Where I'm From

AGENDA: 

• Review GENRES---Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, drama
• 
  
• Show "Where I'm From" video and explain assignment
• 
  
• Go to computer lab to work on WORD SPILL (lat class) and Where I'm From poem
•  

www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

The WHERE I'M FROM Template

1. I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.
2. I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).
3. I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)
4. I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).
5. I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).
6. From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).
7. I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.
8. I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).
9. From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).
10. I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

Line breaks--Two poems by Wiliiam Carlos Williams

This Is Just to Say

Sentences: 

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.

                    The poem:

This Is Just to Say

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

---

POEMS NEED IMAGES!

THE IMAGE:

so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the white chickens       The Red Wheelbarrow   by William Carlos Williams so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.

http://www.sophia.org/breaking-the-line-an-exercise-for-revision-in-poet-tutorial

---

What makes a poem a poem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J72KqitfrIs

What Makes a Poem a Poem?
Charles Bernstein
My lecture is called “What Makes a Poem a Poem?” I’m going to set my timer.
It’s not rhyming words at the end of a line. It’s not form. It’s not structure. It’s not loneliness. It’s not location. It’s not the sky. It’s not love. It’s not the color. It’s not the feeling. It’s not the meter. It’s not the place. It’s not the intention. It’s not the desire. It’s not the weather. It’s not the hope. It’s not the subject matter. It’s not the death. It’s not the birth. It’s not the trees. It’s not the words. It’s not the things between the words. It’s not the meter. It’s not the meter—
[timer beeps]


It’s the timing.
Part of the University of Pennsylvania’s “60-Second Lecture” series. April 21, 2004.\

Creative Writing 8

Poetry is one of the most popular forms of literature all over the world. It is also one of the ancient forms of literature, dating back to nearly 1700-1200 BC. When we begin analyzing the basic elements of poetry, we should know what poetry is all about in the first place. Let us take a look.

What is Poetry?

Poetry can be defined as 'literature in a metrical form' or 'a composition forming rhythmic lines'. In short, a poem is something that follows a particular flow of rhythm and meter. Compared to prose, where there is no such restriction, and the content of the piece flows according to story, a poem may or may not have a story, but definitely has a structured method of writing.

Elements of Poetry

There are several elements which make up a good poem. Although it is not mandatory for a poet to use all these elements or devices, they form an important aspect of poetry. So what are the elements of a poem? In brief, they are described below.

Rhythm: This is the music made by the statements of the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines. The best method of understanding this is to read the poem aloud, and understand the stressed and unstressed syllables. Listen for the sounds and the music made when we hear the lines spoken aloud. How do the words resonate with each other? How do the words flow when they are linked with one another? Does sound right? Do the words fit with each other? These are the things you consider while studying the rhythm of the poem.

Meter: This is the basic structural make-up of the poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to be included. This is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.

Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme scheme, etc. Based on the number of lines, stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).

Rhyme: A poem may or may not have a rhyme. When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other in some form. Rhyme is basically similar sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and 'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry, though, does not follow this system.

Rhyme Scheme: As a continuation of rhyme, the rhyme scheme is also one of the basic elements of poetry. In simple words, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme. Either the last words of the first and second lines rhyme with each other, or the first and the third, second and the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd), etc.

Alliteration: This is also used in several poems for sound effect. Several words in the sentence may begin with the same alphabet or syllable sound. For example, in the sentence "Many minute miniature moments," the sound of the alphabet 'M' (phonetic sound /m/) is repeated in all the four words continuously. When you say those words aloud, the sound effect generated is called Alliteration.

Simile: A simile is a method of comparison using the words 'like' or 'as'. When, in a poem, something is said to be 'like' another, it means that the poet is using Simile to convey his feelings by comparing it to something. For example, in the statement 'Her laughter was like a babbling brook', the poet is comparing the laughter of the girl to the sound made by a babbling brook. Note that 'babbling brook' is also an example of Alliteration.

Metaphor: A metaphor is a method of comparison where the words 'like' and 'as' are not used. To modify the earlier example, if the statement had been 'Her laughter, a babbling brook', then it would be the use of Metaphor.

Theme: This is what the poem is all about. The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of something or someone; anything that the poem is about.

Symbolism: Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured method of looking at things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.

Imagery

: Imagery is also one of the important elements of a poem. This device is used by the poet for readers to create an image in their imagination. Imagery appeals to all the five senses. For e.g., when the poet describes, 'the flower is bright red', an image of a red flower is immediately created in the reader's mind.

The elements of poetry are an essential part of the structure of a good poem. Of course, it does not mean, that all poems must have all these elements. It depends entirely upon the poet, who has all these tools at his disposal to use in order to convey his ideas effectively.

Where does writing hide

Valentine for Ernest Mann
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d844YLUOiWA
Naomi Shihab Nye

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IstddUK57aY

You can't order a poem like you order a taco.
Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.
Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, "Here's my address,
write me a poem," deserves something in reply.
So I'll tell you a secret instead:
poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,
they are sleeping. They are the shadows
drifting across our ceilings the moment
before we wake up. What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them.
Once I knew a man who gave his wife
two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn't understand why she was crying.
"I thought they had such beautiful eyes."
And he was serious. He was a serious man
who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
just because the world said so. He really
liked those skunks. So, he reinvented them
as valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of the skunks for centuries
crawled out and curled up at his feet.
Maybe if we reinvent whatever our lives give us
we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know.
--Naomi Shihab Nye
© Naomi Shihab Nye. Used for educational or therapeutic purposes.


Journal prompts:
    Write about an unusual gift you've given, or received.
    Write about a time you reinvented something your life gave you.
    Where do your poems hide?

Welcome CW 8

2 Truths and a Lie

A lie (also called prevarication, falsehood) is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others. Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth. Pablo Picasso   The Lying Game Instructions 1 Provide each person with a slip of paper and pen or pencil. Instruct everyone to write down three statements about themselves. Two of the statements should be true and one of them should be a lie. Allow everyone about 5 minutes to come up with three good statements. 2 Select a person to go first. That person should read aloud her three statements. Then, conduct voting by having the person read her statements again, asking for a show of hands among the group as to which statement they think is a lie. 3 Ask the person to reveal the correct answer. The people who guessed correctly should mark a tally on their sheets for a correct guess. 4 Continue around the room, having each person read his statement and then conducting a vote. Participants should continue marking down each time they make a correct guess. 5 Ask everyone how many correct guesses they had once everyone has read their statements. The person with the most correct guesses at the end has won the game.