poetry chapbook project chapbook project 1. students will create a poetry chapbook. chapbooks will...

1

Poetry Chapbook Project

1. Students will create a Poetry Chapbook. Chapbooks will consist of 30 short and

original poems. Poems will include many poetic devices. All poems should be a

minimum of 50 words except for the hand poem, cinquain, haiku, simile, villanelle,

invented and diamente poems which have their own rules. Poems may be longer.

1. Haiku (3)

2. Cinquain (3)

3. Simile Poem (3)

4. Diamente-Symetrical poem (3)

5. Animal Poem

6. Body Poem

7. Bitterness Poem

8. Superhero Poem

9. Memory Poem

10. Fill in the Blank Poem

11. Metaphor Poem

12. Person Poem

13. Worry Poem

14. Cause Poem

15. Emotion Poem

16. Object Poem

17. Hand Poem

18. Villanelle

Chapbooks should also have three visuals and a cover. Visuals may be

drawings, paintings, special craft paper, stickers, photos, or magazine

pictures that have special meaning to the poetry included in the chapbook.

2

Haiku

Haiku Rules

Haiku must have three lines.

The lines usually have 5, 7, 5 syllables each for a total of 17 syllables

1 season word

Usually no rhyme or metaphor

Write three short lines. Edit all extra words. Pare the lines down to their verb and noun roots. Question

whether the adjectives and adverbs are necessary. Do you need every article? Insert one season word

into the poem to direct the reader to certain time. The word can be simply “autumn” as in:

Looking for the moon

In a lonely autumn sky

--mountain castle lights.

Petals fall to earth

Light glitters in the raindrops

Spring has come to me

Mucky undergrowth

Dark, sinister, morbid place,

Beneath the floor boards.

Simple browns and golds

Soaring high with wind filled wings,

Eagles so graceful

Anger is a fire,

Burning through those it touches,

Always leaving scars.

Sadness it happens

You feel it when someone dies

Will it ever end?

Translated from Japanese

(They may not have the right number of syllables)

After the storm

A boy wiping the sky

From the tables

Bright orange spheroid

Why do you hide your sweetness

Inside of your skin?

On a fall Sunday

I was reading a comic book

Until it fell

One day of early spring

A snowman melts

I drink it

In summer one day

When the sun shone very brightly

His eyes were golden

An old pond

A frog jumps in

Sound of water

3

Cinquains

These short, unrhymed poems consist of twenty-two syllables and are distributed a 2,4,6,8,2 syllables in five lines.

TRIAD

These be

Three silent things:

The falling snow…the hour

Before the dawn…the mouth of one

Just dead

Cinquains have always attracted a number of poets

who are still developing the form.

CINQUAINS

By

Jeanne Cassler

Catch us

When we chase you,

Boys, your arms around us

Will tell you a secret that has

No words

First Visit to the Ocean

She’s lost

Inside her laugh

Before the rising tide

That reaches out to tickle her

Bare toes.

Shade Tree

The oak

In my backyard

Holds twisted rope and wood

And knows the name of evry child that swings.

Slow Squeeze

I watch from my window;

A tearful, little toad

Becomes a garter snake’s lunch, wart

By wart.

Jumping

Into the pond.

I kick my fear away,

My arms pull down, my head pops up,

I breathe.

By

Thomas D. Greer

FATHERHOOD

1

Shaving:

Lather, scrape, rinse,

Drowsy repetition.

Two sons stand crowding at the door,

Staring.

2

Pickup,

Parked in the lot;

Bicycles in the bed—

Wheels slowly progress, back and forth,

Waiting.

3

Sidewalk;

Roller skate-obstructed,

A nearly intact Fudgescile,

Melting.

4

Newscast:

Another child

“missing, last seen wearing…”

All night long, awake, listening,

Checking.

5

Waking

At 3:00 a.m.

Panicked, sure I forgot

Something important. Did Andrew

Potty?!

6

Watching

His brother climb

The backyard’s tallest tree.

His eyes follow, he tells himself:

One da

4

SIMILE POEMS

Similes draw comparisons between two things by using like or as.

To make a list poem from similes, first choose an idea to compare things to. Then, write down things that relate to

your idea. Use this list to form your poem. Compare at least 3 things to the object or idea and use the “to be” verbs

is, are, was or were to show a relationship between the idea and the things you’ve chosen.

