Touch – silky, downy
d. Smell
e. Taste – sour
D. Figurative Language: speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning
1. Overhead of Figurative Language
a. Show difference between literal and figurative
2. Alliteration: Repetition of letter sounds
a. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds. Causing changes in the mood of the poem
b. Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds. Gives a beat.
3. Have each student come up with a tongue twister with their name in it using either alliteration, assonance, or consonance
a. Example: Ms. Condon carries crochet hooks in case of crooks.
4. Personification: Human actions to non-human things
a. Example: The flowers dance in the wind
i. List human actions on board
a. What objects can we match with the list on the board? (i.e. the spring birds chattered)
5. Personification: Compare parts of non-human object with parts of human body
a. Example: The tree’s hands waved good-bye.
i. List body parts on the board
a. What parts in nature can be compared with these parts? (i.e. the face of Big Ben watches over the city)
6. Hyperbole: exaggeration. Stretching the truth
a. Examples: I was tickled to death. Ander made his blood boil.
b. Ask students to find the two hyperboles in the poem in their study guide
i. Till a’ the seas go dry, my dear
ii. And the rocks melt wi’ the sun
c. Ask students to create other hyperboles
III. Assignment
A. Look up the following types of figurative language and write down their definition and an example.
1. Onomatopoeia
2. Simile
3. Metaphor
4. Irony
Day 3: We will cover Theme today and touch briefly on the figurative language homework. Homework worksheets will assess their knowledge in their research.
I. Materials
A. Students’ Poetry Study Guide
B. Overhead of War Haiku
II. Procedure
A. Symbolism: a word or image that represents something else
1. Examples: eagle = USA, Dove = Peace, Scale = Justice
2. What does white symbolize?
3. What does cupid symbolize?
4. Symbols change! Come up with symbols for these words
a. Beauty – Aphrodite
b. Wisdom – Owl, apple
c. Love – heart, Venus
d. Evil – devil, black
e. You
B. Read poem from study guide or overhead
C. Answer questions
1. Symbolism
2. What happens in the poem?
a. Literally
b. Figuratively
3. What message is the poet trying to tell you?
4. What is the purpose of the poem?
a. Think of how type of poem comes into play
5. What was happening when the poem was written?
III. Homework
A. Simile and Metaphor Worksheets
Day 4: Today will be the first day learning poetry styles. We will focus on famous and unknown poets whose styles are diverse. Students will practice using the terms reviewed while mimicking different poetic styles. Today’s poet will be Edgar Allen Poe. His style is marked by repetition, internal rhyme, and a simple flowing rhyme scheme. These things combined make the poem sound very musical.
I. Materials
A. Annabel Lee tape
B. Choral Reading of The Bells
II. Procedure
A. Poet’s Information
1. Style is marked in repetition, internal rhyme, and a simple, flowing rhyme scheme.
2. Focuses on dark themes
B. Tape recording of Annabel Lee
1. Listen for musical qualities
2. Discuss style choices
C. The Bells Choral Reading
1. Background info
2. Hand out parts and coach
3. First reading
III. Assignment
A. Practice reading
B. Start writing a piece mimicking his style, to be performed. May work in groups if you want to.
The Bells Choral Reading
All: One!
Middle:Hear the sledges with the bells -
Girls 1:Ting, Ting, ting-a-ling! Ting, ting, ting-a-ling! (repeat)
Boys: Sledge. Sledge. Sledge. Sledge. (repeat)
High: Silver bells!
Low: What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
High: How they
Girl 1: tinkle!
Girl 2: tinkle!
Girl 3: tinkle!
All: In the icy air of night!
Boys 1-3: Icccccccccce.
Low: While the stars that oversprinkle
Middle:All the heavens seem to twinkle
High: With a crystalline delight! Keeping
Boy 1: time! (repeat 5 times)
Boy 2: time! (repeat 4 times)
Boy 3: time! (repeat 3 times)
High: In a sort of Runic rhyme,
Girl 1: To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the
High: bells!
Low: bells!
Middle:bells!
Boy 2: bells!
Girl 2: Bells!
Low: Bells!
High: Bells!
All: From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
All: II
Middle:Hear the mellow wedding bells -
Boys: Dum, Dum, Da-Dum. Dum, Dum, Da-Dum
High: Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Boy 4: Through the balmy air of night
Girl 4: How they ring out their delight!
