Innocence Unit: Poetry

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Innocence UnitPoetry

• C. Edge
• English I
• ECHS
• 2007-2008

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Reading Skills and Strategies Poetry

• Look for punctuation in the poem telling you
  where sentences begin and end.
• Do not make a full stop at the end of a line if
  there is no period, comma, colon, semicolon, or
  dash there.
• If a passage of a poem is difficult to
  understand, look for the subject, verb, and
  complement of each sentence.

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Reading Skills and Strategies Poetry

• Be alert for comparisonsfor figures of speech.
• Read the poem aloud.
• After you have read the poem, talk about it and
  read it again.
• Read the poem a third time.

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Speaker

• DEFINITIONthe voice that talks to the reader
• Every poem has one
• May NOT be the poet
• May be a fictional person, an animal, or even a
  thing
• Similar to the narrator in prose writing

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Lines of Poetry

• DEFINITIONa word or row of words that may or may
  not form a complete sentence
• Similar to sentences in prose writing.
• EXAMPLE (there are four lines in this poem)
• Roses are red.
• Violets are blue.
• You look like a monkey
• and you smell like one, too.

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Stanzas

• DEFINITIONa group of lines forming a unit of
  poetry
• Stanzas are separated by blank spaces.
• Similar to paragraphs in prose writing
• EXAMPLE (There is one stanza here)
• Roses are red.
• Violets are blue.
• You look like a monkey
• and you smell like one, too.

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Rhythm

• DEFINITIONthe pattern of sound created by the
  arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables
  in a line.
• Can be regular or irregular
• EXAMPLE
• Ro-ses are red. (4 beats)
• Vio-lets are blue. (4 beats)
• You look like a mon-key (6 beats)
• and you smell like one, too. (6 beats)

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Meter

• DEFINITIONa regular pattern of stressed and
  unstressed syllables, which sets the overall
  rhythm of certain poems
• Stressed syllables are marked ( ) and
  unstressed syllables are marked ()
• EXAMPLE
• Ro-ses are red.
• Vio-lets are blue.
• You look like a mon-key
• and you smell like one, too.

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Rhyme

• DEFINITIONthe repetition of the same stressed
  vowel sound and any succeeding sounds in two or
  more words
• Internal rhymeoccurs within a line of poetry
• Example life is full of strife
• End rhymeoccurs at the ends of lines within the
  same stanza
• Example
• Roses are red.
• Violets are blue.
• You look like a monkey
• and you smell like one, too.

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Rhyme Scheme

• DEFINITIONthe pattern of the end rhymes
• May be designated by assigning a different letter
  of the alphabet to each new rhyme.
• EXAMPLE
• Ro-ses are red. A
• Vio-lets are blue. B
• You look like a mon-key C
• and you smell like one, too. B

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Imagery

• DEFINITIONdescriptive language that appeals to
  the sensessight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.
• Some images appeal to more than one sense.
• EXAMPLE
• The whistle of a boat
• Calls and cries unendingly
• (this image appeals to what sense?)

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Imagery

• Imagery contributes to a poems forcefulness.
• Imagery helps readers see things freshly like the
  poet sees them.
• Imagery is part of poets individual personal
  style.
• Imagery that is fresh and powerful helps to
  create a strong emotional reaction.

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Simile and Metaphor

• Similea figure of speech using a word such as
  like or as to directly compare seemingly unlike
  things
• Example He ran as fast as a cat.
• Metaphora figure of speech that compares or
  equates seemingly unlike things, but does so
  indirectly
• Example His speed was almost feline.

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Metaphor

• In a direct metaphor, a comparison is made using
  a verb such as is.
• In an implied metaphor, a comparison is suggested
  rather than stated directly.

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Personification

• DEFINITIONattributing human characteristics to
  an animal, object, or idea
• EXAMPLE
• The trees danced in the moonlight

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A Narrow Fellow In The Grass by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally
rides You may have met him, did you not, His
notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a
comb, A spotted shaft is seen And then it
closes at your feet And opens further on. He
likes a boggy acre, A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot, I more than
once, at morn, Have passed, I thought, a
whip-lash Unbraiding in the sun, When, stooping
to secure it, It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature's people I know, and they
know me I feel for them a transport Of
cordiality But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone, Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
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A Narrow Fellow In The Grass by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally
rides You may have met him, did you not, His
notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a
comb, A spotted shaft is seen And then it
closes at your feet And opens further on. He
likes a boggy acre, A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot, I more than
once, at morn, Have passed, I thought, a
whip-lash Unbraiding in the sun, When, stooping
to secure it, It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature's people I know, and they
know me I feel for them a transport Of
cordiality But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone, Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
Identify the subject, verb, and complement of l.4
and rearrange the syntax into standard word
order.
Subject notice Verb is Complement sudden
What do you think l. 4 means?
You dont notice he is there until you are right
on top of him he just seems to appear from
nowhere.
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A Narrow Fellow In The Grass by Emily Dickinson.
A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally
rides You may have met him, did you not, His
notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a
comb, A spotted shaft is seen And then it
closes at your feet And opens further on. He
likes a boggy acre, A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot, I more than
once, at morn, Have passed, I thought, a
whip-lash Unbraiding in the sun, When, stooping
to secure it, It wrinkled, and was gone.
Several of nature's people I know, and they
know me I feel for them a transport Of
cordiality But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone, Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
What two things are compared by the author?
He compares the path made in the grass to hair
parted by a comb.
How does this comparison help the reader imagine
the narrow fellows movement?
Although readers may be unfamiliar with a snakes
movement, they can easily visualize a comb
parting hair.
The speaker describes his reaction to a snake as
zero at the bone. What do you think he means?
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When I Heard the Learnd Astronomer

