One week of poetry & rhyme down…4 to go!
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I am tired but energized if that makes any sense! As I think I mentioned in one of the blogs, I am a night owl, HOOooo writes at night and sleeps during the day. It’s just how my brain functions best and with 4 kids, it is the only quiet time in the house. It works pretty well with our weekly schedule but weekends are difficult. I’m hoping I will find a few minutes today to actually read some picture books and do some of the writing prompts as I’ve been too busy writing future lessons and posting the daily blog posts. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s comments and I wish I could reply to them all. Just know that I am reading every one of them and it warms my heart to hear that you are enjoying this as much as I am. I also appreciate the humor that makes me giggle. The poem with An – gee was priceless and I have read it several times…Even Helen Frost like that one!
Don’t forget the Rhyming Party tomorrow on Facebook at noon.(Central Time) We will play some silly games and only be able to comment in rhyme. It is hilarious good fun! If you want to join the RhyPiBoMo Facebook Group, please request to join several hours before the party because I won’t be able to add you immediately before the event.
Don’t forget to enter The Golden Quill Poetry Contest
Click the tab above that says “Golden Quill Poetry Contest” to enter. That is where you go to send your poem. There is no registration for this contest, just copy and paste your poem in the contact form and send it to me. There are quite a few rules as we are learning about poetry with all its rules, I didn’t want you to think I was being soft on you! I have received several poems already. Please make sure you follow ALL the directions, especially leaving your first and last name as well as a contact email address or phone number so i can contact you if you are one of the winners. Any poem that does not follow all the rules will be disqualified. AND…you may only enter one poem. Maybe next year we will have multiple categories but I needed to keep it simple this year. Good luck and may Willy S. be looking over your shoulder! For contest details: https://angiekarcher.wordpress.com/rhypibomo-golden-quill-poetry-contest/
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Today’s guest blogger mentions in her post that she is “a writer who rhymes. No claim to being a poet.” There are many of us that can completely relate to that! I’m thrilled that she is here, not to defend herself, but to share her wisdom about writing rhyme…her work speaks for itself and needs no defending whatsoever!
So, without further ado, I’m honored to present today’s
Golden Quill Guest Blogger
Denise Fleming
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Crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch…
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Growing up I chanted nursery rhymes. I listened to a lot of broadway show tunes, because my mom was active in local theatre and every now and then she would be in a musical. My sister and I would learn the lyrics and would sing along with Mom. My dad listened to jazz and the blues and we sang along to that. So my background is made up of song lyrics. Lots of near rhyme, single syllable rhyme and rhythm. I feel rhythm is a big part of a good picture book text. Picture books are theatre—are meant to be read aloud.
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When I started writing and illustrating picture books, I had only taken one workshop. A great 10 day workshop with Uri Schulevitz, Writing with Pictures, which introduced me to how to create a complete picture book. I remember him saying don’t write in rhyme, there is too much bad rhyme out there, and don’t use a lot of color because it will cancel itself out and end up being another form of B&W. Well, no worry, I hadn’t planned on writing BAD rhyme and color was my thing, so that surely didn’t apply to me. My first book was In The Tall, Tall Grass, written in rhyme, packed with color. It did exceptionally well. So I merrily went on rhyming and using lots of color.
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Then FB came along and all these blog posts were written and come to find out that I was doing BAD things like one syllable rhyme and near rhyme, and that I did not know a lot of the terms I was supposed to know. Good lord, I was setting a very bad example! Then Angie Karcher posted about RhyPiBoMo. And I signed up, because someone needed to defend me. I am a writer who rhymes. No claim to being a poet.
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Some of my books are rhyming. Others are not because they just wouldn’t work. Time To Sleep started as a rhyming text, but I had too much info to impart. I would have had to force rhyme. Instead, I used a refrain, “winter is on its way,” to tie the story together.
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In The Tall, Tall Grass is a rhyming chant. The reader is watching creatures all around going about their lives: “Crunch, munch caterpillars lunch / Dart, dip,hummingbirds sip.”
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Barnyard Banter is rollicking verse. A goose is running around chasing a butterfly. Everybody is where they should be except goose: “Cows in the pasture, moo, moo, mom, moo / Roosters in the barnyard, cock a doodle doo.” Where Once There Was A Wood is about an area of land that has been leveled for a housing development: “Where once there was a wood, a meadow and a creek / Where once the red fox rested and closed his eyes to sleep.” All three books are written in simple rhyme, but each one has a particular rhythm to evoke a particular mood.
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It is hard to explain BAD RHYME to people. For some reason people seem to think if you are going to write for children you must rhyme. NO. They also think that if you have sentences that rhyme and you string them together with no real intent or purpose that works. NO. Nonsense rhyme. NO (leave that to those who know what they are doing).
If you have a manuscript written in rhyme, look at it honestly. Drop the rhyme, write it in prose—Does it make sense? Is it clearer? Were you forcing the rhyme?
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My advice is to read a lot of poetry. There are some wonderful poets that write for children. Read collections. Get out those sticky notes and mark the poems you like. Analyze why you like those particular poets. Read adult poets. And when you read, read out loud. Read with expression. Enjoy yourself!
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Bio:
Denise Fleming is the award-winning author and illustrator of many well known children’s books including In the Tall, Tall Grass and In the Small, Small Pond, which received a Caldecott Honor and her most recent book Underground.