Boy 5: From the molten-golden notes,
All: And all in tune,
High: Do, Do, Do-Do, Do Do Do-Do
Low: What a liquid ditty floats
Girl 5: To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
Boys: Ca-coo! Ca-coo!
High: On the moon!
Girl 4: Oh, from out the sounding cells
Boy 4: What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
High: How it swells!
Low: How it dwells
All: On the Future!
Middle:How it tells
Boy 5: Of the rapture that impels
Girl 5: To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells,
Boy 5: Bells,
Girl 5: Bells,
High: Of the bells!
Low: bells!
Middle:bells!
Boy 4: bells!
Girl 4: Bells!
Low: Bells!
High: Bells!
All: To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
All: III
High: Hear the loud alarum bells -
Boys: (police siren)
Girls: Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
Middle:In the startled ear of night
High: How they scream out their affright!
Low: Too much horrified to speak,
Boy 6: They can only shriek,
Girl 6: shriek,
Boy 7: Out of tune,
Girl 7: In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
Boy 6:In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Low: Leaping higher,
Middle:Higher!
High: Higher!
Girl 6: With a desperate desire,
Boy 7: And a resolute endeavor
All: Now -now to sit or never,
Girl 7: By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Low: Oh, the bells,
Middle:Bells!
High: Bells!
Boys: What a tale their terror tells
Girls: Of despair!
Girl 6: How they clang, and clash, and roar!
Boy 6: What a horror they outpour
Girl 7: On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Low: Yet the ear it fully knows,
Boys: How the danger ebbs and flows; Yet the ear distinctly tells, How the
danger sinks and swells,
Girls: By the twanging, And the clanging, In the jangling, And the wrangling,
Low: By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells -
Middle:Of the bells,
High: Of the bells!
Low: bells!
Middle:bells!
Boy 7: bells!
Girl 7: Bells!
Low: Bells!
High: Bells!
All: In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!
All: IV
Low: Hear the tolling of the bells - Iron bells!
Boys: Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! (repeat until girls are done)
Girls: What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright at the melancholy menace of their tone!
Boy 8: For every sound that floats
Girl 8: From the rust within their throats
All: Is a groan.
Boy 9: And the people
Girl 9: ah, the people!
High: They that dwell up in the steeple,
Low: All alone,
Boys: And who tolling, tolling, tolling,
Girls: In that muffled monotone,
Boy 8: Feel a glory in so rolling on the human heart a stone -
Low: They are neither man nor woman –
Middle:They are neither brute nor human –
High: They are Ghouls:
Girl 8: And their king it is who tolls;
Low: And he rolls,
Middle:Rolls!
High: Rolls!
Boy 9: A paean from the bells!
Girl 9: And his merry bosom swells
Boy 9: With the paean of the bells!
Girls: And he dances!
Boys: and he yells!
Low: Keeping time,
Middle:Time!
High: Time!
Girl 9: In a sort of Runic rhyme,
Boy 9: To the paean of the bells,
All: Of the bells -
Low: Keeping time,
Middle:Time!
High: Time!
Girl 9: In a sort of Runic rhyme,
All: To the throbbing of the bells,
Low: Of the bells,
Middle:Bells!
High: Bells!
All:To the sobbing of the bells;
Boy 1: Keeping time
Girl 1: Time!
Boy 2: Time!
Girl 2: As he knells,
Boy 3: Knells!
Girl 3: Knells!
Boy 4: In a happy Runic rhyme,
All: To the rolling of the bells,
Girl 4: Of the bells,
Boy 5: Bells!
Girl 5: Bells!
Boy 6: To the tolling of the bells,
Girl 6: Of the bells,
Boy 7: Bells!
Girl 7: Bells!
Boy 8: Bells!
Girl 8: Bells!
Boy 9: Bells!
Girl 9: Bells!
All: To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Day 5: We will continue with Edgar Allen Poe. As a class, we will perform The Bells, giving them an opportunity to perform poetry before their final project. The rest of class will be spent working on their mimic piece, which will be performed next class.
