Poetry around the world

Poetry is a form of art that is

written, expressive, rich with

figurative language and deep

in meaning. When studying

different forms of poetry and

analyzing the words for

meaning, having an

understanding of the cultural

surroundings of the artist

helps to determine a more closely examined analysis of the poem. In

this unit, you will examine poetry from several different cultures around

the world. In this examination, you will study the culture and history

surrounding the art form, and its artists. You will not only analyze the

themes and shape of the poems, but will also analyze how the culture

and history helped shape the poems through analysis of how the culture

and history helped shaped the poet. In the end, you will create a

documentary introducing your audience to the idea that an artist’s

world shapes his/her thinking and therefore shapes their words.

1

Assignment:

1. Research 5 different cultures and poetry forms:

a. Japan and the Haiku

b. Italy and the Petrarchan Sonnet

c. England and the Shakespearean Sonnet

d. America and the Historical poem

e. Pottsgrove Middle School and the free verse poem

This research will be documented in a Google doc with notes and links to sites

visited- Share all Google docs with both Mrs. Frasca and your regular

education language arts teacher.

2. Analyze at least two examples of poems from each of the above-mentioned

cultures and poetry forms.

This analysis will include:

Noted reading of the poems

Written analysis of the poems themes

3. Write two original works in each of the poetry forms.

These works will be submitted via Google Docs- Share all Google docs with

both Mrs. Frasca and your regular education language arts teacher.

4. Complete all the assignments found in the rest of this unit.

a. Visual of a Haiku by your chosen Japanese poet

b. Petrarchan Valentine

c. Rewrite of Shakespearean sonnet

d. Being an American poem

2

e. Answer all discussion questions

5. Create a 3 minute video that responds to the following prompt:

How does an artist’s culture and history shape their thinking and

therefore shape their work, their words, their art? Be sure to include

yourself in the response.

HAIKU---JAPAN

(HI-coo) Haiku is a poetic form and a type of poetry from the

Japanese culture. Haiku poets write about everyday things. Many themes include nature, feelings, or experiences.

The most common form for Haiku is 3 short lines.

The first line contains 5 syllables,

the second line 7 syllables,

3

and the third line contains 5 syllables.

For a total of 17 syllables

Haiku doesn't rhyme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of

Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry!

HAIKU EXAMPLESThe Rose byDonna Brock

The red blossom bendsand drips its dew to the ground. Like a tear it falls

A Rainbow by Donna Brock Curving up, then down.Meeting blue sky and green earthMelding sun and rain.

YOUR TURN: Pick one Haiku from your chosen Haiku poet read and create a visual image: You can draw; use different fonts, or different colors to paint the image that has formed in your mind.Next, try to write a Haiku: Brainstorm an idea…do you want to paint an image from nature, from your feelings, or from an experience that you have had or hope to have.

Remember:

Only Three lines

Five syllables

4

Seven Syllables

Five Syllables

When you are done…..feel free to add visuals. Color, pictures, shapes, etc….

And don’t forget to have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haiku is expressive, open your mind and express yourself to the world.

Petrarchan Italian Sonnets:

Back in the 1300's, before card stores and chocolate manufacturers all conspired to commercialize the true spirit of love, and romance, Francesco Petrarca literally wrote the book on infatuation. The collection of Italian verses, Rime in vita e morta di Madonna Laura (after 1327), translated into English as Petrarch's Sonnets, were inspired by Petrarch's unrequited love for Laura (probably Laure de Noves), a young woman Petrarca first saw in church.

The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds.

5

The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes:

a b b a a b b a

The remaining 6 lines are called the sestet .

A Sestet can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:

c d c d c d c d d c d c c d e c d e c d e c e d c d c e d c

In strict practice, the one thing that is to be avoided in the sestet is ending with a couplet (dd or ee), as this was never permitted in Italy, and Petrarch himself (supposedly) never used a couplet ending.

The point here is that the poem is divided into two sections by the two differing rhyme groups.

A change from one rhyme group to another signifies a change in subject matter.

This change occurs at the beginning of L9 in the Italian sonnet and is called the volta, or "turn";

the turn is an essential element of the sonnet form, perhaps the essential element. WHY?

6

Now, Let us try! In honor of Petrarch, in honor of love, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s make a valentine. Who do you love? Who is your Valentine? Is it a beloved friend or family member? Who ever makes your heart flutter, write and design a Valentine using the Petrarchan Love Sonnet’s form and Rhyming scheme.

