Magister Yeats
Item List
WW5.01
Defining Poetry.
What is it?
BELL WORK
Journal: How would you define poetry?
WE WILL
Work to create a class definition of poetry.
Watch a Ted Ed video (5:19) discussing the attempt to define poetry.
YOU WILL
Read from a collection of Ars Poetica, or poems about poetry and try to write your own!
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
In your journal, reflect on who your favorite writers are and whether or not what they write is poetry.
WW5.02
Intro to the Line
What makes a line special?
BELL WORK
Journal: 5-minute free write.
WE WILL
Describe the use of the line in poetry.
Introduce the idea of meter and stressed versus unstressed.
Describe the emergence of the paragraph poem.
YOU WILL
Write a free verse poem focused on line breaks.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Check out this list of famous lines in poetry. How does the line help concentrate meaning in different parts of a poem?
WW5.03
Rhyme Schemes
Do we rhyme all the time if it isn't sublime?
BELL WORK
Journal: How do you feel about poetry as a reader? Do you enjoy poems that rhyme?
WE WILL
Define the difference between different types of rhyme. Put in POETRY.
Simple Rhyme Pattern: Silent, Silent Night by William Blake
ABAB Patterns: Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost
Feminine vs Masculine Rhyme: Days of Wrath by Ambrose Bierce
Slant Rhyme: Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen
Rhyming Couplets: Interview by Dorothy Parker
Look at a mentor texts of various rhyme schemes.
Define the rhyming couplet.
YOU WILL
Write a rhyming couplet using at least 3 different types of rhyme.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
WW5.04
The Haiku
How does form create beauty?
BELL WORK
Journal: Go outside for inspiration (weather permitting) OR watch a scene of birds.
WE WILL
Discuss the structure and rules around the haiku.
Read mentor examples of haiku.
YOU WILL
Write 3 haiku.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Learn more about Matsuo Basho, master of the haiku, through this video (5:46).
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Poetry as Image
What shape should poetry take?
BELL WORK
Journal: When I think of poetry, I think of . . .
WE WILL
Define "concrete poetry."
Discuss the use of the line as an aesthetic use of space.
Read a variety of concrete poems. Put in POETRY.
Analyze how concrete poems contribute to their overall meaning.
YOU WILL
Write your own drafts of concrete poetry.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Check out this in-depth analysis of ee cummings poem.
WW5.06
Meter
What is Iambic Pentameter
BELL WORK
Journal: What do you already know about poetic meter?
WE WILL
Recognize syllables.
Determine what makes a syllable stressed or unstressed in English.
Define poetic feet.
Write a line of iambic pentameter as a class.
YOU WILL
Write three different lines of poetry with three distinct meters.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
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The Sonnet
How do I write thee? Let me count the ways.
BELL WORK
Journal: Why do you think poetry likes to create so many rules?
WE WILL
(A) Describe the two different historical types of sonnet: Petrarchan and Shakespearean
(A) Define the elements required of a sonnet.
(A) Workshop difficult lines to try and fit into sonnet form.
YOU WILL
(A-B) Draft a sonnet.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Read these sonnets from legendary poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
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The Villanelle
No, it's not a term for a lady villain.
BELL WORK
Journal: What was the hardest part of writing a sonnet?
WE WILL
Show a draft of a sonnet as a notebook check.
Define the elements traditionally required of a villanelle.
Read "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas and discuss its relationship to the form.
YOU WILL
Draft a villanelle of your own!
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Read and reflect on "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. What do you like about it? What do you think could be improved?
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The Pantoum and the Sestina
Does repetition help? Does repetition help?
BELL WORK
Journal: As a writer, when do you use repetition? What is the point of almost-but-not-quite-perfect repetition?
WE WILL
Discuss the form for the sestina.
Read A Miracle for Breakfast by Elizabeth Bishop
Define the form for the pantoum
Read Another Lullaby for Insomniacs by A. E. Stallings
YOU WILL
Draft either a pantoum or a sestina.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Draft a poem in the second form you did not draft the first one in.
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Blank Verse
What's so blank about it?
BELL WORK
Journal: What has been your favorite poetic form so far?
WE WILL
Discuss the structure of blank verse.
Read an example of Robert Browning's dramatic monologue: My Last Duchess
Describe its use in dramatic monologue and English epic.
YOU WILL
Draft a blank verse poem.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Watch this documentary (11 min) exploring the biography of Robert Browning.
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The Pastoral, the Ode, and the Lyric, the Ballad, and the Ars Poetica
Does content matter more than form?
BELL WORK
Journal: If you had to rewrite your definition of poetry, how would you define it?
WE WILL
(A) Discuss the themes found in
Pastoral
Ode
Lyric
Ballad
Ars Poetica
YOU WILL
(B) Write 2 poems from two of the genres listed above.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Watch this video of a professor describing the history of Ars Poetica.
WW5.12
Performance Poetry
Where does poetry end and performance begin?
BELL WORK
Journal: Is rap poetry? Why or why not?
WE WILL
Discuss the elements of performance poetry.
Watch examples of performance poetry:
YOU WILL
Draft a performance poem.
IF YOU FINISH EARLY
Listen to another excellent performance poem, Taylor Mali's "Bodhisattva"