As a young girl, Denise used to spend hours in her father’s workshop cutting, gluing, carving and building things. Today, she spends many hours in her own workshop studio, cutting, gluing and creating her picture books. Denise’s unique papermaking technique Is a labor-intensive process that involves hauling buckets of water, mixing and dying cotton fiber pulp. She then pours pulp through hand-cut stencils to form her bold, textured Illustrations. Denise’s love of language is apparent in her writing which combines rhythm, rhyme and lots of verbs. Denise Fleming’s books get kids laughing and loving reading.
Denise is a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design in Michigan. Along with her husband and daughter, Denise lives in Ohio. Her books are a family effort as together they review words, pictures and ideas for new books. For more information about Denise Fleming and her books, visit her online at http://www.denisefleming.com.
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Thank you Denise Fleming!
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RhyPiBoMo Daily Lesson: Saturday, April 5th
By Angie Karcher © 2014
Lesson 7
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There are 3 basic genres of poetry: Lyrical, Narrative and Dramatic
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Lyrical Voice
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Lyrical Voice is the voice of the poet coming through in the written poem.
(write this down)
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A lyrical poem expresses the emotions and feelings of a poet. It is used to express a personal how the poem views the world around him/her and of personal experiences. The poet puts him or herself in the poem. Lyrical voice is the most common voice used by poets.
This is where we get the word lyrics – the words of songs – this associates poetry with music. It is derived from a musical instrument called the lyre that was used to accompany the reading of this type of poem. The lyrical poem was set to music.
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A Lyre is a small, stringed, harp-like instrument played mostly in ancient Egypt, Israel and Greece.
This can most often be identified by the use of the words I, me, my, mine, we, our, ours, and us
Interestingly, poetry has changed over the years in many ways but one noticeable difference from original poetry is that today poetry is mostly read silently. Years ago, poetry was sung or read aloud in poetry readings or plays. It was a social experience enjoyed by many writers and non-writers of the day. Of course, poetry readings are held today but are not nearly the social gatherings as they once were.
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Sadly, a written poem can be compared to the written, musical score of a song. The joy is in hearing the notes played by instruments as there is joy in hearing the words said out loud. This allows for expressiveness, dramatic accents, pacing, and much more.
I had never thought about how our culture today is missing out on this art form of poetry…the oral sharing of a poem and the music of language.
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Narrative Voice
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Narrative Voice is the poet telling the story through the written word. (write this down)
The narrative voice tells a story. These stories may be humorous, sad, nonsensical, epic, or as simple as a nursery rhyme. The narrator is the storyteller. The story may be complete fantasy or it may be true but the poet never puts him or herself in the narrative poem.
A narrative poem typically uses a simple meter, such as a couplet (2 line stanza) or a quatrain. (4 line stanza)
They usually have a simple rhyme scheme…
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A narrative poem typically uses a light meter for a humorous poem and a more structured, rigid meter for a serious poem.
Sometimes they are written in free verse.
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Free verse poetry is written without rhyme and doesn’t follow any poetic form. (write this down)
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It is full of emotion that is expressed in alliteration, consonance, internal rhyme and/or repetition. There are really no rules but some poets create their own rules.
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An example:
This is one of my all-time favorite poems so I had to post it!
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Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence
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The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
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A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that –
They’d put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.
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But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a pudding and the latter was a fake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.
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But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
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Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
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There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.
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Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
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And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.
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From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
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With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”
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“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.
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The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
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Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.
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Hey Diddle Diddle
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Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed,
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon
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Old Mother Hubbard
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/old_mother_hubbard.htm
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Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html
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Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garage Out by Shel Silverstein
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Jimmy Jet and his TV Set by Shel Silverstein
http://shelsilversteinpoems.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/jimmy-jet-and-his-tv-set/
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Dramatic Voice
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Dramatic Voice has several forms…Apostrophe, The Mask and Conversation
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Apostrophe is a dramatic voice where the poet talks to inanimate objects that cannot answer.
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Who has the better right
To smell the first summer rose,
Bee – you or I?
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For example:
O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
http://www.famousliteraryworks.com/whitman_o_captain_my_captain.htm
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The Mask is when a poet pretends to be someone else and takes on their thoughts, their words, their life…This can be another person or an object.
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For example:
Message From a Caterpillar by Lilian Moore
Don’t shake this bough.
Don’t try to wake me now.
In this cocoon I’ve work to do.
Inside this silk I’m changing things.
I’m worm-like now but in this dark I’m growing wings.
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How to write a mask poem
http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/mask.htm
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Conversation is when two different voices talk back and forth to each other.
Often conversation poems are written in a way that you have to guess who is talking.
A more recent name for this seems to be a dialogue poem.
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Sock and Shoe Speak
“Oh no!” said my sock,
“What a smell!
You need a bath, Mr. Shoe.
I can tell!”
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“I’m leather,” said Shoe.
“I don’t smell.
Your dryer sheet stinks!
I’m unwell!”
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“I need a clothespin,”
said the sock.
“It’s the only way
we will walk.”
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Shoe laughed and he smiled
“With no nose,
Sock, what will you do?
Hold your toes?”
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I tugged on my shoe
“They’re so tight!
Would you both please
stop with this fight!”
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For example:
There is a fourth genre of poetry called The Didactic form. A Didactic poem teaches a lesson or involves a moral dilemma. It is also considered instructional poetry meant to teach lessons on science, math, philosophy, etc.
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Examples of Didactic poems:
http://www.thehypertexts.com/Best%20Didactic%20Poems.htm
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Another Resource:
Poems for Kids
http://poemsforchildren.org/index.htm
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Writing Prompt: Choose a genre of poetry and write a poem that fits into the rules for that genre.
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Angie Karcher 