Example: Idea lonely

Similar things: tree, pup, ran, night

-As lonely as…-

As lonely as a with a tree without leaves

As lonely as an abandoned pup

As lonely as footsteps in the rain

Is my house in the quiet of night.

As black as a raven

As black as a panther

As black as a witch’s hat

Is my cat, Nightshade

As cold as a polar bear's nose

As cold as a penguin's flippers

As cold as an ice cube down my back

Are my bare hands while making a snowball.

As slimy as a fish

As slimy as a slug’s trail

As slimy as a worm

Is the uncooked egg sliding down my throat.

As ridiculous as my mom listening to hip hop

As ridiculous as my little sister wearing make up

As ridiculous as my dad’s singing in the shower

Is the costume I have to wear in the school play

As insidious as a snake lying in wait for a rat

As insidious as a cancer working it’s way in the body

As insidious as termites eating away at a house

Is the gossip going around my school.

Some suggested topics are: love, anger, tired, relaxed, envious, pretty, ugly, obnoxious, sunny, frustrating, easy,

difficult, stinky, obvious, dynamic, funny, etc.

5

DIAMENTE FORMULA POEMS

A diamente poem is seven lines long, in a diamond shape, and is usually unrhymed (but not always).

1. Select a pair of words that are opposites: light/dark, hot/cold, ice/fire.

2. Follow the formula to create a perfect diamante poem.

Line:

1- a noun that is also the poem's title

2- 2 adjectives describing line 1

3- 3 words that end in "ing" that relate to the noun in line 1

4- 4 nouns. First two relate to noun in line 1

Last two relate to line 7

5- 3 words that end in "ing" that describe noun in line 7

6- 2 adjectives that describe noun in line 7

7- A noun that is the opposite or the partner to noun in line 1.

Think of this poem as a progression of images and ideas flowing from line 1 through line 7.

Sand

scratchy hot

shifting moving baking

dunes hills waves pools

moaning sleeping roaring

deep green

sea

Dawn

bright bold

sparkling smiling laughing

birds bees cats bats

slinking creeping crawling

deep shy

dusk

Duckling

Shapeless needy

Roaming Begging pestering

Web, feet, white, black

Gliding drifting pleasing

Gracious intelligent

swan

Gold

Coveted, precious

Glittering, shining, winning

Coins, crowns, pencil, bars

Protecting, poisoning, deadening

Unwanted, dull

Lead

Smoke

Dense hot

Confusing blinking numbing

Wisps, curls, breezes, gales

Living restoring rejuvenating

Fresh clean

Air

6

The Villanelle A villanelle is composed of six stanzas, beginning with five three line stanzas, and ending with one four line stanza. Usually there is at

least one repeating line. There are only two rhymes in the usual villanelle, placed strategically in the poem. One of the most noted of these

that is a splendid example is one by Dylan Thomas,

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light!

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,


Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,


Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,


And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse me, bless me, now with your fierce tears, I pray.



Mad Girl's Love Song

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

I lift my lids and all is born again.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,

And arbitrary darkness gallops in:

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.


God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:

Exit seraphim and Satan's men:


I fancied you'd return the way you said.

But I grow old and I forget your name.


I should have loved a thunderbird instead;

At least when spring comes they roar back again.



--Sylvia Plath

The form for Villanelle is a poem of six stanzas which follow this rhyme scheme:

A A

B 1 B 4

A A

A A

B 2 B 5

A A

A A

B 3 B

A A 6

A

7

ANIMAL POEM

Write a poem about an animal or using an animal. You can describe the animal, talk to the animal, be the

animal, or you can combine all three approaches.

You must know the animal well - its habits, idiosyncrasies, anatomy, habitat, and so forth. Please include at

least one metaphor and one simile in this poem.

For example:

Siamese Fighting Fish

The fish glides gracefully

across the tank

His unblinking eyes stare

bold and blank

His fantail flaps like a flag

Proud in his rainbow-planted armor

He hovers majestically over a sea

of gem-like gravel

Then, instinctively, it arches into a warrior’s stance

With one swift movement

it lunges at its prey.

After viciously tearing it apart

It feasts on its remains like a barbarian.