I. Materials
A. The Bells scripts
B. “Nevermore”
II. Procedure
A. Have students perform The Bells with your guidance.
B. Have students continue to work on their pieces for tomorrow. Encourage gestures and vocal distinctions.
C. Read or have a tape playing Nevermore in the background as another example of Poe style for inspiration.
III. Assignments
A. Finish writing performance piece
1. Must mimic Poe: repetition, internal rhyme, simple rhyme scheme
2. Theme must be dark
3. 1-2 minutes per student
4. Focus on vocal distinctions
5. Due the day after Maya Angelou
Day 6: Today we will learn about e.e. cummings. Slam Poets, which we will learn about tomorrow, and e. e. cummings have one major thing in common: they play with the line length and placement. This greatly effects how the poem is read.
I. Materials
A. e. e. cumming poems overheads
II. Procedure
A. Put e. e. cummings’ poem on the overhead
B. Discuss characteristics of e. e. cummings’ poems
1. Rebel against the rules
a. No capitalization, ran words together
b. Visual arrangement
c. Share e. e. cummings’ Buffalo Bill
2. Childlike wonder
a. Natural awareness
b. In the moment and appreciating small things
c. Share e. e. cummings i carry your heart with me
3. Brevity
a. Short lines
b. Short poem over-all
c. Share guilt is a cause of more disorders
C. Share more examples and discuss how the choices made change how the poem is read
1. i have found what you are like
2. l(a
D. Spend remaining time on working on the homework
III. Assignment
A. Write a poem that mimics e. e. cummings style. Explain why at the bottom of the page.
B. Due in three days at the end of Maya Angelou.
Day 7: After learning about e. e. cummings’ style, we will explore today’s slam poets. They are similar in many ways. You could say that cummings rebellion of the rules sparked their movement. Much of their poetry is published in the same style as cummings, with artistic liberties in the placement, capitalization, and syntax of the phrases.
I. Materials
A. Vejay Jennings’ CD
B. Poem overheads
II. Procedure
A. Discuss similarities between Poe and cummings and Slam Poets
1. Poe
a. Length
b. Meant to be performed
c. Repetition and internal rhyme
2. Share Vejay Jennings “Vejay Speaks on Racism”
3. cummings
a. placement of words
b. In the moment
4. Share I Wore A Coin In My Shoe When We Got Married
5. Share Cooties audio
a. Have students listen and determine which poet it most resembles based on characteristics
III. Assignments
a. Continue working on mimicking Poe and cummings
Day 8: Today we will learn about Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was a spokesperson for her community and her poems were often written in their “voice.” Because of this, her poems create a distinct person.
I. Materials
A. Poem Overheads
II. Procedure
A. Discuss Harlem Renaissance
1. Between 1919 and 1926
2. Large number of African Americans began moving to the northern cities.
3. Rise of radical black intellectuals and success of black artists
B. Discuss Maya Angelou and her characteristics
1. Born at end of Renaissance, but has continue the impact it started
2. Numerous awards, sat on Presidential Committees, and composed a poem for Clinton’s inauguration.
3. Characteristics
a. Use of Chorus
i. Has Verse and chorus that is repeated after verse
b. Anaphora
i. Repetition of a phrase, often times in the chorus
ii. Creates a short rhythm, normally 2 beat lines
c. Topic: Women, Culture, Semi-Autobiographical
i. Poems are personal to her and her experiences
ii. Somewhat sexualized (Independent Woman)
d. Length
i. 1 page
ii. Repetition and dwelling on details and multiple examples
C. Share examples
1. Phenomenal Woman
2. Still I Rise
3. Alone
III. Assignment
A. Write a poem using her characteristics
B. All three poems due next class
Day 9: Students will present one of their three poems and tell the class how it relates to the poet they were mimicking.
Day 10: Students will choose a poem to analyze.
I. Materials
A. Poems to Analyze
II. Procedure
A. Students clear their desks of everything but a piece of paper and a pen
1. Number paper one through ten
2. Students will rank poems as they read them to determine top choices
B. Pass out poems and have students rotate them around the room so that everyone reads every poem
1. Students don’t have to read the poem if they are not interested in it
2. May pass at their own rate
C. Students turn in their top ten choices
1. Tell students you will choose and hopefully everyone will get one of their top three picks!
III. Assignment
A. Review study guide to refresh ways to analyze a poem. These categories will be used to assess their poem in their poem poster. Bring questions to class about uncertainties.
