What is poetry?
Mark Strand: "Eating Poetry"
Marianne Moore: "Poetry"
There a millions of answers to this question. For our purposes, it is the careful organization of words and phrases to express an idea or emotion concerning the human condition (what is means to be human).
Poetry is found in song, in novels, in advertisement, and children's television programming. It's everywhere!
Q: Does poetry have to rhyme? NO. Rhyme is only one poetic technique that writers use. You don't only use a hammer when a saw or wrench is a better choice. So it goes with rhyme. Use it when it works; don't use it when it doesn't.
What are the ELEMENTS of a POEM?
Content: poetry can contain feelings and ideas. Poems can tell stories about famous or common people, places, or things. But content comes from the writer. It is often what the writer THINKS or FEELS about a topic that makes it appropriate for poetry.
Images: Color, taste, texture, sound, scent, temperature are all the stuff of images. Poets use imagery by using metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and other figurative language in their poems. Try to include at least one of these techniques in every poem you write.
Let's watch a few poems:
Billy Collins: The Dead
Some Days
Alone
The Letter
The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac
Shel Silverstein: Crocodile's Toothache
Shel Silverstein: The Giving Tree
Dr. Seuss: Fox in Sox
Mark Strand: "Eating Poetry"
Marianne Moore: "Poetry"
There a millions of answers to this question. For our purposes, it is the careful organization of words and phrases to express an idea or emotion concerning the human condition (what is means to be human).
Poetry is found in song, in novels, in advertisement, and children's television programming. It's everywhere!
Q: Does poetry have to rhyme? NO. Rhyme is only one poetic technique that writers use. You don't only use a hammer when a saw or wrench is a better choice. So it goes with rhyme. Use it when it works; don't use it when it doesn't.
What are the ELEMENTS of a POEM?
Content: poetry can contain feelings and ideas. Poems can tell stories about famous or common people, places, or things. But content comes from the writer. It is often what the writer THINKS or FEELS about a topic that makes it appropriate for poetry.
Images: Color, taste, texture, sound, scent, temperature are all the stuff of images. Poets use imagery by using metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and other figurative language in their poems. Try to include at least one of these techniques in every poem you write.
Let's watch a few poems:
Billy Collins: The Dead
Some Days
Alone
The Letter
The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac
Shel Silverstein: Crocodile's Toothache
Shel Silverstein: The Giving Tree
Dr. Seuss: Fox in Sox
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