Wednesday, October 7, 2015

1. Discuss types of poetry and, in particular, ones that will be addressed in this unit.
2. The three major types we will study are:
     a. lyric,
     b. narrative, and
     c. descriptive.
3. Just about all poems fall in one of the categories above or a combination of them. There are many sub-genres, and it will be impossible to cover them all. So, we will limit our study to just a few.
4. Your exploration into writing will concentrate on some short, different types, such as:
     a. couplets,
     b. haiku,
     c. limericks, and
     d. epitaphs.
5. We will have competitions on the poetry writing.
6. Discuss couplets.

COUPLETS

A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. Couplets usually have two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there is a grammatical pause at the end of a line or verse. In a run-on couplet, the meaning of the first line continues to the second.

Examples:

True wit is nature to advantage dress'd;

What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd.

— Alexander Pope

Whether or not we find what we are seeking

Is idle, biologically speaking.

— Edna St. Vincent Millay (at the end of a sonnet)

7. Write three couplets.