A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things

by employing the words "like", "as", or "than".[1] Even though both similes

and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the

two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities,

whereas metaphors compare two things directly.

For instance, a simile that compares a person with a bullet would go as

follows: "Chris was a record-setting runner as fast as a speeding bullet." A

metaphor might read something like, "When Chris ran, he was a speeding

bullet racing along the track."

Taken from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile#cite_note-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor

8

BODY POEM

Write a poem for a part of your body. Consider all of the functions, For example, of your nose, not to mention all

the things it smells! What instructions would you give it? What precautions would you tell it to take? What can a

nose be compared to? You might want to consider using:

The liver, the fingernails, the ear lobes, the lungs, the appendix, the soles of your feet, the tongue, the

tonsils, shoulders, the underarm etc/

You might want to begin by taking inventory of all the functions of the body part. Which functions deserve

praise? What tips for improvement do you have? Talk to them directly, “Ear lobes!” Please keep this one

appropriate.

“Poems for Wrists”

Wrists! I want to

Write you a poem you

Whom nurses finger watches

Circle razor open

Handcuffs chill - you are

Taken for granted wrists!

Therefore assert yourselves

Take charge of your unruly friends the hands

Keep them from triggers, off

Necks give them a light

Touch have them wave bye-bye

Teach them to let

Go at the right moment oh

Wrists shy angles of the arm

On whom farms fly rods

Shovels whips and poems

So naturally depend.

Smell

By William Carlos Williams

Oh strong-ridged and deeply hollowed nose of mine! What will you not be smelling? What tactless asses we are,

you and I, bony nose,

Always indiscriminate, always unashamed,

And now it is the souring flowers of the bedraggled poplars: a festering pulp on the wet earth

Beneath them. With what deep thirst we quicken our desires

To that rank odor of a passing springtime!

Can you not be decent? Can you not reserve your ardors

For something less unlovely? What girl will care for us, do your think, if we continue in these ways?

Must you taste everything? Must you know everything?

Must you have a part in everything?

9

BITTERNESS POEM

1. Write a poem that illustrates a feeling or bitterness, anger, protest or even hate for some thing. Try not to select

a specific person but you may speak in generalizations. Use two examples of concrete imagery in this poem.

2. Despite the negative emotion, the one requirement is that the poem be honest.

For Example:

Teased

I can’t stand teasing.

It twists me like licorice

Until I

Break.

Tears swell in my eyes

And fist clenches my throat, pinching it.

Embarrassment rolls down my cheek

I try to wipe it away before anyone notices.

Too late

They see my eyes, blushing.

Now they think I’m a

Crybaby

Hiccup,

They think it’s all in fun

I know it’s supposed to be,

Why can’t the stop!

You’re such a crybaby—

See what scars mosquitoes leave.

Fire and Ice

By Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Concrete Imagery:

The tangible or literal

representation of a

sensory experience, or

an abstract concept.

10

MEMORY POEM

1. Write a poem based on a memory.

2. It may help you if you speak, in your poem, to the person with whom you share the experience.

3. Take a minute and brainstorm a list of things that have happened to you in the past few years

that really stand out in your memory. Choose one and try to describe it. Remember the people,

places, and events of that memory. Now, translate that memory into a poem.

Some examples:

Were we in love?

I still remember what it was like

The first time you pulled me to your chest

And held me

And you smelled good, warm.

I felt so happy, like a cat on auto-purr.

My sights became yours

My laughter echoed yours.

I became you.

Were we in love? Are you kidding?

I still remember what it was like

The last time I saw you

And we cried

And we bled, parted.

Were we in love? We were only

kidding.

memories and whispers

by Tony Fiona

whispers breeze

fluttering by on

satin lies told

when young and

each day was won

tickles and hugs

of gentle moments

in the sun

these are things

that memory brings

when sitting alone

drinking in that last

memory, savoring it's

purity,

rolling it around your teeth

cross velvet tongues

and ruby lips

praying that this

memory would never end

11

Metaphor Poem

Answer the following question about yourself:

1. What color are you?

2. What beverage are you?

3. How are you in a crowd?

4. What contrast describes you?

5. What chair describes you?

6. What musical instrument describes you?

Now write a short poem entitled “I Am.” Make it looke like a poem, but do not rhyme.

