Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Today, I introduced the poetry unit. This involved giving you a list of terminology as well as instructions on how to read poetry (I have put the booklet in your portfolio if you were absent). Your homework is to define the following terms on the back of the terms booklet (or on a sheet of paper if you weren't here) and come up with one example for each:
personification
paradox
metaphor
imagery
simile
onomatopoeia
In addition, I gave you notes on how to read poetry (see below):
How to Read Poetry
1. Look at the title. Interpret what you THINK it means and write this down in one or two words on the page
2. Count the stanzas and write this number down at the bottom
3. Count the lines in each stanza and write this down at the bottom in brackets.
4. Do an end rhyme scheme for each stanza starting with “a”).
5. Read the poem through highlighting punctuation to aid in reading (I use yellow).
6. Highlight unfamiliar words and define them on the page in your own words.
7. Read the poem again and highlight literary devices used (I use green).
8. Write down the device used on the side – also, if plausible, identify what it means
(ie: allusion… to the bible)
9. Read again and paraphrase the stanzas or thoughts.
10. Determine who the speaker is
11. Summarize the poem on the back
12. Summarize the theme at the bottom(what is the message the author is trying to get across?)
You then had to analyze the poem "Nothing is Like Nothing Else" (see below):

NOTHING IS LIKE NOTHING ELSE

When I was young and knew no better
I was always wanting to compare this to that:
Hearts might be cold as ice cream cones;
Water shone like flashlights;
5 Autumn leaves were mustard
On the sky's blue china plate.

But now I know different.
Now I know that nothing is like nothing else.
A white plate is a white plate, smooth, glossy;
10 Snow is another whiteness: not powdery,
Not like wool or silk or feathers,
But like itself, cold, dense, soft,
And yet sometimes hard, sometimes pointed,
Reflecting the sky, which is not like blue nylon,
15 But has its own special colour, texture, absence of texture.
And there are so many objects,
So many whites, blues, transparencies,
That the eye and the mind must be careful,
Must work very hard not to be confused by them.

20 And when I get beyond objects
(Seashells, mirrors, bottles of ginger ale,
Daisy petals, and all the rest)
And try to consider minds and motives
And poetry and politics
25 And work and friendship-
Then language is difficult indeed,
Since minds are never alike
And never like snow.