Day 11-14: Students begin to analyze their poem using the categories their textbook lays out. All sections must be stared by the teacher for the student to continue.
I. Materials
A. Students’ Poem
B. Poem Poster Example
C. Posters for students
II. Procedure
A. Hand out poems
B. Share example of finished work
C. Students use study guides to write about each section. Include everything discussed in the study guide unless it is not present in the poem.
1. Form, Sound, Imagery(5 senses, picture, and Figurative Language) Theme, Research
D. When a section is finished, have teacher look over and sign off on.
E. When all sections are signed, students may begin typing
1. Set Margins at 6.5 inches
2. Same font throughout, Heading, Sub heading, and text sizes
F. After typing, students will print and create poster
1. Make sure each section is on the same page
2. Back in colored paper
3. Make sure sections are organized and spaced out, appeasing to the eye.
4. Draw picture of poem!
III. Assignment
A. Students may wish to complete sections outside of class to maximize their time in class. All analysis and typing needs to be finished in two more class periods.
Day 15: Display posters in library and have students view each other’s work. Students must critique at least three peers works and write a review of their poster.
I. Materials
A. Students’ posters
II. Procedure
A. Display posters in the library
B. Have students go round and view each other’s work
C. Students will critique at least three posters
1. Presentation of poster
2. Information in sections
3. Agreement on Theme
D. Critiques due at the end of class
Day 16-18: The end of this unit will result in a poetry presentation. Students will create a poetry program and present their selections to the class. They will receive four days to work on their program and will present on the fifth day.
I. Materials
A. Poetry Presentation Rubric and Guidelines
B. Computers and/or poetry books
II. Procedure
A. Discuss rubric
1. Hand out rubric and guidelines
2. Clarify any points as needed
B. Choose a topic or idea
1. Poems must surround that chosen subject
2. You are exploring through poetry, so your poems should present several different view points about your subject.
C. Share Example
1. Perform Latrinalia
2. Have students grade teacher based on their rubric
D. Start research!
1. Make sure poems are deserving of our time. Pick GOOD poems
2. Don’t settle for poems about your topic, take only the best that help prove your point
Day 19: Students print off poems and intro, put on notecards and practice the presentation of the poems. This is very important! Remind them of rubric; points come from how you present the poems, not the poems you find!
I. Materials
A. Students poems
B. Computers
C. Open area in which to practice
II. Procedure
A. Have students print off poems
1. Cut margins down to fit notecards
2. Different font for different characters? Highlights? Stickers?
3. Make sure poems aren’t spilt on two different pages
4. Print off analysis of poems for the teacher. Due with presentation.
B. Put on notecards
1. Determine page turns
2. Notecards to be turned in after presentation
C. Practice!
1. With a partner preferably
2. Look at voice, characters, gestures and posture.
3. Watch time as well
III. Assignment
A. Continue practicing. Perform for parents? Familiarize yourself with it so you aren’t just reading off!
Day 20: Present your poems to the class.
Poetry Presentation
➢ You will create a 3-5 minute poetry presentation.
o All poems must be connected by a theme.
o You must use at least 2 different characters in your poems.
o You may write one poem, all others must be published poetry.
o You must have a short introduction that states your theme, title, and author of your pieces.
o You may challenge yourself by piecing the different poems together to create a better flow for your piece or present each poem, one after the other.
o You will be graded on:
• Intro that gives titles and authors and gets us thinking about your theme
• Vocal Delivery (volume, tone, rate, pitch, intonation, etc.)
• Physical Characterization (each poem should be a different “person” therefore they must have a voice and/or posture that differs them from the other poems)
• The impact of your theme on the audience. (that you made a point, entertained us, or showed an appreciation for the topic)
➢ You will write an analysis of your poems.
o State title and author
o Tell what you think the poem means, or is trying to say, cite examples in the text that brings you to that conclusion.
o Tell why you put the poem where you did in the presentation.
