Creative World – Poetry Unit (7)
Poe, Shakespeare, Frost
What is “great” poetry?
S1
Practice/Activity

Introduction to poetry . Watch Dead Poets’ Society movie clip “Understanding Poetry.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjHORRHXtyI
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Discuss . . . What is the message about poetry from this movie clip? Do you need a rating system, a
formula, to determine whether a poem is “great” or not? Why or why not?

What do you think makes “great” poetry?
Goals for this Unit
S2
1.
2.
To understand that the importance of
poetry lies in understanding meaning
To understand how technique and
poetic devices add to effect and
meaning
Structure and Pattern in Poetry
Stanzas, Types/Classifications, and Rhyme
S3
Stanzas
MiniLesson/Notes
Stanza - the grouping together of lines arranged by a fixed pattern
Stanzas can be arranged as . . .
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Couplet: two lines that usually rhyme (or a two-line stanza)
Tercet: a 3-line stanza
Quatrain: a 4-line stanza
Cinquain: a 5-line stanza
Sestet = 6-line stanza
Septet = 7-line stanza
Octave = 8-line stanza
Types/Classifications of Poetry
Lyric, Narrative, and Descriptive Poetry
S4
Three Most Common Types/Classifications of Poetry
Lyric Poetry – has one speaker who expresses strong thought and feeling. It
has a musical quality due to its rhyme/rhyme pattern.
a. Ode – has a serious topic. Emotional. Often about love or death.
b. Elegy – commemorates someone who is dead, often ending in consolation.
c. Sonnet – fixed form of poetry that consists of 14 lines with iambic pentameter.
2. Narrative Poetry – tells a story; has a plot line.
a. Ballad – has a musical rhythm. Usually in quatrains or cinquains. About
ordinary people.
b. Epic – long narrative. Recounts the deeds of legendary or historical hero.
3. Descriptive Poetry – describes the world that surrounds the speaker.
1.
Rhythm/Rhyme Pattern
S5
Rhyme
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involves two or more words or phrases that repeat the same sound (Ex.
cat/fat)
Rhyme Pattern
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The rhyme pattern is set by the ending word in each line.
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Rhyme patterns are indicated by letters and start over again at the start of
each stanza.
The same letters rhyme . . .
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Stanza #1: A, A, B, B, A
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Stanza #2: A, B, A, B, C
Rhythm

Rhyme patterns give a musical quality to poetry.
Edgar Allan Poe
Close Read of “Annabel Lee”
S6
Mini Lesson/Notes
 Poe was an American author who lived during the 1800s.
 He wrote short stories and poetry. He is consider the father of detective fiction.
 His most recurring theme deals with death.
 Preoccupied with the macabre (the gruesome, horrifying related to death or
injury)
 Well-known short stories include “The Black Cat,” “The Murder in the Rue
Morgue,” and “The Tell Tale Heart.”
 Well-known poetry includes “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.”
Edgar Allan Poe – “Annabel Lee”
Close Read (cont’d)
S7
Practice/Activity

Read through “Annabel Lee” one time. Then, on the hard copy of “Annabel Lee” IN
THE MARGINS . . .
A. Notate how each stanza is arranged by number of lines – ie. as a couplet, a
tercet, a quatrain, etc.
B. Then notate the rhyme pattern of each stanza. At the bottom of the poem,
note the effect the rhyme pattern has on the reader.
C. Examine the poem. Decide which classification of poetry “Annabel Lee” is:
lyric (ode or elegy) OR narrative (ballad or epic)? Underline and notate at least
three pieces of evidence in the poem that supports your decision of which type of
classification it is.
Journal/Prompt #1: “Annabel Lee”
S8
Journal/Prompt #1: Write a three-paragraph CERS response to your close read of “Annabel
Lee” in which you identified text evidence supporting into which classification “Annabel Lee”
fit.
A. (Paragraph #1) Be sure to state a claim identifying which classification of poetry you
decided “Annabel Lee” is: lyric (ode or elegy) OR narrative (ballad).
B. (Paragraph #2) Use the text evidence that you underlined as support for your claim. Be
sure to reason out /elaborate on each piece of evidence telling how it shows the
classification/definition of poetry you chose. Use the definition of lyric (ode or
elegy) or narrative (ballad) poetry to help prove your point(s).
C. (Paragraph #3) Conclude your response by discussing the effect that your identified
classification of poetry - lyric (ode or elegy) or narrative (ballad) – has on the
reader. As part of your conclusion, include a synthesis statement that
reveals a big/important message with which you want to leave the reader about
poetry/types of poetry.
William Shakespeare - English Lit.
S9
Mini Lesson/Notes
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Shakespeare is widely regarded as greatest writer in English language.
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Live in 1500s and wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems.
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Plays were mainly comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances.
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His standard poetic form was a sonnet, which is a 14-line, blank verse
(meaning unrhymed) poem that is composed in iambic pentameter (10 syllables
to a liner, spoken with a stress on every second syllable).
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Well-known plays include: “Hamlet,” “MacBeth,” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
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Well-known sonnets include: “Sonnet 18 “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s
Day?” Sonnet 116: “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds,” and Sonnet 29
“When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes.”
William Shakespeare (continued)
S10
Practice/Activity - Iambic Pentameter in Sonnet 18
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Close Read for Iambic Pentameter in Sonnet 18: "Shall I Compare Thee to a
Summer's Day?"
A. First, read Sonnet 18 through one time without making notations.
B. Then, read it through a second time and mark each 10-syllable line into five 2syllable sections, showing its iambic pentameter structure.
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Class Discussion: What effect do you feel the iambic pentameter has on the
reader?
Denotation and Connotation
S11
MiniLesson/Notes
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Denotation: is the dictionary definition of a word, the literal meaning of a word.
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Connotation: is the special meanings and associations of a word
Example: "Tiger" denotation - a large, carnivorous animal of the cat family. "Tiger" connotation jungle violence, aggression, ferocity.
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Figurative/Connotative Devices
Simile: a comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”
Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as”
Symbol: something that represents something else
Personification: the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman things
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Sound Devices:
Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginnings of nearby words
Assonance: the repetition of the same vowel sound in nearby words
Consonance: an identical consonant sound preceded by a different vowel sound. Ex:
home/same; worth/breath
Prompt – Fig. Lang.
and Sound Devices
S12
Practice/Activity – Figurative Language and Sound Devices in Sonnet 18

