class 1 what is poetry- mgkoreck

8/2/2019 Class 1 What is Poetry- MGKoreck

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Class 1:

1. Poetry from the cradle to the grave.

1.1. What is poetry?


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Reflection task: Is this a poem?

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Poems which take poetry to its limits should challenge our most deeply heldassumptions about poetry. Asking whether what is before us is a poem should make usbecome self conscious about the ways that we read and think about poetry, to realizethat although we may hesitate to write down a definition of poetry, we effectively carry adefinition around with us, however unarticulated that may be.

Is this a poem? We might observe that since it has rhyme and can be read so that it

has rhythm it fulfils some of the requirements of formal poetry. Whether it has a subject

is debatable, but if we recall the way in which the reader might generate meanings anda subject for a poem, then it cannot be said that the numbers are meaningless, since

different readers will produce different meanings. For instance, I might see that the

poem is about the way that in a technological society people are being represented

more and more by numbers, and therefore this poem represents this fact by generating

meaning in numbers rather than in words. Even if we said the poem had no 'meaning',

this might not disqualify it as a poem. If we think of the ideas of Eliot and Pater

concerning the music of poetry, we could say that the poem approaches the ideal of

pure sound without reference; the poem might be heard and enjoyed just because of

varied vowel sounds in it and not for any reductive meaning that they represent. We

listen for once to the music of numbers rather than think of their referents. Thedivergent ways that poetry can move towards pure sound or towards graphic art can

highlight conventional ways that we think about poetry and what it is.

TASK

Analyse the following poems and find out how these divergent ways are expressed.


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Meditation by

Emmett William

Im ape by Karma Wilson

In what ways are these poems similar and different?


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Sometimes, the apparently new in poetry which seems to bring poetry to its limits is

actually a revival of an older tradition or idiom. A good contemporary example of this

would be the performance of poetry, which can be as varied as a small poetry reading

or a rap concert or a gig by Benjamin Zephaniah or the experiencing of poems which

exist solely as performance. Poetry readings grew in popularity from the 1950s

onwards and certainly by now there are poets who are primarily live performers andwhose work simply cannot exist in the stabilizing medium of print. Performance poets

are often avant-garde and, again, may seem to touch the limits of what we think of as

poetry, but largely they are returning poetry to its roots in song and restoring its

dimension as a communal, a public, activity rather than a private one through the act of

individual silent reading. The emergence of print culture and of private reading

practices may have obscured the existence of this tradition, but it remains a vital one.

TASK 1:

What is poetry? What does Michael Rosen, a very well known poet of childrens poetrysay? How does he answer this question?

Some people think poetry is made strictly for brainy college students, professors andbookstore clerks. Not true! Poems can be enjoyed by everybody, and nursery rhymesare a great example. The first poem you ever heard was probably a nursery rhyme.These poems are usually brief, fun and silly, with easy rhymes that just anyone canfollow. They often contain wacky images like dogs wearing clothes and families livingin shoes.

TASK 2:

Read one of Michael Rosens best known poems: Were going on a bear hunt. Whyis this poetry interesting for our context of teaching? In what ways is it poetry asdefined by himself?

What do teachers think about poetry and its definition? Sharon Gill (2007) says :

As a teacher of children (and of teachers), however,I am more concerned that students understand

what poetry is, enjoy reading it, feel the desire andability to participate in writing it, and appreciate

what makes one poem better than another.I believe that central to helping children enjoy

poetry is helping them understand what poetry isthat poetry is more than just a body of great workswritten long ago or forms (narrative vs. lyric) and


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terms (iambic pentameter and onomatopoeia) tomemorize. Poetry is something people do. Huck,

Hepler, and Hickman (1993) described poetry as thedistillation of experience that captures the essenceof an object, feeling or thought(p. 452); above all

else, children need to know that people write poemsto share their experiences. Huck et al.s definition of

poetry also helps us appreciate what makes onepoem better than another:

Each word must be chosen with care, for both its

sounds and meaning, since poetry is language in itsmost connotative and concentrated form.... Poetry

does delight children, but it also helps them developnew insights, new ways of sensing their world. (p. 452)

Temple, Martinez, Yokota, and Naylor (2002)offered a useful definition of childrens poetry:a

concise and memorable case of language, with intensefeeling, imagery, and qualities of sound that

bounce pleasingly off the tongue, tickle the ear, andleave the mind something to ponder.Lukens

(2003) described the characteristics of poetry, includingconciseness, emotional intensity, imagery,

insight, and elements of sound.

