1. Mrs. Miller’s Writer’s Workshop Poetry Unit

2. What is poetry?
Pretty words? A series of words that make you see something?
A.R. Ammons says, “Poetry is a mode of discourse that differs from logical exposition…Poetry leads us to the unstructured sources of our beings, to the unknown, and returns us to our rational, structured selves refreshed.”
In a lot of ways, poetry is “confusion”, “meaningless” and “uselessness” (A.R. Ammons, “A Poem is a Walk”)
Quickwrite question: Why do you think that poetry is so hard to define or easily reduced to something that is “meaningless”?

3. Forms vs. Free Verse Form Free Verse Sonnets, couplets, haikus, etc.
Poetry forms vary widely.
Rhyme
Meter – number of syllables and the “beat” of the line
Stanza number/length
May have some rhymes or repetition of meter, stanza length, etc.
Does not follow “rules”

4. Sonnet Example Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare
Annotate the rhymes (A, B, C, etc.)
Count the syllables and write the number above each word.

5. Free Verse Example By Walt Whitman Do you notice any rhymes?
Are the lines the same length?

6. Write a haiku! Three lines 1st line has FIVE syllables
2nd line has SEVEN syllables
3rd line has FIVE syllables
Does NOT have to rhyme
Usually the topic is nature, animals, etc.

7. Homework Find and analyze a poem of your choosing.
1. Form or Free verse?
2. Count the lines and syllables.