Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.

~Kahlil Gibran

Poetry Portfolio

For this summative project, you will be required to create a portfolio of poems that will be written in class. You will study the different forms of poetry listed below. You will practice writing each form. Once the lessons and guided practices are done, you will choose4 of the forms you feel most comfortable withplus one mandatory poem to compile into a portfolio.

2 –Voice Poem

Cinquain

Diamante

Senses Poem

Quatrain

Limerick

Loop

Tanka

Haiku

Found

You must also incorporate the following literary and sound devices

into your poetry:

simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition, & personification.

  1. Two-Voice Poem– a poem for two voices in the “voice” of the two items. These poems are meant to be read aloud by two people, with each one assuming eachspeaker in the poem. Usually the speakers are opposites that have something in common, showing their traits, wants, or needs.

Ex:

Voice 1Voice 2

I am a polar bearI am an SUV

I eat fishI guzzle petroleum

I must swim for my foodPeople pump mine

But I can’t swim foreverI burn gas into the atmosphere

When I get tiredWhen I pollute

I depend on I destroy

ICE CAPS.

  1. Cinquain -This is a five-line poem that can be written by counting syllables (2/4/6/8/2). This type of poem does not have to rhyme.

Subject

Adjectives or phrase describing the subject

Action verbs

Feeling words, or phrase expressing feelings

Synonym

Ex:

  1. Diamonte – written in the shape of a diamond where the top half reflects the 1st subject & the bottom half reflects the opposite subject labeled on the last line– no syllables or rhyming, but there is a particular structure to follow:

Line 1 = one noun (1st subject)

Line 2 = two adjectives describing 1st subject

Line 3 = three participles telling what 1st subject does (each ending in –ing)

Line 4 = two nouns related to 1st subject & two nouns related to opposite subject

Line 5 = three participles telling what opposite subject does (each ending in –ing)

Line 6 = two adjectives describing opposite subject

Line 7 = one noun (opposite subject)

Ex:

Cat

clever, cuddly

crouching, pouncing, purring

meow, feline, canine, bark

running, sniffing, fetching

loveable, loyal

Dog

  1. Senses Poem– a type of poem that shares the senses in a specific format

TITLE describing the setting of your favorite place

Line 1—(describe anything you might SEE there, include a simile)

Line 2—(describe any sounds you might HEAR there)

Line 3—(describe any fragrances you might SMELL there)

Line 4—(describe anything that might HAPPEN there, include personification)

Line 5—(describe what you FEEL or TASTE there)

Ex:

The Library

Stories stacked as high as the Rapunzel’s tower,

Pages turning, hushed whispers, and scolding shushing

The sweet fragrance of aged and freshly printed language

Words of Shakespeare and Rowling dancing into my soul,

Hardbacks, paperbacks, and crispy paper tickling my fingertips

  1. Quatrain – four line poem that may follow one of three different rhyme schemes – when quatrains are combined to make a longer poem, each group of four lines makes a stanza

Ex of Possible Rhyme Schemes:

ABCB =The rushing ocean waves

Beat harshly on the sand

They roar and crash and foam

As they break upon the land

ABAB = On one dark and wintry night

When it was very cold

I battled a terrible fright

By shrieking a cry so bold

AABB =I’ll share your toys, I’ll share your money

I’ll share your toast, I’ll share your honey,

I’ll share your milk and cookies too –

The hard part’s sharing mine with you.

~ Shel Silverstein

  1. Limerick –a rhymed humorous or nonsense poem of five lines which originated in Limerick, Ireland - has a set rhyme scheme of : a-a-b-b-a with a syllable structure of: 9-9-6-6-9. Most start with “There once was a…”

Ex:

The Man From Aruba

There once was a man from Aruba,

Whose favorite hobby was scuba.

Every day he would wish,

He could spear a big fish.

But settled instead for canned tuna. Copyright © 2005 Jim Dupy

  1. Loop poem - no restrictions on stanzas or syllables - in each stanza, the rhyme scheme is abcbthe structure is as follows:

the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two

the last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3

the last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4.

line 4 finalizes the stanza

Ex:

Staring at the city lights

Lights that will persuade

Persuade me to stay out too long

Long nights leave my thoughts decayed.

  1. Tanka – an Asian verse form much like haiku except that it has two additional lines of 7 syllables & it usually includes figurative language like personification, similes, etc. – often about nature – usually does not rhyme - there is a particular structure to follow:

Line 1 = five syllables

Line 2 = seven syllables

Line 3 = five syllables

Line 4 = seven syllables

Line 5 = seven syllables

Ex:

Beyond these four walls

was a silence calling us.

We sought nature’s heart

along her creeks and skyline

and in the cool of the glade.

  1. Haiku–type of Asian poem that does not rhyme or use figurative language - usually nature-based. The most common form is three lines with a 5/7/5 syllable structure.

Ex:

  1. Found Poem–poetry that is created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole sentences from other sources and reusing them as a poem (kind of like a collage of words) by making changes in spacing and lines, or by adding or deleting text, in turn giving the poem emotion. This is more of a free verse poem because it has no given structure

Ex using the novel Milkweed. Notice how my words are woven in to words from

the book:

Someone is chasing me. (line from novel)

Always running.(line from novel)

Always hungry.

Always hiding.

“Take only what you need,” they warn me.(quote from novel)

But I need to live - to survive.

I wish I had a mother again.

“I don’t believe in them.” he pouts.(quote from novel)