Close Read Sonnet 18: "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" Examine it for
figurative language and sound devices.
A. Assess and notate Sonnet 18 for figurative language (simile, metaphor, symbol, and
personification).
B. Then, read it through a second time and assess and notate Sonnet 18 for sound devices
(alliteration, assonance, and consonance).
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Discussion: What figurative language and sound devices have you found?
Journal/Prompt #2: Sonnet 18
S13
Journal/Prompt #2: Write a three-paragraph CERS response to your close read of
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” in which you
examined the poem for figurative language and sound devices.
A. Be sure to state a claim using the words “figurative language” and “sound
devices.”
B. Use the text evidence that you noted (the figurative language and sound
devices you identified in the sonnet) as support for your claim. Be sure to focus
in on specific types of figurative language and sound devices in your response.
Be sure to reason out /elaborate on each piece of evidence telling how it shows
the figurative language and sound devices you identified.
C. Conclude your response by discussing the effect that the figurative language
and the sound devices have on the reader. As part of your conclusion, include a
synthesis statement that reveals a big/important message with which you want to leave
the reader.
Couplets – Open and Closed Couplets
S14
Mini Lesson/Notes
Couplet: is a literary device which can be defined as having two successive rhyming lines in a
verse.
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Types of Couplets
a. Closed Couplet: If a couplet has the ability to stand apart from the rest of the poem, it is
independent and hence it is called a closed couplet.
b. Open Couplet: A couplet which cannot render a proper meaning alone is called an open
couplet.
Example: One of the commonly used couplet examples are these two lines from William
Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “The time is out of joint, /O cursed spite that ever I was born to set
it right!”
Open and Closed Couplets-Sonnet 18
S15
Practice/Activity - Open and Closed Couplets in Sonnet 18

