Poetry Unit

1
Poetry Unit

• Mrs. Levonius Language Arts
• Pagosa Springs Middle School

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Poetry Book

• Instructions
• Due date
• December 21, 2012
• Goal
• You are creating a book, by definition that means
  it has a front and back cover. I have folders for
  you to use as your front and back cover. You
  still need to design and print your front cover
  which will be behind the clear plastic front
  cover of the folder.

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Finished Book

• Place blank sheet of paper immediately behind the
  cover.
• Title page The title of your book, your name,
  and a note at the bottom which reads, Published
  in Mrs. Levoniuss 8th Grade Language Arts Class,
  ___________ (2012)
• Dedication page This reads, Dedicated to
  _______ for ____________.
• Table of Contents page List the types of poems
  followed by the title of the poem.
• Example Haiku Blue Whale .. 7

4
Order of Poems

• Bio Poem
• 4 Haikus
• Veterans Day Poem
• Cinquin
• Diamante
• Simile Poem
• Metaphor Poem
• Dream Poem
• This is Mine

• List Poem
• Senses Poem
• Inside this
• The Important Thing
• The Important Thing About Me
• Personification Poem
• Couplet
• Stretchin The Truth
• Memory

5
Order of Poems continued

• These poems will be followed by a biography of
  one of your favorite poets and at least two (2)
  of his or her poems including your analysis of
  these poems.
• Any poems you are adding for extra credit should
  follow the above mentioned poems and should be
  included in your table of content under a
  separate heading, Extra Credit
• As with any book, include a blank piece of paper
  after your last entry, before the back cover.

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Haiku

• Japanese poetry
• Usually about nature
• 3 lines each
• Seventeen syllables
• 5 syllables in the 1st line
• 7 syllables in the 2nd line
• 5 syllables in the 3rd line

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Sample Haiku

• Blue whales, cold waters,
• The largest creatures on Earth,
• Majestic mammals.

• Spring on the river-
• The island-nest of swans
• Floating like flowers.

8
Cinquain

• Write one subject
• Use two adjectives to describe it
• Write three very descriptive action words
• Make a short statement
• End with a synonym that has imagination in it

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Sample Cinquain

• Trumpet
• Golden, gleaming
• Puckering, puffing, blowing
• Mean machine
• Bronze flower

10
Diamante

• Noun
• Adjective, adjective
• Participle, participle, participle
• Synonym, synonym, antonym, antonym
• Participle, participle, participle
• Adjective, adjective
• Noun

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Sample Diamante

• Bird
• Feathery, colorful
• Pecking, flying, singing
• Nest, prey-feline, predator
• Hissing, cating, stretching,
• Bossy, lazy
• Cat

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This is Mine

• Names something that is all yours
• Possession is then described
• Three stanzas are written
• The last stanza concludes the poem with a bit of
  humor, a sage statement, a surprising through or
  something serious or sad
• Rules
• 3 stanzas of 4 lines each
• Lines 2 and 4 end rhyme in each stanza
• The first line of each stanza is the same or
  similar

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Sample This is Mine

• Sneakers
• SNEAKERS
• These are my sneakers
• Theyre both the same
• They are old
• And very lame
• They are my sneakers
• All tattered and torn
• When I look at them
• Im forlorn

• These are my sneakers
• I hate them, I do
• But in them I could
• Outrun you!

14
This is My Sister

• This is my sister
• Her favorite color is green
• She drinks Chai Tea
• But she stays lean and mean.
• This is my sister
• She reads and writes
• Well have debates
• But she is always right.
• This is my sister
• I love her, I do
• Occasionally we fight
• But she knows I punch hard too.

15
This is my iPod

• This is my ipod
• Silver with a pink case
• It plays my favorite songs
• That puts a smile on my face.
• This is my ipod
• It getting kind of old
• But it still works
• And I treat it like gold.
• This is my ipod
• I listen to it in the car
• It helps me go to sleep
• When were traveling far.

16
This is My Shirt

• This is my shirt,
• White, blue, and red,
• Ive had it so long
• Its so old, my mom said.
• This is my shirt
• Loved at first sight
• Worn every ear
• It fills me with delight
• This is my shirt
• It will not stretch anymore
• It shows my skin
• Is there more at that store?