Poetry Presentation Name:__________________
|CATEGORY |5-4 POINTS |3 POINTS |2-1 POINTS |
|Introduction |Contains all titles and authors.|Speaker forgot part of needed |Speaker failed to include one or|
| |Theme is explained clearly and |info for the intro. Introduced |more of the parts needed. Theme|
| |audience is given something to |theme but failed to give |is not present or not well |
| |think about. |audience something to think |thought out. |
| | |about. | |
|Vocal Delivery |Speaker is clear and easily |Speaker is clear and easily |Speaker is hard to understand. |
| |understood. Displays different |understood. Has only one voice |Speaks to quietly or mumbles. |
| |voices for the characters, which|for characters. | |
| |are distinguishable. | | |
|Physical Delivery |Speaker uses gestures and eye |Speaker uses good eye contact |Speaker stands up and presents |
| |contact to further presentation.|and gestures. Only one |poems as himself. No characters|
| |Body shows at least 2 distinct |character present through body |present. No gestures or eye |
| |characters. |movement. |contact. |
|Impact of Theme |Presentation stays with you and |Theme is clear, but has no |Poems don’t connect with the |
| |is memorable. Ideas presented |lasting impact on audience. |theme presented. Seems |
| |made audience think or |Audience wasn’t made to think |disjointed and unplanned. |
| |appreciate the topic. |and wasn’t entertained. | |
|Time Requirement |Presentation is within the 3 to |Presentation is outside the |Presentation is outside the |
| |5 minute limitation. |limit by more than 15 seconds |limit by more than 30 seconds |
| | |either way. |either way. |
SCORE:____
Additional Notes:
INTRO:
Latrinalia. Or the study of bathroom graffiti, has intrigued people for decades. Unity Stoakes has created the website , an outlet for people to post pictures of their favorite scrawlings from around the country. He states, “This medium continues to thrive as one of the most culturally interesting forms of communication, artistic expression, and free speech that has ever existed. And is can be entertaining too.” This begs the question. Can scribbles on a wall be art? Can they make a difference? Latrinalia. A Poetry Program with poetry I Am Nobody, Who Are You? By Emily Dickinson, Creative Advocacy, an original sonnet, and found poetry from bathroom stalls across the country.
Pity the man whose wisdom and wit
Are inspired only
By the sweet smell of shit..
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you-Nobody-too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Dont tell! they'd banish us-you know!
How dreary-to be-Somebody!
How public
Under sign that said “Employees Must Wash Hands”:
I waited and waited, but I finally washed them myself.
The multi ethnic working class must unite to overcome the post-industrial capitalist forces! - An upper, middle-class student
In April 1990 four females
In the most private room they wrote their claims
Decided to silently cry and wail
There wrote down their attacker’s names.
Before the List girls went to see the dean,
“Fine members of the Brown community”
Might have well as said, “Leave you Drama Queen!”
Thus the bathrooms create mass unity.
Trodden are the victims, now you must think
The janitors have repainted the stall.
Next you will write in indelible ink
Changing the law by writing on the wall.
No one would listen to their entreaty
Creative advocacy by graffiti.
Robots eat gravy
In between everything and in the middle of nothing I AM.
If you sprinkle, when you tinkle, please be neat, and wash the seat.
Pro Choice means- Freedom of religion, freedom of choice, pursuit of happiness.
Pro Choice also means- I murder my baby, or I murder my soul, my life, me- all that I was really meant to be.
Scratched into a condom dispenser: Don’t buy this gum, it tastes like rubber
Change, on a mass scale, is inevitable in this dawn of the New Millenia. But, my friends, it will not be with idle chatter, political hoopla, or coffee-house philosophy. In the end, I fear, there will be much blood shed
At Long Wong’s you better bring your Visa Card because at Long Wong’s they don’t take any attitude and they don’t take American express.
What is beauty but the beginning of terror because it serenely disdains to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.
The handwriting on the wall said cheer up things could be worse- so I did and they were
The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the minds of the oppressed!
I pity the man whose poetic ability is aroused by the smell of shit
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you-Nobody-too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Dont tell! they'd banish us-you know!
How dreary-to be-Somebody!
How public
Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill’s
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeons justlikethat
he was a handsome man
and what I want to know is
how do you like your blue-eyed boy
Mister Death
guilt is a cause of more disorders
guilt is a cause of more disorders
than history’s most obscene marorders
i carry your heart with me
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
i have found what you are like
i have found what you are like
the rain
(who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields
easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike
the air in utterable coolness
deeds of green thrilling light
with thinned
newfragile yellows
lurch and press
- in the woods
which
stutter
and
sing
and the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms,but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,
your kiss
l(a
l(a
le
ar
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
Vejay Speaks On Racism
God’s pen paints my limbs and skin with melanin
And so begins my history, but you curse me for God’s creativity?