Close Read Sonnet 18: "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?"
Assess Sonnet 18 for couplets. Classify each couplet in Sonnet 18 as a closed couplet or
an open couplet.
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Discussion: What effect do the couplets have on the reader? Does a closed couplet have
more of an impact than an open couplet? Why or why not?
Soliloquy
S16
Mini Lesson/Notes
Soliloquy
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A soliloquy is a device used in drama when a character speaks to himself, relating thoughts
and feelings. Other characters are not aware of what is being said.
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The soliloquy is often used to relay information about characters or events.
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Shakespeare was well-known for his soliloquies.
Practice/Activity – Examine Romeo and Juliet as a Soliloquy
Overview/summary of play Romeo and Juliet.
----This is the most famous soliloquy from the play. In Act II, Romeo has succeeded in leaping
over the Capulets' garden wall and is hiding beneath Juliet's balcony. He wants to
determine whether her attraction is equal to his own. She soon appears and delivers her
famous soliloquy, asking "Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (2.1.75).
A.Read the soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet.
B.Class Discussion: What is the purpose of this soliloquy? What effect does it have on the
reader?
Soliloquy (continued)
S17
Practice/Activity – Examine Hamlet as a Soliloquy
Overview/summary of the play Hamlet.
-----In this soliloquy, a despondent Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide. He
bemoans the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledges the alternative might be still
worse.
A.Read the soliloquy from Hamlet
B.Discussion: What is the purpose of this soliloquy? What effect does it have on the
reader?
Robert Frost
TP-CASTT with “The Road Not Taken”
S18
Mini Lesson/Notes
 Frost was born on March 26, 1874.
 He was an American poet whose work was initially published in
England before the United States.
 He was recognized and highly regarded for his depiction of rural life in
America.
 He often used the New England setting to explore complicated
philosophical and social themes.
 He was the first poet to speak at a Presidential Inauguration.
 He received four Pulitzer Prizes.
TP-CASTT with “The Road Not Taken”
Big Poem Activity
S19
Mini Lesson/Notes
 TP-CASTT is a strategy that students can use to analyze poetry (or
other literary genres). Each letter of TP-CASTT is associated with a
task to complete that helps lead to deeper meaning and understanding
of what a poem literally and figuratively is trying to communicate.
T is for Title
S20
Mini Lesson/Notes – T = TITLE
 Titles are often a key to possible meanings of a poem. When trying to
dig into the meaning of a poem, first consider the title of a poem.
Practice/Activity: Consider the title “The Road Not Taken.”
 What might it mean? What might it be trying to communicate?
A. On the Big Poem paper, next to the title “The Road Not Taken,”
write “T=Title.”
B. Then write what you think the poem might be about based on the
title.
P is for Paraphrase
S21
Mini Lesson/Notes – P = Paraphrase
 Translate the poem into your own words. It is important to have a
literal understanding of the poem BEFORE you try to read into, or
interpret, it for deeper meaning.
Practice/Activity: Paraphrase each stanza of the poem
A. Label a column next to the poem “Paraphrase.”
B. Then, write 1 – 2 sentences next to each stanza about its LITERAL
meaning. Use your own words. Don’t interpret.
C is for Connotation
S22
MiniLesson/Notes – C = Connotation
 Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal. This time,
interpret for deeper meaning.
Practice/Activity: Examine the poem for connotation through poetic
devices
A. On the Big Poem paper, identify and label at least 3 DIFFERENT
poetic devices that you observe: imagery (metaphors, similes,
personification), symbolism, and sound devices (alliteration,
onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme).
B. At the bottom of the Big Poem paper, label a section “Connotation.”
Then, below the label, discuss how each poetic device you identified
contributes to the meaning, the effect, or both of the poem.
A is for Attitude
S23
MiniLesson/Notes – A = Attitude
 Attitude is the writer’s or speaker’s attitude(s) toward the subject or
audience.
Practice/Activity: Examine each stanza for Attitude.
A. Examine the diction (word choice) in “The Road Not Taken.”
B. Circle 3 – 4 individual words or phrases.
C. Notate on the Big Paper Poem what this diction (word choice)
suggests about the speaker’s attitude (tone).
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Attitude (Tone) Words: Examples: accusatory, cynical. Nostalgic,
gloomy, pessimistic, bitter, solemn, mocking, critical, jovial, etc.
S is for Shift
S24
MiniLesson/Notes - S = Shift

Rarely does a poet begin and end a poetic experience in the same place. The
poet’s understanding of an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is
a reflection of that epiphany. Discovery of movement is critical to
understanding a poem.
Practice/Activity: Identify shift in the poem.
A. In the margin of the Big Poem paper, note the shifts that take place in “The
Road Not Taken.”
B. At the bottom of the poem, label a section “Shift.” Then, discuss how the
shifts show the CHANGING feelings of the speaker from the beginning of “The
Road Not Taken” to the end. Pay special attention the ending/last shift.
(Shift – continued on next page)
How to Identify Shift in a Poem
S25
Note: Watch for the following to help you identify shift(s) . . .
 Key Words (but, however, although)
 Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
 Stanza Division
 Changes in line or stanza length or both
 Changes in diction (slang to formal)
 Irony
 Changes in sounds that may indicate changes in meaning
T is for Title Again
S26
MiniLesson/Notes – T = Title Again
 Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level.
Practice/Activity Consider the title AGAIN.
A. Consider the title again. Go beyond what you originally wrote about
the title.
B. On the Big Poem paper next to the title “The Road Not Taken,”
write “T=Title AGAIN” and then write what you think the poem might
NOW be about based on what you have “learned.”
T is for Theme
S27
MiniLesson/Notes – T = Theme
 Try to recognize the human experience, motivation, or condition
(theme) suggested by the poem.
Practice/Activity: Discover the theme.
A. On the back of the Big Poem paper, create three columns.
a. In column 1, write a summary of the “plot” or events of “The Road
Not Taken.”
B. In column 2, list subjects of “The Road Not Taken as words and
phrases. Move from literal subjects to more abstract subjects such as
death, war, discovery.
C. In column 3, combine the subjects where appropriate to
communicate what the author is trying to convey (the theme)
Essential Questions
S28
Final Journal/Prompt: #3: Write a three-paragraph CERS response in response to
one of the following essential questions:
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How are poems a reflection of the time period when they were written?
How are poems a reflection of the author’s own life?
A. Be sure to state that incorporates the essential question.
B. Reference any of the poems in this unit and use paraphrases or direct
quotes to support your answer. Be sure to reason out/elaborate on each piece
of evidence telling how it supports your claim.
C. Conclude your response by discussing the big message from/the
importance of the response that you wrote. What is it you want your audience
to realize from what you have written? What message do you want them to
take away from what they just read?