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Simile Poem

• _____________ is ________________
• like ___________________
• And also __________________
• It reminds me of ______________
• It makes me feel _________________

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Sample Simile Poem

• Anger is sharp
• Like lightening streaking and smashing down
• Anger is red
• Like blood from a wound
• Like fire jumping from the window of my old house
• It reminds me of the sting of my mothers slap
  across my cheek when I embarrassed her at
  grandmas
• It makes me feel empty like theres a hole in my
  middle.

19
Inside This

• Inside this ______________________
• Write several stanzas
• Can have rhyme, can be free verse, should have
  rhythm

20
Sample Inside This

• Inside every book When I finish my book
• there is a story to tell, Ive made new
  friends,
• a mysterious place to go, gone new places,
• an adventure to begin. learned new things.
• Inside every book Yes, inside this book
• are people to meet, Ive discovered more
  knowledge
• characters to become, shed a tear or laughed at
  antics.
• words to celebrate. Inside this book I discover
  a new
• me.

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Alliteration

• The repetition of letter sounds so that the sound
  of a poem reinforces its meaning
• Sample
• Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe
• Sing thy songs of happy cheer!
• So I sang the same again,
• While he wept with joy to hear.

22
Senses Poem

• A poet may evoke all five senses sight, sound,
  smell, taste, and touch, to help the reader fully
  appreciate an object.
• Title
• Sight
• Sound.
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch

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On This Cold December Day

• Snow flakes drift down to lie on my white skin,
• Slowly dissolving away leaving a trace of
  moisture behind,
• On this cold December day.
• Peppermint hot cocoa sooths my throat,
• As it rushes down and cannon balls into my tummy
• On this cold December day.

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Sample Sense Poem

• Blue and jade green and golden yellow sun, waves
  at the seashore
• Slap and tap and slip into the sand,
• Salty spray on my tongue
• Tingling and stinging my face,
• As fishy seashore smells, recalls my summers
  forever

25
Another Senses Poem

• Water Park
• Wet slippery rides glisten in the sun.
  Shimmering water flows every where at the water
  park.
  Splish! Splash! Goes the
  water accompanied by the screech of childrens
  excited screams.
  Sweet tart yet bitter water hits my tongue as
  it runs against me soft, smooth, and cool.
  And the
  smell of chlorine and food fills the air around
  me.

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Christmasanother senses poem

• Christmas is enchanting
• Colorful lights flickering, dragging my eyes to
  their brillance.
• Soft, fluffy snow gracefully falling dressing my
  hat in sparkling flakes.
• Bells clanging joyfully calling attention to the
  New Born King
• Sweet, creamy eggnog caresses my tongue while
• Succulent turkey sizzles in the pan, the wafting
  smell tempting and enticing me inside.

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The Important Thing

• The Important Thing about a ______________ is
• that it__________________________________
• It can also
• It
• It
• But the important thing about a ______________ is
  that it (same line as line one)

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The Important Thing About a School

• The important thing about a school is that it
  teaches kids how to learn.
• It also lets kids have time with peers.
• It gives kids safety and fun.
• It teaches sports and sportsmanship and how to
  be a responsible person.
• It is filled with people who care and some people
  who should but dont.
• Its a place you want to get finished with until
  you are.
• It pushes a mind to grow and then want to grow
  more.
• But the important thing about a school is that
  it teaches kids how to learn.

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The Important Thing About Me

• The important thing about me is________
• ____________________________________.
• I am________________________________.
• I have_____________________________
• and_______________________________.
• I do________________________________
• ___________________________________.
• But the important thing about me
• is_________________________________ .

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Personification

• Writer gives human qualities to something that is
  not alive.
• Example
• The ocean roared as thought to keep us back from
  its shore.
• The snow dusted our noses with soft particles of
  powder.

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Personficationexample

• The ocean roared as though to keep us back from
  its shore.
• The snow dusted our noses with soft particles of
  powder.

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Flood

• I wait silently high above the canyon
• Resting and growing as it rains
• Breaking the dam that holds me back with one
  single fierce jump
• Kicking down trees, sucking in boulders and rocks
• Rushing down Cotton Wood Canyon with a burning
  hatred
• Grabbing a tent with five young children and
  throwing it in to Navajo Lake
• Ragging and screaming, kicking and rushing
• Im a flood, a freight train.