Thus my nativity is a scene of injustice – just us
Painted in God’s image, best wishes for faded color lines
Debate these lives of mine.
A fate, chased by prejudice,
Freedom – a story erased and edited by race
Race – and we are still running,
about to be erased by the color of hate – so I await.
Dreaming like Martin I awoke to the strokes of God’s brush on my flesh
And realized that we are still blessed, as we all are,
Stand tall and we cannot fall.
Take baby steps, crept into equality, swept away past follies of yesterdays,
And pay attention to tomorrows to rectify coming sorrows of these borrowed souls.
And we were meant to love one another, as brother and sister under the Son.
And we were meant to eat at the table of Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Your Hood, My Hood,
The good of a people create equal are in their souls within
And not in the color of their skin.
I Wore A Coin In My Shoe When We Got Married
me and my man:
we are a good kinda dirty room –
the kind where nothing’s in its place
but you know just where to find it
we are hit and run
hurricane done been through here when no one was lookin’
maybe we been robbed!
kinda messy
we’s jars of pennies on the bedside
we’s saved by pocket change in the sofa suchions
and a whole lotta makin’ do
a whole lotta makin’ do –
we’re stickin’ dollars in please-forget-me-places
secondhand classified sections
and mama askin’ on the phone
- when you gonna do something with that degree? -
Reply
- we’re workin’! -
oh! –
my degree
degree
de –
gree
pardon me, i digress
into grinning!
can you hear the pennies jinglin’?
the cats crappin?
3 a.m. tap-dancing’
tatta-tat
tatta-tat
tatta-tat tat tat tat
oh oh oh oh –
Oh, Mama!
PLEASE
stop askin; when we’re gonna
make somethin’ outta ourselves
see –
we’re already makin’
a whole lotta somethin’
outta practically nothin’!
Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun
[pic]of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Alone
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Poetry Study Guide
English 8
Ms. Condon
Form:
Lines:
Stanzas:
Couplet:
Quatrain:
Sound:
Rhyme:
Rhyme Scheme:
Internal Rhyme:
Repetition:
Rhythm:
From Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
Imagery:
Hearing:
Sight:
Touch:
Smell:
Taste:
Figurative Language:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Onomatopoeia:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Hyperbole:
Personification:
Irony:
Verbal:
Situational:
Theme:
Symbolism:
What happens in the poem?
What message is the poet trying to tell me?
What is the purpose of the poem?
What was happening when the poem was written?
Haiku 1
Bloody strand of grass
Butterflies flit from flowers
Where our comrades died
Gun powder and smoke
Hidden by fragrant roses
Just another field
Burned and rotting flesh
Now nurture new plants and trees
Life is a circle
-----------------------
Mary O. Fumento’s “The Sorcerer”
The flickering flame enchants the mellow eyes
While whining wind encases faltering ears
And darkness entombs the dozing figure
Batches of colors explode
Tiny, bearded men scamper
While wicked beasts howl
Crystal walls gleam and shimmer
Flashes fall from a midnight sky
Metals fold like liquid
Flower to stone to lizard to leaf
Dozens of faceless, nameless cards
Sometimes a silky kerchief
And an occasional downy dove
Retreating adversaries with wary eyes
Always a cynic, sour skeptic
Wanting but not daring to believe
Ivory towers and ivy walls
Complete with princess calling
Knights and steeds and armor
A world of black and white
Till a’ the seas go dry, my dear
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life do run.
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related download
- ap english poetry unit
- listed and defined below are literary terms that you will
- literary devices
- pertinent pointers for the ap language writer
- poetry study guide
- literary devices poster project sheet
- my poetry packet lcps
- aesthetic features and stylistic devices english
- ap english poetry terms
- rhetorical device examples student discovered
Related searches
- photosynthesis study guide answers
- genesis study guide pdf
- 6th grade science study guide pdf
- biology 101 study guide printable
- ftce study guide pdf
- study guide for philosophy 101
- photosynthesis study guide quizlet
- science ged study guide 2019
- clep college composition study guide pdf
- study guide for photosynthesis pdf
- ged practice study guide pdf
- personal finance study guide pdf