DIY  Poetry Workshop

Poetry Workshop      Friday, May 29, 9:30-10:30 a.m.       City  Room       3rd thru 12th Grade

Write a poem for Expressions, the Kinsley Library Summer Reading Creative Magazine. 

Follow these guidelines and submit it any time before June 2.

1.  The poem (or song/rap) should be your own creation.              

2.  The poem can not be over 20 lines.

3.  The poem may rhyme or be free verse.    

4.  The poem should be appropriate for a summer reading publication.

5.  You agree to have your poem published in Expressions

6.  You may submit up to five poems.

POETRY WRITING HINTS:

•   Write with words you know.  

•   Use everyday words as much as possible

•   Use a Thesaurus or Dictionary of Synonyms to jog your memory concerning word you already know.

•   Use normal arrangement of words in a sentence.

•   Put words together so that they sound good, and so that the words flow easily.

•   Think about appealing to all five senses:  sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

•    Think in terms of imagery and symbols (for example, metaphor, similie, and personification).

•    Consult a rhyming dictionary for poems that rhyme.

•    Poetry is brief.  Each word should be absolutely necessary to the poem or it should not be there.

•    Be aware of how the words sound and sound together.  Poems are meant to be heard.

TRY ONE OF THESE POETRY STYLES

HAIKU is a three line poem following these rules:

Line 1 -- Five syllables

Line 2 -- Seven syllables

Line 3 -- Five syllables

Haikus usually reference the season in some way.

Sitting on the swing

A  warm breeze turned the pages

Of her romance book.

CINQUAIN is a five line poem following these rules:

Line 1 -- One word (a noun) naming the subject of the

                verse.

Line 2 -- Two words (adjectives) describing the subject.

Line 3 -- Three words (verbs) describing the subject's

                actions.

Line 4 -- Four words giving the writer's opinion of the

                subject.

Line 5 -- One word (noun) giving another name for the

                subject.

Summer

Hot, bright

Swimming, playing,

A fun, creative time

Vacation

DIAMANTE is a seven line poem where the theme or topic of the poem ends opposite to the opening topic.  English grammar is used and the rules are as follows:

Line 1 -- Name (Noun) Theme/Object

Line 2 -- Two adjectives describing the noun in line 1.

Line 3 -- Three participles (word ends in -ing or -ed),

             relating to line 1 and 2 of the poem.

Line 4 -- Four nouns (2 referring to the noun in line1 and 

               the other 2 referring to line 7.

Line 5 -- Three participles (relating to noun in line 7).

Line 6 -- Two adjectives (describing the noun in line 7).

Line 7 -- Noun (names the Theme or object which is the

                opposite of the noun in line 1.

HINT:  A thesaurus might help you, but be sure the words you choose are words you would use.

Life Altering Summer Reading

Dullness

Colorless, plain

Boring, tiring, uninteresting

Sameness, humdrum, Imagination, excitement

Inventing, exploding, inspired

Original, expressive

Creativity

ACROSTIC POETRY uses the initial letters of each line to spell a word(s).

                           Looking for some

                           Information?

                           Books to provide

                           Recreation?

                           And here's the key

                           Read where it's free,

                           Your public library.

LIMERICK is a humorist poem consisting of five lines with the rhyme scheme aabba.  The first, second, and fifth lines are trimeter, while the third and fourth are dimeter. 

         There once was a  library cat

         Who sat on the shelf and grew fat

                With her tummy expanding

                She had trouble standing

         Till she "checked out" and that was that.