Lyric Analysis

Choice

Songs are poems set to music.  Choose lyrics from a song and identify poetic devices that we have learned about in class and analyse it for meaning in one or two paragraphs. Remember your paragraph structure, write clearly and proof read your work to eliminate errors.  Include the lyrics with your post.  If you choose to provide a you tube link to a video remember to distinguish between the analysis of the lyrics and that of the video.  The video is one interpretation of the song.

Write a Poem

Choice

Write a poem in any style.  Use at least 3 poetic devices effectively....similes, metaphors, personification, imagery, hyperbole, oxymoron, alliteration, assonance, onomatopeia, meter, rhyme. Find images to illustrate your poem.

Canadian Poets

Choice

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/index_poet.htm

Check out this link to Canadian poetry online.  Choose a poet and write a brief summary about them.  Choose one of their poems and write a one paragraph analysis. What does the poem mean to you?  How does the poet use poetic devices? Refer to the list of terms that have been generated in class to help to inform your discussion. Be sure to include the title and the poet's name as well as a link to the poem on the website.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Choice

Today we read The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Create a six-frame storyboard based on the sequence of events in each stanza. You can use your plot graph as a guideline. Use text from the poem to support your illustrations of individual scenes. Include an audio line that explains the action in each picture.

You can do this by drawing your own images and scanning/photographing in your post them or choosing a series of images that are copywright free that  illustrate your poem. You can choose another war as a source for your illustrations. Be sure to cite your sources.

Parody of a Well Known Poem

Another Choice

"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

Write your own version using the above poem as a template (see below).  Describe something that you have done that you are not really sorry for.

I have_________
______________
______________
______________

______________
______________
______________
______________

Forgive me
_____________
_____________
_____________

Your Poetry Blogs

Due date: Your blog is to be ready for assessment by Monday, April 18, 2011.

You are required to make 5 posts. This includes:

two quotations about poetry and a paragraph or poem that expresses your feelings about poetry.

Your "Where I’m From" poem

Three haiku poems

Your last two posts are your choice. Suggestions will be posted and you can choose two. They will be labeled as a "choice."

Found Poetry using Quotations

This is one of a number of choices that you will be given between now and Monday, April 11.  Blogs need to be ready for assessment on April 18.  "The Power of Poetry" post is another choice.  You will need to make two "choice" posts.

While you are focussing on quotations for your To Kill a Mockingbird assignment, choose one of them to create a "found" poem.

Directions: Build a poem that reflects characters, theme, mood, tone, conflict or any aspect of the novel you are interested in. The poem does not need to directly reflect the novel itself, but should have some relationship to the quotation from the novel. You may use any form you choose for your poetry.

Devices: once you have decided on the structure of your poem, consider how you might play with voice, symbols, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, metaphors and so on.

Model:

On Moral Courage

What is courage?

It's when you know

You're licked before you

Begin

but you begin anyway

and you see it through no matter what.

Conscious and cantakerous

Instead of gun in hand.

Write a Ballad

This is one of a number of choices that you will be given between now and Monday, April 11.  Blogs need to be ready for assessment on April 18.  "The Power of Poetry" post is another choice.  You will need to make two "choice" posts.

Use a news article to write a short ballad (at least 3 stanzas) about a present day event...or choose and event in To Kill a Mockingbird to write a ballad eg. "The Ballad of Tom Robinson," or "The Ballad of Jean Louise Finch".... Refer to the "Writer's Workshop" in your Language and Writing text on pages 25-26 for guidelines.

Haiku

Japanese haiku
will be their next adventure.
poems they will love
Like the poem says, try writing some haiku poetry.

Use 17 syllables in total; five in the first line, seven in the second line and five in the third line. Post at least three poems--more if you are inspired. Focus on a theme, idea or image and see what you come up with.They could be related in theme or totally different from one another.  It is fun to use haiku in your facebook posts.

Have a look at this Los Angeles Times article that tells of Japanese haiku poets writing in the aftermath of the earthquake. You will also find samples of their poetry.

The Power of Poetry

This is a "choice."

Oprah is talking about poetry this month.  Check out what 25 celebrities have to say about poetry.  Write a one paragraph response as a blog post on something that you read in this article that interests you.  Bono, Sarah McClachlan, Mike Tyson?

http://www.oprah.com/packages/the-power-of-poetry.html

Welcome to Poetry!!



Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.  ~Novalis

Poetry is the shape and shade and size of words as they hum, strum, jig, and gallop along." ~Dylan Thomas

 Monday, March 21, 2011

2D English Students: start your own poetry blog!

1. Go to blogger.com and follow the steps to start your blog. You will need a gmail address to begin.

2. Choose a favourite template from what is available.

3. Choose a blog title that is, I hope, more interesting than mine.  Consider using a poetic device that we have covered in class (simile, metaphor, allusion, onomatopoeia....) Perhaps you can use the poem that you are writing, "Where I'm From," as inspiration.

4. Find a favourite quotation about poetry and include it in this post. Remember to identify your sources at the end of your post whenever you use something from another website.

5. Write a paragraph or even a poem telling your audience how you feel about poetry and post it with your quotation.

6. Email me at mailto:mswiebeteacher@gmail.comto invite me to join your blog.  Consider inviting other classmates to join as well.


Where I'm From

 Your "Where I'm From" free verse poem rough copy is due on Wednesday when you will be given  time to proof read. When it is complete you will post it on your blog. Look for a photo that supports the imagery that you have created in your poem.

When editing, consider this Level 4 checklist for writing poetry:

Knowledge/Understanding

• focus is clear and impactive i.e. creates a single dominant impression
• figurative language (similes, personification, imagery etc) is used artfully
• use of free verse is sophisticated

Communication

• reader is emotionally engaged throughout
• artful choice of words, images and details results in a wide appeal to the senses
• quality of word choice is economical and sophisticated
• level of language is skillfully adapted to suit the intended audience
• organization of lines and stanzas creates a single strong impression

I tried it out too.  Here is my version:


Where I'm From

I am from paintbrush,
from Coca Cola in a glass bottle and Archie Comics.
I am from looking at the lake,
while warming in the sun
or walking against the wind
towards home
on the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.

I am from fresh rhubarb dipped in sugar,
daisies,
mud puddles that keep your boots,
the maple tree home in my grandma's back yard,

Baby Me with Grandpa and Grandma Hudson

dandelions that tell if you like butter
and the poor mama who
had a baby and her head popped off.

I am from camping trips
and passe moi la beurre to Grandpa Hudson,
the Pankratz and the Leslies.
I am from the making a joke
and not getting the joke.

I am from Sunday mornings
rising and singing
Holy, Holy, Holy, 
my mother's hands
gripping the next pew.

I'm from Ottawa, Canada;
Caucasus Mountains, Russia;
Ireland and maybe Scotland,
thin pancakes and cheese rarebit.

From deep cuts on my father's fingers
after a shift at the A&P,
my mother's nasturtiums in a garden
behind my grandpa's grocery store,
dresses my grandma made
that my mother loved and her sister loved less.

I am from 70's floral print photo albums
still at my parent's house,
boxes in my back room and studio
neglected
by a life that has moved
more quickly than the stories
of my childhood.

c. L. Wiebe, 2011


Sources: 
Nelson English: Literature and Media 10
http://www.quotegarden.com/poetry.html