• By Walt Whitman
• Elements of Literature, p. 496

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Scene

• DEFINITIONThe location of the events of the
  poem.
• Poets use images to establish scene.
• A scene can be an external physical setting
• A hillside, a city, a pond, a room, etc.
• A scene can be internalized
• Inside the speakers mind

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Repetition

• DEFINITIONelements that are repeated
• Sounds can be repeated as well as words, phrases,
  and images.
• Examples of sound repetitions
• Alliteration
• Assonancethe repetition of vowel sounds within a
  line of poetry

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Alliteration

• DEFINITIONthe repetition of consonant sounds at
  the beginnings of words
• EXAMPLE
• Peter Piper picked a peck
• of pickled peppers.
• How many pecks of pickled peppers
• did Peter Piper pick?

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Assonance

• DEFINITIONthe repetition of vowel sounds within
  a line of poetry
• EXAMPLE
• The rain in Spain
• falls mainly on the plain

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When I Heard the Learnd Astronomer By Walt
Whitman  When I heard the learn'd
astronomerWhen the proofs, the figures, were
ranged in columns before meWhen I was shown the
charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure themWhen I, sitting, heard the
astronomer, where he lectured with much applause
in the lecture-room,How soon, unaccountable, I
became tired and sickTill rising and gliding
out, I wander'd off by myself,In the mystical
moist night-air, and from time to time,Look'd up
in perfect silence at the stars.
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Repetition

• What words or images are repeated in ll. 1-4?
• Repetition includes the use of When I to begin
  each line, the phrase heard the astronomer, and
  the words lectured and lecture. The image of
  numbers and charts is also repeated.
• How does the repetition help the reader
  understand the speakers mood?
• The repetition creates a monotonous rhythm,
  echoing the boredom felt by the speaker readers
  can almost hear the astronomer drone on and on.

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Imagery and Scene

• How does the image of the mystical moist night
  air help the reader identify the external and
  internal scenes in this part of the poem?
• The words moist, night, and air appeal to the
  senses of sight and touch and describe the
  external physical setting, the word mystical
  reveals the speakers mental state, which is the
  internal scene.
• How does this scene differ from the lecture room?
• The night sky has a feeling of expansion and
  freedom while the lecture room feels closed and
  contained this scene conveys mystery and wonder,
  while the lecture room seems rigid and dull.

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Question 1, p. 498

• When you think of images in the world that give
  you joy or that fill you with wonder, do you look
  at ordinary things or at cosmic things, as
  Whitman does? Or do you find wonder in
  abstractions like math (or astronomy)? Talk over
  your responses to each poets source of wonder
  and joy.

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Question 3, p. 498

• What scenes do you see and share in Whitmans
  poem?
• External scenes include a lecture hall and the
  outdoors under the stars. Internal scenes are
  the speakers opposite states of mind inside, he
  feels stifled outside, he feels at peace.

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Question 4, p. 498

• What do you think sick means in Whitmans
  poemwhat was bothering the speaker as he
  listened to the astronomer? At the end of the
  poem, what part of the speaker has been restored
  by the mystical starry night?
• The speaker was sick at heart and unsettled
  because the astronomer reduced the beauty of the
  stars to charts and diagrams. Outside, the
  speakers mood is restored.

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Question 5, p. 498

• Suppose you, the learnd astronomer, came upon
  Whitmans poem a week after your lecture. How
  would you respond to the poet?
• The astronomer may feel annoyed by Whitmans
  irreverence and lack of respect for learning.
  Others may think that the astronomer would
  disagree with Whitman and claim that astronomy
  makes people appreciate the night sky all the
  more.

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Fog

• By Carl Sandburg
• Elements of Literature, p. 502

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Simile and Metaphor

• Similea figure of speech using a word such as
  like or as to directly compare seemingly unlike
  things
• Example He ran as fast as a cat.
• Metaphora figure of speech that compares or
  equates seemingly unlike things, but does so
  indirectly
• Example His speed was almost feline.

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Metaphor

• In a direct metaphor, a comparison is made using
  a verb such as is.
• In an implied metaphor, a comparison is suggested
  rather than stated directly.

