MODULE 3 KINDS OF POETRY

  POETIC FORM

Mecum, Ryan. Dawn of Zombie Haiku. Cincinatti,Ohio. HOW Books. 2011.

ISBN: 978-1-4403-1286-1

Ryan Mecum’s Dawn of Zombie Haiku is the story of a zombie apocalypse as told from the view point of a ten year old girl named Dawn. As the zombie apocalypse approaches, Dawn, her father and others retreat to the Statue of Liberty where they feel they will be safe from the zombie invasion. What follows is the tale of their ruin told strictly in haiku form. First, as they fight the zombies and then from the standpoint of the undead. 
 

Appropriate for junior high students and up, readers who enjoy stories about zombies and other supernatural beings will enjoy reading about zombies eating eyeballs, brains and chewing on the bones of their victims. The figurative language in this book adds to the appeal it will have to its readers. Similes and metaphors such as “A trail of zombies float like undead lily pads” and “Liberty Island is a plate we have licked clean” assists the reader in getting a mental image of what the poet is writing about. This book will have the reader’s imagination in full gear.

A standout feature of this book is that the poet has also taken words from other famous poets and turned them into haikus. For example on page 89 of the book, Mecum writes

Right beside the sea

I ate my Annabel Lee.

Quoth the raven, “Brains.”

This haiku combines words from the two poems Annabel Lee and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Mecum also uses poems by Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare and others in this same manner.

The haikus are organized chronologically to tell the story of the apocalypse as it is happening. It does include page numbers but does not have a table of contents or any other access features. The pictures in the book are a combination of photos from istockphoto.com and small illustrations which were supplied by the Curio Press book design company. The illustrations are small, simple and look like the drawings that a young girl would make. This book follows the theme of the other books written by this poet entitled Zombie Haiku, Vampire Haiku and Werewolf Haiku.

SPOTLIGHT POEM

This book is written totally in haiku so there are many of them to choose from. Instead of one, I would share several such as the three written below.

Excerpts from Dawn of Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum

A man punches one

whose face is like a pumpkin.

A rotten pumpkin (p 29).

A trail of zombies

float like undead lily pads

out into the sea (p 58).

Liberty Island

is a plate we have licked clean

and we need more plates (p 88).

After discussing with the class about how the use of figurative language enhances writing, I would use these haikus as examples containing similes and metaphors. I would then assign the students a writing activity where they would write and illustrate their own haiku in which they would be required to include a simile or metaphor.

 

    VERSE NOVEL

Sones, Sonya. one of those hideous books where the mother dies. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers. 2004.

ISBN: 978-1-4169-0788-6

Anyone who has ever lost their mother at a young age will relate to this award-winning book about a fifteen year old girl named Ruby. Ruby’s mother has just died and she finds herself on a plane headed to California where she will live with her famous dad whom she does not know. Ruby writes about her feelings and other events that take place during this time as she is forced to leave her home and friends. Along with the usual teen-age problems, worries, grief and anger at her deceased mother, this book has all the drama one can expect from the life of a teen-ager which will have great appeal to teens.

Sonya Sones’ book is written in free verse. Teen-agers who read it will sympathize with Ruby throughout the book. Written in a journal – like form, each poem sequentially tells Ruby’s story. Sones’ use of vivid and sometimes graphic language helps the reader understand exactly what Ruby is feeling. Powerful images are conjured up by the sense imagery she uses. In American Airlines Flight 161, she writes,

“and my mother’s grave,

where she lies in a cold wooden box

under six feet of dirt,

just beginning to rot.”

This passage describing the mother’s gravesite allows the reader to actually envision what it would be like to be buried in a coffin and to feel the same melancholy that Ruby does. Everything about Sones’ writing draws the reader in and has an emotional impact. Due to some of the subjects written about in the book however, I would not recommend this book to elementary or middle school readers.

Each poem in the book contributes to the story of how Ruby handles the feelings of love, loss, grief, anger and eventually reconciliation and love once more. The first line in each poem is in bold print as if it becomes the title of the poem, however there are no titles to the poems nor are there any illustrations.

Sonya Sones seems to have an insight into teen psyche with the books she writes. Two of Sones’ other books entitled What My Mother Doesn’t Know and What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know also delve into subjects which are particularly interesting to teens.

SPOTLIGHT POEM:

To introduce the following poem from this verse novel, I would begin a discussion with students about a time in their life when they wanted one thing to happen but another thing actually did. I would then share the following from page 84 of the book.

After School – Take One

I step outside --- and there’s Ray!

Grinning behind the wheel

of his battered blue 1989 Mustang.

He waves.

I melt.

He leaps out of the car

and we run toward each other.

Then he hugs me off my feet.

And I die from joy,

right there in his arms.

After School – Take Two

I step outside----and there’s Whip.

Grinning behind the wheel

of a pale yellow1929 Packard convertible.

He waves.

I freeze.

He leaps out of the car

and runs towards me.

Then he hugs me,

right in front of everyone.

And I shrivel up and die.

(You get to guess which one actually happened.)

After the discussion and sharing of the poem, students would be expected to write about their own experience of when they wanted one thing to happen and another actually did.

 

      NEW POETRY

Graham, Joan Bransfield and Krysten Brooker. The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices. Las Vegas, NV. Amazon Children’s Publishing. 2014.

ISBN:978-1-477-84715-2

 

The Poem That Will Not End by Joan Bransfield Graham is a must have for anyone who loves poetry. Ryan O’Brien is a boy who simply cannot stop writing poetry. From the time he wakes up in the morning until he goes to bed, he is constantly writing poetry about everything he sees and experiences. Children will love the humorous spin he puts on subjects such as eating breakfast, sports, being at recess and in the bathroom to name just a few. Even those students who think they are not fans of poetry will love the creativity of the poems.
 

This book is not a poetry book which consists of the same types of poetry but in fact has fifteen different types of poetry wrapped up between the covers of its book. Some poems rhyme and others don’t, but from the couplet about French fries to the sonnet about a music conductor, this book has something for everyone. 

Couplet For French Fries

Two lines are not enough to express

How much I adore your potato-ness.

Brooker’s illustrations are as creative and imaginative as the poems. They fit the poems so well that one would be hard pressed to tell which came first, the poem or the illustration. Some of the illustrations span two pages and some span one page but no matter how big or small, the illustrations add another layer of fun to this book.

Not only will children enjoy this book but teachers will find this book to be a great resource for introducing different types of poetry. At the end of the book, we find “Ryan O’Brian’s Guide to Poetic Forms.” With definitions for each type of poem in the book and page numbers where examples of that form can be found, this book is a must for the elementary poetry teacher.

SPOTLIGHT POEM

When teaching students about the different poetic forms, I would want to cover the acrostic form because I think the students would be interested enough to give it a try. An acrostic poem is one in which you use each letter of a word as the beginning of a word or phrase.

 RECESS

by Joan Bransfield Graham

Rambunctious

Excitement

Centering around

Excessive

Silly

Stuff

After sharing this poem and explaining the acrostic form, the students and I would embark on a brainstorming activity to write other acrostic poems as a group activity. I would then have them write one on their own.