You man add or delete words or phrases to make your poem. When you are finished,

this entire poem will be a metaphor for your personality!

Student examples:

I AM

I am red wine shimmering in the soft glow of the night,

A soft loveseat waiting to

Be sat in by that very special person,

An evening when the moon

Shines softly against the dark sky with stars bright,

The sound of a violin

Playing in the summery breeze against the night.

I AM

I am a refreshing cup of steaming

Brown herbal tea blending quite well

With happy cinnamon and sad apples.

Late afternoon when the skies are golden,

The violin on the overstuffed chair begins to play

My song.

12

Person Poem

Think about someone who has made an impression on you. This could be a great aunt, a love interest or

the person sitting next to you in class. Write a 50 word (or more) poem describing this person. You can

include some of their “dialogue” and be sure to describe them. Pick one or two things about them that

stand out to include in your poem.

Published Examples:

Chicago Poet

By

Carl Sandburg

I SALUTED a nobody.

I saw him in a looking-glass.

He smiled—so did I.

He crumpled the skin on his forehead,

Frowning—so did I.

Everything I did he did.

I said, “Hello, I know you.”

And I was a liar to say so.

Ah, this, looking-glass man!

Liar, fool, dreamer, play-actor,Soldier, dusty drinker

of dust—

Ah! He will go with me

Down the dark stairway

When nobody else is looking,

When everybody else is gone.

He locks his elbow in mine,

I lose all—but not him.

The Weary Blues

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,

Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,

I heard a Negro play.

Down on Lennox Avenue the other night

By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

He did a lazy sway…

He did a lazy sway…

To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.

With his ebony hands on each ivory key

He made that poor piano moan with melody.

O Blues!

Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

Sweet Blues!

Coming from a black man’s soul.

O Blues!

In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone

I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—

“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,

Ain’t got nobody by ma self.

I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’

And put ma troubles on the shelf.”

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.

He played a few chords then he sang some more—

“I got the Weary Blues

And I can’t be satisfied.

Got the Weary Blues

And can’t be satisfied—

I ain’t happy no mo’

And I wish that I had died.”

And far into the night he crooned that tune.

The stars went out and so did the moon.

The singer stopped playing and went to bed

While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.

He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

--Langston Hughes, 1925

13

WORRY POEM

Write a 50 word (or more) poem about something that worries you. You could write

about a small worry such as “Does my hair look awful today?” or a larger concern such

as, “What am I going to do after high school?” Think about why this makes you worry.

What is a possible solution to your worry? Can you include your solution into your

poem?

Example:

Records

By

Cherie Shields

I worry sometimes my dear

About you when you play

I think of all the skinned knees

you’ll face in the schoolyard

and the bullies you’ll fight.

I know I must let you grow

Let you find your own

Grove in the record of life.

The lyrics of your special song.

Ring across the years into the future

Your future

Your time in the bright light

I worry you’ll find everything

In the wrong way

But I find that the idea of you

Grown and on your own

Strong, easy, loving

Sets my mind at ease.

I can hear the music

Of your future and my favorite thing

To do is to sing along.

14

HAND POEM

1. Take a white (or light colored) piece of paper (no lines!)

2. Carefully trace your hand all the way down to your wrist on the paper.

3. Write your first and last name in the palm.

4. Come up with 25 words (may be phrases) that describe you and put them in the hand.

5. Put your first name in the palm of your hand on the front and your last name on the back.

6. Color and decorate the poem. Use small stickers, or cut and paste pictures from a magazine.

7. Cut it out and put up around the classroom.

Fill In the Blank Poem

Today’s assignment is a “fill-in-the-blank” poetry

form. If you follow the key word prompts, you have an

instant poem.

- Read each “key-word prompt” and write down the

first word you think of – your first thought.

- After you have all your “key-words,” begin to fill

in the blanks of the poetry form

(1) (verb that means “to say”) ______________

(2) (verb past tense) ______________

(3) (noun, plural; object of enjoyment) ______________

(4) (noun; container) ______________

(5) (synonym for the word “probably”) ______________

(6) (something you do on a daily basis) ______________

(7) (synonym for the word “forgive”) ______________

(8) (adjective that relates to #3) ______________

(9) (adjective) ______________

(10) (adjective) ______________

15

Transcribe Your “Blanks” into this Form:

This is Just to (1) _______________

I have (2) ______________

the (3) ______________

that were in

the (4) ______________

and which

you were (5) ______________

saving

for (6) ______________

(7) ______________ me

they were (8) ______________

so (9) ______________

and so (10) ______________.