Working with these definitions of poetry, teacherscan design lessons to help students understand

what poetry is and to appreciate and enjoy it. Onelesson I use with both children and adults illustrates

the idea that people write poetry to capture theirthoughts, feelings, and experiences.

1.2. The meaning of form in poetry.


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The meaning of form

It is impossible to discuss poetry, or even to understand it, without some knowledge of

poetic form. Form is, or should be, the starting-point of any analysis of poetry, because

its form distinguishes poetry from other kinds of writing or communication. Whilst

students are occasionally even now required to memorize and have a basic working

knowledge of metrical forms - the iamb, dactyl or spondee - and are certainly required

to recognize the basic specific forms of poetry - a sonnet, blank verse, an ode, free verse

- nevertheless, the meaning of poetic form, why a poem looks the way it does, and what

significance this might have for the poem, may not be subjects frequently addressed in

the classroom or seminar. Poetic form is sometimes considered an abstruse subject,

difficult to understand; in extreme cases it may be considered a distraction, an

unnecessary complexity, a barrier between reader and text, or else as an index of a kind

of old-fashioned education, drilling students in Latin grammar or the mysteries of

Renaissance prosody - perhaps seen as an irrelevance to many contemporary readersor students.

The content of poetry (what is often mistakenly called its meaning), conversely, is

often thought of as easy to understand, and therefore as sufficient in itself, all we need

to know about a poem: poetry is its content. This is an inherently reductive view, which

can lead to meaningless generalizations of what poems are 'about', ignoring what they

are, or what they do.

(Materson and Jones, 2000)

TASK: Listen to poet Michael Rosen talking about meaning in techniques.

In what ways does Michael Rosen explain and expand Materson and Jonesidea?

What devices does he mention?

Considering what Materson and Jones and Michael Rosen say, we can say that

poetry means both through its content and form in unique ways, and this is why it is so

powerful as a teaching resource. The meaning in form is primarily conveyed through a

number of devices that poets use. Let us analyse what these devices are.

As Johnson (2006) says, Poetry in preliterate societies was passed from generationto generation by a strong oral tradition. Poetic devices such as the ones listed belowhelped the performers, including troubadours and minstrels, remember the structureand words of the poems they recited.

Alliterationis the repetition of the same sounds, usually consonant sounds, at the

beginning of words or stressed syllables. Some examples of alliteration are: cute cats;

the sounds of silence; my mother made marshmallow cookies.


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Assonanceis the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed

syllables, with different consonant sounds between them. Example: This chicken is

similar to that one.

Imageryis the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.

A poem has effective imagery when its words allow you to imagine that you can see,hear, smell, touch, or taste the things the poem describes.

Kenningsare compound, figurative phrases used in place of a name or noun,

especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry. For example, the sea was often called

the whale road and a sword might be called a battle friend.

Metaphorsare comparisons of two unlike things made without using like or as. The

two things being compared are usually linked by a form of the verb to be. Examples: I

am a rock. You are my sunshine.

Onomatopoeiais the use of sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

For example, the word buzz sounds like the sound a bee makes. The word hiss sounds

like a snake and the word chirp makes the sound of a bird. Using such words in a

poem about these subjects creates a link between sound and meaning and allows the

reader (or listener) to experience the poem more richly.

Personificationis the assignment of human qualities, actions, or form to inanimate

objects or abstract ideas. Examples: The wind coughed. The house groaned in the

night. Love knocked on my door.

Rhymeis the repetition of the same sound in two different words. Poems do not haveto rhyme, but they often do. Example: Words that rhyme with rose are toes, nose, goes,

foes, throws, shows.

Similesare comparisons of two unlike things, usually using like or as. Example: Mylove is like a red, red rose.

