1. A group analysis of famous poems
What does it all mean!?
A group analysis of famous poems

2. Sonnets A sonnet is a poem written in 14 lines.
Sonnets have 3 quatrains (sets of 4 lines) and a couplet (a set of 2 lines).
They are written in iambic pentameter, which creates a lively, lyrical sound when read aloud.
Each part should progress the poem as follows:
First quatrain: This should establish the subject of the sonnet. Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: ABAB 
Second quatrain: This should develop the sonnet’s theme. Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: CDCD
Third quatrain: This should round off the sonnet’s theme. Number of lines: 4. Rhyme Scheme: EFEF
Couplet: This should act as the conclusion. Number of lines: 2. Rhyme Scheme: GG

3. Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare
Questions:
What is the purpose of the first quatrain in this poem?
What does the couplet reveal?
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:    And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare    As any she belied with false compare.
*belie: verb-to disguise or contradict

4. Similes and Metaphors- Langston Hughes
Similes and metaphors are some of the most widely used elements of figurative language.
They both compare two objects, whether living or non-living.
Extended metaphors are developed throughout a text; they are not just one or two sentences.
Langston Hughes was a famous writer during the Harlem Renaissance era. This was a time of many hardships AND triumphs for African Americans because it was the turn of the century- just a couple decades after the end of slavery in the United States.
Let’s see how he uses extended metaphor to create a central idea.

5. Mother to Son by Langston hughes
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
Don’t you set down on the steps
It’s had tacks in it,
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
And splinters,
Don’t you fall now—
And boards torn up,
For I’se still goin’, honey,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
I’se still climbin’,
Bare.
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
Questions:
What two things is the narrator comparing?
Why does the author use words like “climbin” and “I’se”?
What is the central idea of the poem? Give 2 pieces of textual evidence to support your answer.

6. The road not taken by Robert frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
And sorry I could not travel both
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
And be one traveler, long I stood
I doubted if I should ever come back.
And looked down one as far as I could
I shall be telling this with a sigh
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Then took the other, as just as fair,
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
And having perhaps the better claim,
I took the one less traveled by,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
And that has made all the difference.
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Questions:
What is the conflict in this poem? How does the narrator resolve the conflict?
Self Reflecton: How can you “take the road less traveled by”?

7. Blackout poetry!
A fun activity to create your own poem (even if you’re not the “poet” type)!