The Model for this Assignment:

This is Just to Say –

By William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast.

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold.

16

CAUSE POEM

Write a 50 word (or more) poem about a cause that is special to you. This could be something you’ve

read about or have discussed with your friends. Some sample causes could be: the environment,

endangered animals, commercialism, school rules, family rules or restrictions, laws aimed at teens,

popular attitudes, school cliques, etc. Include an Allusion in this poem.

Death of Whales

A whale was killed,

In the 90’s by Indians,

Off the coast of Washington.

They didn’t need it.

It was as pointless as a drop of water in the

ocean.

But, they valued is as a god.

They used every part of it,

Even the bones.

As the whale flirted with them,

They punctured its blubber.

It tried to get away,

But failed.

Them

I wish I could be one of them

With their long, perfect hair

Oversized eyes

Pouty lips

They weigh next to nothing

Look stunning in anything they wear

They’d never accept me for who I am

Not pretty, nor rich.


Athletic, strong, lithe

Quick on the track

Breathing easily while running up the steps to

class

Confident, easygoing with teachers,

High fives for others who

Play the game.

I don’t even know the rules.


The smart, the quick, the sarcastic

They always know what to say

Homework for them is a fun puzzle

A strengthening of skills

Teachers call on them when they need an

example

My hand never goes up.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be one of them

Only one of me.

Dare

Dare to be wild

Venture outside your

boundaries

See with your eyes what your

mind

Can’t imagine.

Take this to the edge

Spin freely in open spaces

Take everything in

Let everything out

Mingle and mangle

The possibility

Reorganize yourself

Dare to take a risk

Dissipate the fear

Step out

And live.

An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a

reference to, or representation of, a place,

event, literary work, myth, or work of art,

either directly or by implication. M. H.

Abrams defined allusion as "a brief reference,

explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event,

or to another literary work or passage".

~ Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._H._Abrams

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._H._Abrams

17

OBJECT POEM

“Object Poem”: After reading the models, think of objects that are of significance to you. The object

does not have to be a trophy or an heirloom, or even anything you treasure. It just has to be something

that brings to mind a vivid scene or memory when you look at it

Choose some object or entity for close observation: a stone, a fungus, a wristwatch, an onion, a frog, a

pine cone, a leaf, a hummingbird

Whatever you choose, give it your closest attention. Make notes on it. Describe it as best you can using

all your senses. After you have made enough specific, concrete images to form a solid foundation,

generalize from the things you observe to some meaning drawn from your observations. For example,

describe a rock in great detail, then make a generalization about life, or time, or the human condition

based on that description. Don't be afraid to overdo it; you can cut back in revision.

1. Choose any interesting object.

2. Describe the object as best as you can.

3. Write a 50 word poem that incorporates that object. You may use the object or just reflect on

why it exists.

Example:

Computers

They are everything And nothing.

30 years ago they were impossible wonders, flights of the fanciful

Dreams

Now, they are windows into the world

Letting me see wonders,

Letting me talk to friends, strangers, lovers, and maybe even…

Aliens!

I learn many things from faraway

Things about my next door neighbors…

Things about myself

They can do amazing things and,

like Houdini

allow me to escape

the real world for a while

but with a smile and a sigh,

I always come back.

18

EMOTION POEM

“Emotion Poem”: Wordsworth called poetry "the spontaneous overflow of feelings." After

reading the models, choose an abstract emotion. Though you will not actually mention the emotion in

your poem, it will be your working title. Be as precise as you can. If you choose sadness, I would ask

you to be more specific: loss, loneliness, disappointment? Instead of telling us about the feeling, pick a

single image which, to you, captures the emotion in a concrete way. Use at least 2 specific visual

details. Now give an extended example of someone who has experienced that emotion, real or

imagined. End your poem by tying both images together to show your reader that you have a better

understanding of what this emotion really means.