These are just some of the well known tools that poets use to write poetry. In fact there

are certain tools that focus on expressing feelings and experiences

through visual and sensory tools while others focus on expressing feelings andexperiences through auditory, musical and rhythms toolsWhich are these tools?

Poetry ToolboxesTools to Help Craft Poetry that poets useIMeaningExpressing feelings and experiencesthrough visual and sensory tools;

revision techniquesImage


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MetaphorSimilePersonificationWordsLine-BreaksBeginnings/EndingsTitlesObservation

IIMusicExpressing feelings and experiencesthrough auditory, musical and rhythmstools

RhymeRepetition/PatternsRhythmAlliterationWordsLine-BreaksOnomatopoeiaAssonanceConsonance

TASK:

Analyse the following poems and find out in what ways they make use of thesetools

By Karla Kuskin


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Angry by Michael

Rosen

Here comes the man

With the angry dog.

Here comes the dog

With the angry man.

Angry dog

Angry man

Angry man

Angry dog.


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Double, double, toil and trouble,Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Filley of a fenny snake,In the cauldron boil and bake;Eye of newt, and toe of frog,Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,Adders fork, and blindworms sting,Lizards leg, and howlets wing-For a charm of pow`ful trouble,Like a hell broth boil and bubble.

Double, double, toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

From Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Baa Baa Black sheep (Track 2)

Baa Baa Black sheepHave you any wool?Yes, sir, Yes, sir

Three bags fullOne for the masterAnd one for the dameOne for the little boywho lives down the lane

Anonymous traditionalEnglish song

Molly Malone (track 16)

In Dublin's fair city where the girls are so prettyTwas there that I first met sweet Molly MaloneShe drove her wheelbarrowThrough street broad and narrowCrying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"

Alive, alive oh, alive, alive oh,

Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"

She was a fishmonger and that wasnt wonder

The Apple by S. C. Rigg

stem

apple apple apple appleapple yum apple yum apple yum apple

juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy

crunchy crunchy crunchy crunchy crunchy crunchyred yellow green red yellow green red yellow green redapple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple

apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple appleapple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple appleyum delicious yum delicious yum delicious yum delicious yumyum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yumyum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yumyum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yumyum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

yum delicious yum delicious yum delicious yumapple apple apple apple apple apple apple

apple apple apple apple apple applered yellow green red yellow

crunchy crunchy crunchy

juicy juicy juicy juicyapple apple


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Her mother and father were fishmongers tooAnd they wheeled their barrowsThrough streets broad and narrowCrying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"

She died of the fever and nothing could save her

And that was the end of sweet Molly MaloneNow her ghost drives her barrowThrough streets broad and narrowCrying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh

(Traditional Irish Song)

TASK: The purpose of these questions is to discuss:

1. In what ways are these poems wonderful examples to work with in class? Whydo they lend themselves for different contexts and different purposes?

2. What content of the curriculum design could these poems be used to work with?Could all of them be used? Why?

3. Which ones are interesting from a linguistic perspective?4. Which ones are interesting from a cultural perspective?

TASKSituation:

1. Juana is teaching a group of 11 year old children in 6 EP in a school in SanMartn. She is deciding what poetry materials to use for different projectsthroughout the year.

Below you will find a sketch of the projects, that is, the topic and the final tasks thatstudents will carry out through the projects.

1. Which poems could be used for each project? Why?2. What tasks could be carried out with each poem inside the project to aid final

production?3. What content do you think children will have learned by the end of the year?

(use the curriculum design to help you)

Sketch Plan of projects

Topic Final TaskNatural changesround the year

A powerpoint presentation to load on the school blog onnatural changes in different seasons (together with NaturalScience teacher)

Pets Write a poetry book called: our friends: the animals

Magic Spells Act out a mini play in English based on the story The Witchesby Roal Dahl (that students have read with the Spanishteacher).


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Fears Exhibition with Art teacher on famous horror film scenes.Students write down bilingual captions for each scene that theyreproduce through their own art work.

Folk stories round theworld

Write a book library of folk stories for other children to read(each child will write and illustrate the story for other courses inthe school to read).

class 1 what is poetry- mgkoreck

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