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Showing posts with label figurative language. Show all posts

2019 Post #27 -- Still Life

by Allison Marchetti

One of the greatest lessons we can give our young writers is to pay attention. Nature walks, writer’s notebooks, guided imagery--all of these are wonderful tools for sharpening the writer’s focus. Another tool is the still life in words.

Jim Daniel’s poem “Work Boots: Still Life” describes a pair of work boots drying in the sun. Like an artist painting the tiny details of a thing, each line reveals the hidden layers and larger-than-lifeness of an ordinary pair of boots. The poem builds to reveal much about its wearer, to whom the boots offer the “promise of safety | the promise of steel.”

Daniels’ poems make holy ordinary moments. They are snapshots of everyday life--brushing your teeth at the sink with your sister, a pair of workboots left to dry in the sun, reading in bed with your littles close--written in beautiful, simple language, and they reveal a hidden beauty that is there simply if you pay attention.

Lead your students in an exercise that will help them pay attention to something ordinary and paint a still life in words:

Choose an inanimate object in your bedroom or home that has some significance behind it: that pair of shoes you always reach for, the old hoodie, the stuffed animal you can’t bear to pack away.

Make a two column chart in your notebook. In the left-hand column, describe what you see in plain language. Like a painter, look closely, making your way around the entire object, seeing it from multiple angles. What’s there that you’ve haven’t noticed before, even though you’ve likely looked at it thousands of times? A tiny rip at the seem, some dried chocolate smeared by little hands?

In the right column, make a list of “deeper meanings”: think about what this object means to you, where you’ve used it, or worn it, memories associated with it, etc.

Use Jim Daniels’ poem to think about how you might pair each description with a deeper meaning. Play around with interesting and unexpected similes and metaphors that breathe life and story into this inanimate object.

Consider borrowing Daniels’ syntax in the last three lines: A ____________ reveals a ________, a __________, the ______________ to tie it all together.

Offer the option of bringing in a picture of the object and pairing it with the typed poem for a beautiful still life gallery walk in your classroom.

Further Reading

Allison Marchetti is co-author with Rebekah O’Dell of WRITING WITH MENTORS and BEYOND LITERARY ANALYSIS (Heineman). She is the co-founder of Moving Writers, a blog for secondary writing teachers. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.

2019 Post #26 -- Reading a Poem on Multiple Levels

by John Waite

I enjoy sharing the poem "white dove—found outside Don Teriyaki’s" by Juan Felipe Herrara with my students. It is the fifth of five of Herrera's poems published here by The Boston Review.

While this poem is very readable in terms of language and the basic story line, it offers several challenges for readers that make it an ideal text for students. It can be taken literally, about a man keeping a bird in a cage, or it could be read as symbolic of a parent-child relationship, which could be of interest to students. The form is also interesting. With its lack of punctuation and irregular line breaks it offers a chance to talk about the specific poetic techniques of form.

As a class, we look at this poem with an eye on analysis, theme, and writing craft.

Analytical Questions

1. How does the lack of punctuation affect the way you read the poem? Why might the author choose to do this?

2. Why do you think the author chooses to specify the gender of the birds?

3. Why do you think the author chooses such irregular line breaks? Is there any sort of pattern to them that you can detect?

Thematic Questions

1. How would you characterize the author’s relationship with the white dove?

2. Is the white dove better off with the speaker or in the wild?

3. How might this relationship mirror that of a parent and child?

Writing Prompts

1. Is it better to be safe or free? Why?

2. Pretend you are the white dove. What would you say to the speaker of the poem?

Further Reading:

John Waite is a teacher at Downers Grove North High School in Downers Grove, Il. He is a licensed Reading Specialist and National Board Certified Teacher. He also creates Trojan Poetry, a web series in which he and a colleague (Mike Melie) attempt to discuss poems on a weekly basis. Find it on YouTube and Twitter. Reach John at jwaite@csd99.org.

