Imagery and Poetry Practice Packet
A. B. But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best-­‐laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy! -­‐Robert Burns Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-­‐ground-­‐swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. -­‐Robert Frost 1. Circle the name of the verse form of stanza A: Acrostic, Blank, Free, Rhymed, Epic, Prose 2. Circle the name of the verse form of stanza B: Acrostic, Blank, Free, Rhymed, Epic, Prose 3. Explain three differences between stanza A and stanza B: 1. 2. 3. 4. If time remains, please respond to the following prompt: What do you think the term “free verse” might mean? References: Burns, Robert (n.d.) “To A Mouse on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough”. In Burns Country. Retrieved on October 14, 2011 from: http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml Frost, Robert (2007) “Mending Wall”. In the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing. Retrieved on October 14, 2011 from: http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/frost-­‐mending.html You are an editor at Poetry Slam Magazine. You just received a message from your editor-­‐in-­‐chief that the magazine will not be publishing any more poems in rhyme verse or blank verse for the remainder of the year. However, you have two poems in front of you that you need to submit in order to fill the quota for the next issue. What are the steps you would take in order to change the following stanzas into free verse (such as “To a Poor Old Woman”)? What steps would you take? But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, _____________________________ In proving foresight may be vain: _____________________________ The best-­‐laid schemes o' mice an' men _____________________________ Gang aft agley, _____________________________ An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, _____________________________ For promis'd joy! -­‐Robert Burns Verse Form Diagram
Write the title of each of your chosen poems and examples of how each of them are different in the areas
that the circles do not overlap. Write words that describe how they are similar in the area where the circles
do overlap.
Rhymed Free Blank Guided Practice Day Two Part One:
TO A POOR OLD WOMAN
munching a plum on
the street a paper bag
of them in her hand
They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste
good to her
You can see it by
the way she gives herself
to the one half
sucked out in her hand
Comforted
a solace of ripe plums
seeming to fill the air
They taste good to her
-­‐William Carlos Williams How would you write this poem in your own words? Paraphrase To A Poor Old Woman below, using a dictionary for vocabulary and spelling. After writing the poem in your own words, what do you think the main idea is? Guided Practice Day Two Part Two: Adapted from “How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?” by Glass
Educational Consulting:
Excerpt (from Johnny Tremain):
“On rocky islands gulls woke. Time to be about their
business. Silently they floated in on the town, but when their
icy eyes sighted the first dead fish, first bits of garbage about
the ships and wharves, they began to scream and quarrel.
The roosters in Boston back yards had long before cried
the coming of the day. Now the hens were also awake,
scratching, clucking, laying eggs.
Cats in malt houses, granaries, ship holds, mansions
and hovels caught a last mouse, settled down to wash their
fur and sleep. Cats did not work by day.
In stables horses shook their halters and whinnied.
In barns cows lowed to be milked.
Boston slowly opened its eyes, stretched, and woke.
The sun struck in horizontally from the east, flashing upon
weathervanes – brass cocks and arrows, here a glass-eyed
Indian, there a copper grasshopper – and the bells in the
steeples cling-clanged, telling the people it was time to be up
and about.”
What words and phrases describe SOUNDS in this place?
What words and phrases describe what you TASTE at this place?
What words and phrases describe what you SMELL in this place?
What words and phrases describe what you can TOUCH at this place?
What words and phrases describe what you SEE in this place?
References:
Kathy Glass Educational Consulting (2006) “How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape
Their Writing?” Retrieved on October 13, 2011 from:
http://www.kathyglassconsulting.com/lessons.html