10H Unit 1: Poetry | Mr S Classroom

Intro to Poetry: Unit 1

The Three R's of Poetry

Not Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmatec … Rhyme, Rhythm, Rhetoric

“The three Rs (as in the letter R) are basic skills taught in schools: reading, writing and arithmetic. The phrase appeared in print as a space-filler in "The Lady's Magazine" for 1818; while it is sometimes attributed to a speech given by Sir William Curtis in about 1795.” (Wikipaedia)

Rhyme refers to the many different ways in which words can sound alike. Rhyme is one of the first characteristics of poetry that we see as children. But then we learn, not all poetry rhymes.

For more on Rhyme, scan to the box lower on this page

Rhythm refers to the pattern of beats in each line of text. Poems can have very specific patterns of meter, or none at all.

For more on Rhythm, scan to the box lower on this page

Rhetoric is a general term for the “poetic” nature of words, the way in which words can be used to describe and compare and narrate and explain. Under “Rhetoric” we find all the Literary Devices an author uses as clues to his or her meaning, as well as other rhetorical techniques for creating pictures in the minds of readers simply from words on a page of text.

Poetry Unit Homework and Project

Homework and classwork

During this unit students will read a number of different poems, both in class and out of class.
Students will learn how to analyze each poem for its tone and word choice, as well as for rhyme, rhythm, and Rhetoric (Literary Devices).
Using all of these clues, students will learn how to discover the possible themes within texts -- what was the author trying to say?
Finally students will learn how to respond to poetry by writing a simple analytical summary using the tools they have found when reading each poem.
Along with daily exercises in reading and writing about the poems in class, students will be encouraged to find examples of poems they like, or which speak to their own passions or personalities.

A final project will be a Poetry Anthology -- a collection of poems the student has found that speak about a common theme. The student will add a short essay about one of these poems, and write a poem of their own.

More about Rhyme (from yourdictionary.com)

A rhyme occurs when two or more words have similar sounds. Typically, this happens at the end of the words, but this isn't always the case. There are, in fact, a lot of different ways to rhyme words. Poets can show off their skills by using multiple styles of rhyming in their works.

Perfect Rhyme is the type we think of first – where the sound of the word at the end of a verse exactly match the sound of the word at the end of another.

“I will not eat them on a train,

I will not eat them in the rain.” -- Dr. Seus

Some rhymes are not as perfect; they are close, but not quite there. Called Imperfect Rhyme these words sound very close to one another but are not true matches.

“The weekend at the college didn't turn out like you planned.

The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand.” -- Steeley Dan

In this text college and knowledge are paired up as imperfect rhymes; so too are planned and understand. As an added bonus this text has an example of Internal Rhyme, where the rhyming words appear in the middle of lines, not at the end – for instance, college and knowledge.

However, there are so many other tricks a poet can use. Check these out:

Assonant rhyme - is the rhyming of vowels in words but with different consonants. It is sometimes referred to as a slant rhyme. Examples include tip and limp, dank and bat, bowl and home.
Consonant rhyme - is the rhyming of consonants but not vowels. Examples include bell and ball, dump and damp, meter and miter, mile and mole.
Alliteration has the same initial consonant at the beginning of the words. Examples are blue and blow, sun and sand, merry and monkey.
Feminine rhyme - refers to words which have a rhyme in an unstressed second syllable. Examples include backing and hacking, tricky and picky, moaning and groaning, generate and venerate. Notice that the main stress in all of these words is not the final syllable.
Masculine rhyme - In this rhyme, the stress in on the final syllable in both words, whether one word has more syllables than the other does not matter. Examples include support and report, dime and sublime, divulge and bulge.

Slant rhyme - rhymes the final consonants but not the vowels or initial consonants. In this way it is not a perfect rhyme. Examples are bent and rant, quick and back.

Adapted from examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-rhyme.html

More about Rhythm (from yourdictionary.com)

English poetry employs five basic rhythms of varying stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. Three of these forms have two syllables each, and the other two have three syllables. Each unit of rhythm is called a "foot" of poetry.

The meters with two-syllable feet are

IAMBIC (x /) That time of year thou mayst in me behold
TROCHAIC (/ x) Tell me not in mournful numbers
SPONDAIC (/ /) Break, break, break/ On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!

Meters with three-syllable feet are

ANAPESTIC (x x /) And the sound of a voice that is still
DACTYLIC (/ x x) This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlock (a trochee replaces the final dactyl)

Each line of a poem contains a certain number of feet.

Monometer = 1 foot Tetrameter = 4 feet
Dimeter = 2 feet Pentameter = 5 feet
Trimeter = 3 feet Hexameter = 6 feet

Here are some more serious examples of the various meters.

Iambic Pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables)

That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

Trochaic Tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables)

Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers

Anapestic Trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables)

And the sound | of a voice | that is still

Dactylic Hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; with a trochee replacing the last dactyl)

This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlocks

Adapted from writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/meter.html