2019 Post #4 -- An Ode to Food

by Joel Garza

I’m something of a romantic--that is, when it comes to poetry. I am drawn most quickly, most deeply to those poems that seem to be a recollection of a spontaneous and powerful experience, an overflow of emotions recorded artfully for a reader to taste. A poem, in these cases, happens to the poet and happens to the reader.

Here’s such a poem: “Ode to Cheese Fries” by José Olivarez. I think it’s an accessible and relatable and beautiful poem on its own. But if you’re interested in a full intellectual meal inspired by Olivarez’s poem, follow these steps.

Appetizer:

Ask your readers & writers to think carefully about one of their favorite things to eat. Start with the senses that surround and complement taste: What does it look like? What does it sound & smell like? How does its texture heighten its flavor? It’s okay to respond in single words--full sentences might come later, or they might not.

Now ask your readers & writers to look at what surrounds that food--take a look at yourself enjoying the food as if you’re above the action of you eating it. What setting do you associate this food with? (Your grandmother’s house, a local baseball stadium, a food court in a mall) Who is seated near you as you eat this delectable thing? What languages or decor or music provides the best foundation for your tastebuds? Finally, what’s the aftereffect / afterglow like that compels you to remember & return to this food?

First course:

It’s time to read the Olivarez poem. Ask your readers & writers to listen carefully while you read. Ask them to underline their favorite single feature of the poem--a word, a line, a turn of phrase, whatever. Read it out loud a second time, and have them say the underlined thing out loud with you. It’s really fun to see which lines pop for most readers, which images excite only certain folk.

Main course:

Now it’s time for them to write their own ode. Congratulate them on all of the ingredients they’ve compiled in their prewriting: their reflections about senses and setting of their favorite food (the appetizer), their secret ingredient that excited them most about the first course (the Olivarez poem). The main course is their own dish cooked up their own way. ¡Buen provecho!

2018 Poem #22 -- Poetry Imitations

by Oona Marie Abrams

Poem imitations are gateway writing experiences, in which student poets borrow the bones of a poem’s structure, but put on flesh of their own. First, I like to share an imitation, drawn from a poem that we have already studied. In this, I embed links to the original texts and credit the original poets. “My Brother’s Nails” is an imitation of Stanley Plumly’s “My Mother’s Feet.” By this point in the year, my students know I have a younger brother on the autism spectrum, but I share with them that poetry is my genre of choice when writing about him. Depending on the class, I might not use that imitation, but I have others! Imitating “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde planted me firmly back in my days as a heartbroken college student. And imitating “The Writer” by Richard Wilbur captured a precious snapshot of my own child. Find time to share one imitation of your own prior to introducing this activity to the students. If you feel vulnerable doing so, good! Now you know how your students feel every time they share their writing with you.

Natasha Trethewey’s poem “History Lesson” is ideal, since it provides both accessibility and challenge. Students can draft an imitation of one or more stanzas of the poem in ten minutes. Here is an example of one imitation from a student, adhering strictly to Trethewey’s original form. Another example is written by a student over a longer period of time. He used the poem more as “training wheels,” which then launched him on a longer poem. It’s worth mentioning that the two student poets above are both introverted. All the more reason why they should be given opportunities to discover (and quietly celebrate!) their own unique writing voices.

Further Reading:

Oona Marie Abrams (@oonziela) is one of the co-organizers of NerdCampNJ. She lives and teaches in northern New Jersey.

2018 Poem #16 -- Powers of Observation

by Molly Rickert

Part of what make's Ada Limon's poem "The Conditional" exceptional is its use of figurative language, and I would like my students to become more comfortable with figurative language as a writing skill.

When we discuss the beauty and unique style of writing with figurative language, I have students write observation poems. The first goal is to make literal observations three times in a row: 1. Look up and write 2. Look around and write. 3. Look down and write.

Below is an example of the first stanza of a literal observation poem based on 1) the details of the ceiling tiles 2) what was nearby on a desk and 3) what was on the floor.