1. Choose one strong emotion: Joy,

happiness, disappointment,

embarrassment, anger, jealousy,

resentment, or fear.

2. Think about how that emotion makes

you feel. What causes that emotion? Do

you like or hate that emotion? What

would you rather be feeling?

3. Write a 50 word poem that incorporates

a strong emotion.

Fear Fear is black like stormy clouds. It tastes like cold rice pudding. It smells musty and damp It looks like a dark lonely street. It sounds like echoing footsteps,

It feels like being alone

Loneliness

Cold, coarse, clammy fingers

Creep their twisted way into the mind.

As loneliness' piercing scream

Echoes soundlessly into emptiness,

Its musty, decaying path

Leaves no room for coherent thought.

Anger

A red, ripping roar rages

Overwhelming all, blasting, blistering,

Leaving nothing but ashes.

Anger's freezing, burning breath

Brings bitterness and defeat.

No hope can exist in

Its acrid, arid hands.

Emotion Prompt

1. Make a list of emotions.

2. Choose one of the emotions.

3. Don't name the emotion but describe in

detail and with lots of concrete images a

specific time when you experienced that

emotion.

4. Don't name the emotion but describe in

detail and with lots of concrete images a

specific instance when you observed that

emotion in another person. If you can't

think of a time, make one up.

5. How does this emotion help people?

6. How does it hurt people?

7. Personify this emotion. If it were a person,

what would it do? (Try "emotion + verb.")

Example: Fear strings a weak man up like

a puppet.

8. Write a simile (x is like y; my love is like a

red, red rose).*

9. Write a metaphor (x is y; my love is a

red, red rose).*

19

Superhero Poem

1. Write a poem about your favorite

superhero.

2. You might describe their abilities.

3. Describe their attitudes about the

world.

4. What would you do if you met them?

5. What superpowers would you like?

6. Make up your own if you’d like.

CRASH TEST DUMMIES LYRICS

"Superman's Song" Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man

He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under

his arm

Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle

But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent

He would not be caught sittin' around in no

Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]

Superman never made any money

For saving the world from Solomon Grundy

And sometimes I despair the world will never

see

Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job

Even though he could have smashed through

any bank

In the United States, he had the strength, but

he would not

Folks said his family were all dead

Their planet crumbled but Superman, he

forced himself

To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over

all the apes

But he could hardly string together four

words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes

I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and

turn his back

On man, join Tarzan in the forest

But he stayed in the city, and kept on

changing clothes

In dirty old phone booths till his work was

through

And nothing to do but go on home

20

Poet Analysis and Biography

assignment

1. This assignment is 3 pages long.

2. Select a poet or songwriter of

your choice. Each student must

select a different poet.

3. Good resources for selecting

poets are Poetry.org or Poets.org.

4. Find a biography of your

poet/songwriter. Summarize the

biography IN YOUR OWN

WORDS down to one page. Do not

just copy and paste the information

you must rewrite it.

5. Find 3 examples of the poet’s

work. If the poems are too long, just

use excerpts (small parts) of the

poet’s work.

6. For each poem do an analysis of

the poet’s work. Discuss what you

think the poem is about and what the

poet is trying to say. Use the 6 step

poetry analysis sheet below to help

you analyze the poems.

Six Tactics for Understanding Poetry

Use this format to analyze you’re the

poems from your poet.

1. Question - Ask questions about what

the speaker wants you to know.

As you read, ask questions about the

effect of the words.

Think about the vivid images, or word

pictures.

What do they make you see or feel?

2. Clarify

Poems are often filled with figurative

language--language that says one

thing,

but means another.

As you read, stop and ask yourself what

the word really means.

3. Listen

Poetry has a musical quality.

Listen to the music created by the rhyme

and rhythm.

Look for the effects of words, phrases,

and repetition.

Use punctuation, not the end of a line, to

tell you were the poem pauses or

stops.

4. Summarize

Some poems tell stories.

Stop at appropriate points and

summarize what has happened so far.

5. Paraphrase

Ask what the poet means and then put it

in your own words.

-You do not truly understand the poem

until you can express the meaning in

your own way.

6. Put it all together

--After you have read a poem, bring all

the elements together.

--What did the poem say to you?

poetry chapbook project chapbook project 1. students will create a poetry chapbook. chapbooks will...

Documents