Shakespearean Sonnets

Remember the Italian Sonnet? Well in England, we celebrate the Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. True to the Italian sonnet form, Shakespeare wrote love sonnets with 14 lines that

hold true to a rhyme scheme. But Shakespeare’s sonnets have even more patterns present in each one.

Here are some poetic terms that will come in handy when learning about the Shakespearean sonnet:

Stanza: grouping of lines that connect through

rhyme, theme, and/or meter.

Quatrain: a stanza of four lines.

Couplets: a stanza of two lines

7

Meter: poetic measure; arrangement of words

in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic

lines or verses.

Rhyme Scheme of English Sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Stanza form of English Sonnet: Three quatrains followed by a couplet.

Couplet: Two lines at the end of the sonnet that act as the solution or

response of the poem. They have rhyming ends.

Meter of an English Sonnet: Iambic Pentameter: The most common

meter in English verse. It consists of a line ten syllables long that is

accented on every second beat.

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

8

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Pick one of Shakespeare’s sonnets ( not #18) and rewrite it in today’s English,

perhaps even use some slang or social media language..ie LoL, OMG, etc…

Now you try: Try to write a quatrain or a couplet using Iambic Pentameter. Watch that rhythm. da DA da DA da DA da DA da DA.

9

American Poetry

Lets take a minute to look at some poetry written over the last

few generations. America is a melting pot of many differing

experiences. Let’s focus our study to encompass poetry writeen from

poets with an African American heritage. We will start in the times of

slavery and progress into the present when an African American is

President of the United States. How does poetry record history? Lets

find out.

In your Google doc, record notes on all of the following:

1. Look at the form.

a. Stanza

b. Rhyme scheme

c. Rhythm (meter)

2. What do you notice?

a. Language

b. Vocabulary

c. Grammar

3. Can you make meaning?

10

4. Can you make any connections between the poems?

Still I Rise By Maya Angelo You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

11

Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.

12

MOTHER TO SONby Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor- - - Bare.

But all the timeI'se been a - climbin' onAnd reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.

So boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps'Cause you find it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now - - -For I'se still goin' honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,

13

And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen,"Then.

Besides,They'll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

14

P.O.W By Alicia Keys

I'm a prisonerOf words unsaidJust lonely feelingsLocked away in my head

I trap myself furtherEvery time I stay quietI should start to speakBut I stop and stay silentAnd now I've madeMy own hard bedInside a prison of words unsaidI am a P.O.W.

Not a prisoner of warA prisoner of wordsLike a soldierI'm a fighterYet only a puppetMostly I only sayWhat you wanna hearCould you take it if I came clear?Or would you rather see meStoned on a drug of complacency and compromiseM.I.A.

I guess that's what I amScraping this cold earthFor a piece of myselfFor peace in myselfIt'd be easier if you put me in jail

15

If you locked me awayI'd have someone to blameBut these bars of steel are of my makingThey surround my mindAnd have me shakingMy hands are cuffed behind my backI'm a prisoner of the worst kind, in factA prisoner of compromise

A prisoner of compassionA prisoner of kindnessA prisoner of expectationA prisoner of my youth

Run too fast to be oldI've forgotten what I was toldAin't I a sight to behold?A prisoner of age dying to be youngTo my head is my hand with a gunAnd it's cold and it's hardCause there's nowhere to runWhen you've caged yourselfBy holding your tongueI'm a prisonerOf words unsaidJust lonely feelingsLocked away in my headIt's like solitary confinementEvery time I stay quietI should start to speakBut I stop and stay silentAnd now I've madeMy own hard bedInside a prison of words unsaid

16

Sometimes I cry By Tupac Shakur

Sometimes when I’m aloneI cry because I’m on my ownThe tears I cry R bitter and warmThey flow with life but take no formI cry because my heart is tornAnd I find it difficult 2 carry onThe world moves fast and it would rather pass u byThan 2 stop and c what makes u cryIt’s painful and sad and sometimes I cryAnd no one cares about why.

17

18

Can you do it? Can you write a poem that expresses what means to be an American today?

First, brainstorm: In your Google doc answer the following questions in order to help spur your creativity.

1. Do you ever worry? If so…what about?

2. Do you have things to celebrate? What?

3. What dreams do you have?

4. How do you plan on achieving those dreams?

19

20