Blog #5 Poetry Power!

 Poetry Power!

Poetry is life, poetry is the use of words to describe experience artistically. Is defined by Webster's Dictionary as” writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm”. But I think in a literary sense that Bill Collons in his master class says it best when he describes literary poetry “as a type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words”(Collins, 2021).  As an art form poetry in the form of a song or written expression has been around as long as there have been people. The use of words to a meter has been a way of expressing emotion from the cavemen all the way up to the modern era. We seek to discuss and understand the world around us. As language evolves so do the connotations that we connect to our words (Ted ED & Kovacs, 2017). 

Poetry, as evolved so too, has its definition. poetry at its core is the use of words to describe feelings and thoughts and the forms of poetry are ever evolving in the Lexicon of the human word. It is important to remember that Poetry is not prose.  Prose is the ordinary language people use in speaking or writing. For while prose is like talking, poetry is like singing. You see Unlike prose which has a narrator, poetry has a speaker. While prose may have a narrator who guides you through the text. Poetry asks you to absorb the point of view of the speaker whether that is the wind flowing through the air, the flowers growing in the ground, or the moon shining down upon silent land (Brown, 2022). 

Noted Ted ED & Kovacs, 2017

Poetry Analysis

  when I'm asked the question, what does poetry mean to me? I think of a poem that I love and instead of me going on a long Soliloquy about how poetry gave me an escape when I was younger. Or telling the story of how writing poetry helped me to learn how to properly express my emotions. I'm going to instead spend a little time analyzing one of my favorite poems and I hope that in the breakdown you can understand just what a good poem can do for you as it has done for me. 

Duplex

Don't accuse me of sleeping with your man 

when I didn't know you had a man.

 Back when I didn't know you had a man,

 The moon glowed above the city's blackout.

 I walked home by moonlight through the blackout.

 I was too young to be reasonable.

 He was so young, so unreasonable,

 He dipped weed in embalming fluid.

 He'd dip our weed in embalming fluid.

 We’d make love on trains and in dressing rooms.

 Love in the subway, love in Mall bathrooms.

 A bore at home, he transformed in the city.

 What's yours at home is a wolf in my city.

 You can’t accuse me of sleeping with a man. 

(Brown, 2019, p. 68)

“This duplex tells a true story of lust and love. When broken apart, every odd stanza tells you of a man accused of sleeping with someone else's “Man” [boyfrind/lover]. When the lover is with the accused, he is young, wild, and free! He is loved for his passion. He walks the city as a wolf, a man-eating carnivore. Their love is the subtle dance of the downlow surrounded and shrouded in weed smoke and the thrill of public sex. Ending with a sharp denial of what could have only been young love. 

While, when you read only the even stanzas, you feel the sadness and exasperation of an older, more experienced lover. Everything that the young lover finds exciting this older lover finds foolish and exhausting. All the things they found attractive are now repulsive. As they grew older into their relationship, they needed stability and not this man who is genuinely just a boy.”(Brown, 2021). 

Noted Stewart, 2020

Poetry is exciting because how it breaks the rules of writing while also sharing many different forms. The most common of which are:

Couplet  a poem, or stanza in a poem, written in two lines. Usually rhymes.	Acrostic the first letter of each line, read down the page, spells the subject of the poem.
Haiku A haiku is a Japanese poem with 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.  (Total of 17 syllables.) Does not rhyme.  Is about an aspect of nature or the seasons.	Shape Poem A concrete poem (also called a shape poem) is written in the shape of its subject. The way the words are arranged is as important as what they mean.
Free Verse A free verse poem does not use rhyme or patterns.  Can vary freely in the length of lines, stanzas, and subject.	Limerick A limerick is a funny poem of 5 lines.   Lines 1, 2 & 5 rhyme.  Lines 3 & 4 are shorter and rhyme. Line 5 refers to line 1. Limericks are a kind of nonsense poem.

Noted Brown, 2022

Noted Ted ED & Silverstein, 2016

Poetry Month Programming!

(The Academy of American Poets & L., 2022)

My top four major ideas in Poetry Programming!

1. Children's poetry book club!
1.  Starting with the Land of Nod, we could do a six-week child-centered poetry reading to inspire children to read more books not written in the standard form.
2. Midsummer open mics!
1.  Introduce The young adults to the wonder that is the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare! First, you have them watch the play “A midsummer's dream” and then see if you can drum up support to put on a small production. If that can't be done then simply stage from line readings so they can get into the mindset and wonder of poetry.
3. Poetry workshops
1. Go about setting up a poetry boot camp! Where students learn the different elements of poetry and all of the figurative language that goes into writing their own. Using this time you can have them decorate the library in conjunction with the Poetry month theme with their own works of art.
4. Invite local poets/ connect with local schools!
1. Working in conjunction with the local schools see about meeting up with high school English classes to do a poetry slam. Work with the teachers to provide a space for the students could invite their friends and family and recite their very own poetry. Even invite local poets to share some of their work for exposure as well as to serve as judges!

Learning about Plants

Nonfiction Stories

1. CARROTS WITH CHARACTER by Erin K. Peabody

2. WHAT'S THE BUZZ ABOUT BEES? by Jacqueline Pratt-Tuke

3. ADHESIVE FROM TREES COULD MAKE TAPE MORE ECO-FRIENDLY by Tyler Berrigan 

4. Decoding the secrets of plants’ stunning leaf patterns By Smithsonian.com, adapted by Newsela staff

5. What are meat-eating plants? By National Geographic Society, adapted by Newsela staff

Children's Stories

Fantasy/Science Fiction

1. HER HANDS THAT HELD THE STARS by Rebecca Birch

2. TAMITHA AND THE DRAGON by Elizabeth C. Desimone

3. THE ORB by Rebecca Birch

4. THE DRAGON'S SCALES by Pamela Love

5. CAREER DAY AT PIXIE ACADEMY by Bradford H. Robie

6. THE CHILD WITH YOUR NAME Debbie Urbanski

References

Brown, M. B. (2021, December). Longform report. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nmwt_vzP7Anq-GBD8tsrqShrDSB6qea909ee_NfTNFE/edit?usp=sharing

Brown, M. B. (2022, May 24). Understanding Poetry [Slides]. Google Slides. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VSaXj-ZuEoXsgDXWRzXBCDRTMFi5xVZEGRjdJKR5E3w/edit?usp=sharing

Collins, B. C. (2021, August 6). Poetry 101: Learn About Poetry, Different Types of Poems, and Poetic Devices With Examples. MasterClass. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-learn-about-poetry-different-types-of-poems-and-poetic-devices-with-examples

Nemerov, H. N. (2021, August 18). poetry - Poetry and prose. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/art/poetry/Poetry-and-prose

poetry. (n.d.). The Merriam-Webster.Com Dictionary. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetry

Poets.org - Academy of American Poets. (n.d.). Tips for Librarians. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://poets.org/text/tips-librarians

Stewart, E. S. (2020, January 14). Ebony Stewart - “Mental health Barz” @WANPOETRY. YouTube. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIGWWPwJlNY&t=8s

Ted ED, & Kovacs, M. K. (2017, March 20). What makes a poem . . . a poem? - Melissa Kovacs. YouTube. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwhouCNq-Fc

Ted ED, & Silverstein, D. S. (2016, June 2). The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein. YouTube. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URuMb15CWJs

The Academy of American Poets, & L., L. L. (2022, April 15). National Poetry Month poster [Poster]. Https://Poets.Org/. https://api.poets.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/2022%20NATIONAL%20POETRY%20MONTH%20POSTER.pdf