33
Autumn

• The Autumn days have just begun.
• The sun sleeps more often,
• While the moon watches over us when the sky is
  black velvet.
• The trees put on a costume of red, yellow, and
  brown.
• The leaves dance in the wind, as the ground
  rushes up to meet them.

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Metaphor Poem

• Used to paint pictures in the readers mind
• Presents new view of topic
• Compares 2 objects but does not use like, as or
  than

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Sample Metaphor Poem

• Sun
• The sun
• Is leaping fire
• Too hot
• To go near.
• But it will still
• Lie down
• In warm yellow squares
• On the floor.

• Like a flat
• Quilt, where
• The cat can curl
• And purr.
• -Valarie Worch

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Metaphor Poem

• Metaphor for a Family
• My family lives inside a medicine chest ?Dad is
  the super-size band aid, strong and powerful but
  not always effective in a crisis.?
• Mom is the middle-size tweezer, which picks and
  pokes and pinches.?
• David is the single small aspirin on the third
  shelf, sometimes ignored.?
• Muffin, the sheep dog, is a round cotton ball,
  stained and dirty, that pops off the shelf and
  bounces in my way as I open the door.?
• And I am the wood and glue which hold us all
  together with my love.
• - Belinda

• Sample

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Sadness

• Sadness is a black hole,
• Like locked up thoughts.
• Sadness is a knife,
• Like piercing skin.
• Like a gun taking away a loved ones life.
• It reminds me of when I cried all the way to the
  airport after we left my sister at Bucknell.
• It makes me feel like my heart is being ripped in
  two and I cant stop the murder.

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Memory Poem

• Choose a memory
• think of a time that was important to you
• Think of an object in your memory to focus on
• Choose a style (see examples next)
• shape poem (Christmas Tree)
• repeating line poem (Poor Fish)
• rhyming poem (Ice Cream Truck)
• Write without thinking!
• throw out images, smells, objects, events
  like paint on a canvas
• dont just tell a story
• Rewrite! Rewrite! Rewrite!

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Sample Memory poem(shape poem)

• STAR
• ON TOP
• ORNAMENTS
• WE MADE IN SCHOOL
• COOKIES, SINGING, FUDGE
• SO MANY HUGS IT BEGINS TO HURT
• GIFTS
• UNDERNEATH

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Sample Memory Poem(repeating)

• I once had a fish who laid dead on a dish.
• Poor fish.
• Along came a cat who ate up that fish.
• Poor fish.
• That cat came back, and threw up that fish.
• Poor fish.
• I got a vacuum and sucked up that fish
• Poor fish.

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Sample Memory Poem(rhyming)

• The ice cream truck dont stop here anymore.
• Me and my brother just dont crave it like before
• As children we lived by a simple code
• Give me liberty or give me rocky road.
• Wed spring into the street and dance around
• And laugh and lick till our lips were chocolate
  brown
• Then wed giggle and google and grin a goofy grin
• And dream of when that truck would come again.
• Today the ice cream truck came whizzing past
• Like all those years that came and went too fast
• Ice cream drips and melts and soon is gone
• More will come to gobble with my son.

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Stretchin the Truth

• The object of the poem is to wildly exaggerate
  the truth about yourself and the world in other
  words use hyperbole!
• Begin the first line with
• I wish I were not so_________ (patient, calm,
  quiet, funny, beautiful)
• State three (at least) specific examples that
  show this trait in a wildly exaggerated way.
• End the poem with an IF section that poses a
  new situation that shows in the most onvincing
  and powerful way just how strong this trait is
  for you!

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The Brotherhood of the Traveling Jacket

• She used us like a towel to wipe up her tears
• So for this jacket she gave me it will go through
  the years
• From person to person with many tears
• With memories abroad turning gears
• Its passed without fears
• Its just become a trail of tears
• ?
• By Anonymous

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Sample Stretchin the Truth poem

• I wish I were not so gorgeous.
• My amazing good looks make it difficult for me to
  go to the mall without salesmen fainting in
  delight as I approach.
• Covergirls from Glamour write me hate mail.
• Leonardo DiCaprio begs me for dates
• And I have to hide all the members of Boyz 2 Men.
• If I were to walk down the main street of Pagosa
  Springs on a Saturday morning, guys would desert
  their girlfriends arms to throw roses and kisses
  at me from across the street.