Students can repeat this process up to 3 times if they’d like (look up, look around, look down).

Then, I have students go through the same process, but this time, making only figurative observations. Below is an example of the first stanza of a figurative observation poem based on the same observations above 1) the details of the ceiling tiles 2) what was nearby on a desk and 3) what was on the floor.

For as many literal observations as the students made, I have them make the same amount of figurative observations.

After students draft their literal and figurative observations poems, we focus on students’ figurative observations, taking note of the unique comparisons, imaginative descriptions, and humorous interpretations. This often leads to a discussion of the power of figurative language and the freedom and creativity that can be used to enhance a point. We compare the literal observation poem with the figurative observation poem and discuss impact figurative language can have in writing.

Further Reading:

Molly Rickert is a seventh grade English teacher at Holicong Middle School. This idea was inspired by a class she took through the West Chester Writing Institute (PAWLP). Follow her on Twitter (@itsklinemk).

2018 Poem #15 -- Personfication In Song

by Rita Kenefic

Many students have difficulty identifying the various figures of speech. The lyrics to the song, "April, Come She Will" by Simon and Garfunkel are a wonderful example of personification and can serve as a great way to reinforce this particular figure of speech. Additionally, I’ve found that students often don’t realize that song lyrics are actually poems. Once they understand this, it is likely to pique their interest in poetry.

First, copy the lyrics to "April, Come She Will" and distribute to students. Let students follow the lyrics, as you play the song.

Discuss how the lyrics personify the various months. Solicit students’ opinions of the effect the use of personification has on the poem.

Next, either suggest or have students brainstorm other categories that lend themselves to this kind of personification. Some examples are: days of the week, holidays, seasons, decades of our life, etc.

Working either individually or in pairs, have students pick a topic and write examples of personification in their writer's notebooks, using the song lyrics as a mentor text.

To follow up, you might encourage students to work on and complete their poems during independent writing time and share completed poems in some manner. Or you might choose to invite students to look at song lyrics as poems by identifying and sharing a song lyric that speaks to them.

2018 Poem #13 -- Wait, Rappers Are Poets?

by Zachary Sibel

This year I wanted to try something new when it came to teaching poetry, so I made a strange connection. I thought about what I like to eat when I go out. I realized that most the time my favorite items to order are appetizers; they are smaller portions, you get a variety of choices, and when you put the right combination together, you are rewarded with an experience that is filling.

I decided to present poetry from various classes and movements to my students in the same way. I used three to five poems from the Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary eras of poetry. I found that my students were more engaged when they got to read through and pick the one that stood out to them, rather than sit down and talk about them all.

One poem that really topped them all when it came to student engagement was Tupac’s "A Rose That Grew From Concrete." I present this poem with no context of who Tupac was (or still is, that is up for debate) and just focus on language and the use of metaphor. After reading the poem aloud twice, I ask students to dig into the imagery and symbolism of this poem. The beauty of this poem is it impacts students of all backgrounds and upbringings.

This year I had a number of students connect with it, one of whom discussed the idea that, “the only person who needs to believe in you is you, " a rather sophisticated reflection for a middle school student to have. I let the students carry the discussion, and when I see it fit, I end with providing a little background as to who Tupac was, the idea of West Coast rap, and how language can be used to examine various social issues.

Additional fun: I focus a lot on the questions, “Is all music poetry? Is all poetry musical?" With Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for literature, the question begs to be answered or at least discussed. After showing students "A Rose That Grew From Concrete," we play a little Kahoot game that requires students to read a line of verse/lyric and determine if it is poetry or hip-hop. Students find themselves recognizing some of the lyrics but not all. They realize that the distinction between hip-hop and poetry is more complex than we may originally think.

Further Reading:

Zachary Sibel is a hip-hop fan and an eighth-grade English teacher at Tohickon Middle School in Bucks County, PA.

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