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Fog By Carl Sandburg  The fog comes on
little cat feet.  It sits looking over harbor
and city on silent haunches and then moves on.
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Metaphor and Imagery

• Do you think the comparison of fog to a cat makes
  sense? Why or why not?
• Yes, both fog and cats move silently and seem
  mysterious and elusive no, fog is more dangerous
  than a cat.
• What details extend the image of the cat in these
  lines?
• Like a cat, the fog sits and looks it rests on
  silent haunches.

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Question 4, p. 507 Fog

• Why do you think Sandburg thought the fog was
  like a cat? What other cat actions could fit into
  Fog? 
• Fog creeps in silently life a cat cats also move
  quickly, as can fog.

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Question 8, p. 507 Fog

• Read Sandburgs Fog again. Pretend you are
  actually standing at the edge of a harbor and
  watching the fog come in across the water. How do
  you feel about everything around you
  disappearing? How does the fog feel against your
  skin?
• The moment feels mysterious and spooky the fog
  feels clammy. 

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in Just

• By E.E. Cummings
• Elements of Literature, p. 504

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Imagery

• DEFINITIONdescriptive language that appeals to
  the sensessight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.
• Some images appeal to more than one sense.
• EXAMPLE
• The whistle of a boat
• Calls and cries unendingly
• (this image appeals to what sense?)

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Cliché

• DEFINITIONan expression so often used that its
  freshness and clarity have worn off
• A cliché is a word that has been played out.

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Allusion

• DEFINITIONa figure of speech that makes brief
  reference to a historical or literary figure,
  event, or object
• Example from music
• Led Zeppelins Battle of Evermore has
  references to Lord of the Rings.

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in Just- E. E. Cummingsin Just-spring   
when the world is mud- luscious the littlelame
balloonmanwhistles      far    and wee and
eddieandbill comerunning from marbles
andpiracies and itsspringwhen the world is
puddle-wonderfulthe queerold balloonman
whistlesfar     and     wee and bettyandisbel
come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope anditsspringand
        the             goat-footedballoonMan 
    whistles farandwee
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Question 5, p. 507

• E. E. Cummings is famous for his unusual
  punctuation and arrangements of words. What are
  the children doing in in Just- that matches the
  leaps and jumps of the words? Why do you think
  Cummings made single words out of the names Eddie
  and Bill, Betty and Isbel? 

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Question 6, p. 507

• Both Pan and Hephaestus, like most other Greek
  gods, were pretty tricky customers. Do you think
  Cummings depicts the balloon man as completely
  harmless and kind? Which of the poems words and
  images support your response? 

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Creative WritingBONUS ASSIGNMENT

• Imitate the style of Cummingss poem in Just-,
  and write a poem presenting fresh images that you
  associate with a particular season. Avoid clichés
  and other overused expressions. You might open
  the way Cummings did in Just- . . . when the
  world is . . . Play with words and punctuation
  and typography just as Cummings did. 

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Fifteen

• By William Stafford
• Elements of Literature, p. 570

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Denotation and Connotation

• DenotationThe basic meaning of a word.
• ConnotationThe emotional implications and
  associations that words may carry, apart from
  their denotative meanings.

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Fifteen William Stafford South of the Bridge
on SeventeenthI found back of the willows one
summerday a motorcycle with engine runningas it
lay on its side, ticking overslowly in the high
grass. I was fifteen.I admired all that pulsing
gleam, theshiny flanks, the demure
headlightsfringed where it lay I led it
gentlyto the road and stood with thatcompanion,
ready and friendly. I was fifteen.We could find
the end of a road, meetthe sky on out
Seventeenth. I thought abouthills, and patting
the handle got back aconfident opinion. On the
bridge we indulgeda forward feeling, a tremble.
I was fifteen.       
Thinking, back farther in the grass I foundthe
owner, just coming to, where he had flippedover
the rail. He had blood on his hand, was paleI
helped him walk to his machine. He ran his
handover it, called me a good man, roared
away.I stood there, fifteen.
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Question 1, p. 574

• How do you think the writer of Fifteen felt
  about the conflict that he made into a poem?

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Question 2, p. 574

• How does the boy in Fifteen feel about the
  motorcycle? What lines convey that feeling?
  What have you experienced that allows you to
  understand his emotion?

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Question 3, p. 574

• What do you think the boy in Fifteen mean in
  lines 11-12 when he says that he and the
  motorcycle could meet the sky out on
  Seventeenth? What else could meet the sky
  mean?

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Question 4, p. 574

• The writer uses Fifteen as the title of the
  poem, and the phrase I was fifteen as a
  refrain, or chorus. What is the significance of
  that number? Could it as well have been sixteen?
  How about twelve or eighteen?

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Question 8, p. 574

• Suppose you are the person who finds the
  motorcycle in Fifteen. The man who owns it
  calls you a good man or woman. Given what you
  were just thinking about doing, how does that
  make you feel?