English I ECHS C. Edge

Thematic Unit: LovePoetry“Daily” by Naomi Shihab NyeHaiku poetry by Chora, Chiyo, Basho, and Issa“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke“Combing” by Gladys Cardiff“Harlem” by Langston Hughes English I ECHS C. Edge

Reading Skills and Strategies: Poetry • Look for punctuation in the poem telling you where sentences begin and end. • Do not make a full stop at the end of a line if there is no period, comma, colon, semicolon, or dash there. • If a passage of a poem is difficult to understand, look for the subject, verb, and complement of each sentence.

“Daily” Naomi Shihab Nye Quickwrite, p. 494

“Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye • Catalog poem – • The repetition of items in the list creates a rolling rhythm when the poem is read aloud.

Poetry Analysis of the Poem • What is the poem about? • Number of Stanzas? • Number of Lines per Stanza? • Speaker? • Rhyme Scheme? • Examples of repetition? • Examples of imagery? • Examples of symbolism?

Daily Naomi Shihab NyeThese shriveled seeds we plant,corn kernel, dried bean,poke into loosened soil,cover over with measured fingertipsThese T-shirts we foldinto perfect whitesquaresThese tortillas we slice and fry to crisp stripsThis rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowlThis bed whose covers I straightensmoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanketand nothing hangs outThis envelope I addressso the name balances like a cloudin the center of the skyThis page I type and retypeThis table I dust till the scarred wood shinesThis bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash againlike flags we share, a country so closeno one needs to name itThe days are nouns: touch themThe hands are churches that worship the world Identify the repetitive images and language in ll. 16-18. How does this catalog of images affect the poem’s rhythm?

Daily Naomi Shihab NyeThese shriveled seeds we plant,corn kernel, dried bean,poke into loosened soil,cover over with measured fingertipsThese T-shirts we foldinto perfect whitesquaresThese tortillas we slice and fry to crisp stripsThis rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowlThis bed whose covers I straightensmoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanketand nothing hangs outThis envelope I addressso the name balances like a cloudin the center of the skyThis page I type and retypeThis table I dust till the scarred wood shinesThis bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash againlike flags we share, a country so closeno one needs to name itThe days are nouns: touch themThe hands are churches that worship the world What might the metaphor in l. 21 mean?

Daily Naomi Shihab NyeThese shriveled seeds we plant,corn kernel, dried bean,poke into loosened soil,cover over with measured fingertipsThese T-shirts we foldinto perfect whitesquaresThese tortillas we slice and fry to crisp stripsThis rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowlThis bed whose covers I straightensmoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanketand nothing hangs outThis envelope I addressso the name balances like a cloudin the center of the skyThis page I type and retypeThis table I dust till the scarred wood shinesThis bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash againlike flags we share, a country so closeno one needs to name itThe days are nouns: touch themThe hands are churches that worship the world What might the metaphor in l. 22 mean?

The images in this poem come from the speaker’s everyday life. • She reveals her wonderment by giving each image a special role in her day and poem. Some of the simple things are compared to awe-inspiring concepts.

“Daily” by Naomi Shihab Nye • Write a catalog poem or paragraph that lists images of things in your daily life that are miracles or make you happy to be alive.

Take notes on important elements of Diego Rivera's The Grinder: subject, colors, shapes, the feelings it evokes, the story you see in it.

Question #1, p. 498 • When you think of images in the world that give you joy or that fill you with wonder, do you look at ordinary things, as Nye does? Talk over your responses to the poet’s source of wonder and joy.

Question #2, p. 498 • What do Nye’s particular images tell you about her life and where she lives? • Images of planting corn and beans and frying tortillas suggest that Nye lives in the American southwest; images of housework suggest that she has a home and a family to care for; images of typing suggest that she writes.

Haiku PoetryMiura ChoraChiyoMatsuo BashoKobayashi Issa Quickwrite, p. 499

Haiku poetry • Japanese poetry form • 17 syllables • Line one = 5 syllables • Line two = 7 syllables • Line three = 5 syllables • Presents images of everyday life • Usually contains a seasonal word or symbol (kigo) • Presents a single moment of discovery or enlightenment (satori)

Haiku 1 Miura Chora Get out of my road and allow me to plant these bamboos, Mr. Toad. What does this haiku reveal about the speaker’s view of living creatures?

Haiku 2 Chiyo A morning glory Twined round the bucket: I will ask my neighbor for water. In haiku, comparisons are suggested, but not stated directly. What comparison is suggested in this haiku? Why does the speaker need to get water from the neighbor?

Haiku 3 Matsuo Basho The old pond; A frog jumps in: Sound of water. What might the speaker be doing? Traditional haiku contain kigo, or words associated with a season. The Japanese would know, for example, that snow indicates winter and evening showers mean that it is summer. Here, the word frog suggests spring.

Haiku 4 Kobayashi Issa A dragonfly!The distant hillsReflected in his eyes. Punctuation in a haiku—colons, dashes, or exclamation marks—indicate a shift in subject or mood. Ask students to practice reading the haiku aloud, capturing the change in the speaker’s mood after his surprise at seeing the dragonfly.

Question #1, p. 507 “Haiku” and “Fog” • All of these poems contain images of moments and miracles in nature. What image in the haiku, in “Fog,” and in “in Just-” did you find most striking, original, or powerful?

Question #2, p. 507 “Haiku” • One of the characteristics of a haiku is that it presents a moment of discovery or revelation. In your own words, describe the moment frozen in each of the haiku in this group of poems.

Question #3, p. 507 “Haiku” • In Chiyo’s haiku, the plant is a “morning glory.” How could these words also describe what the poet experienced at her morning encounter?

Question #7, p. 507 “Haiku” • Inside each of the haiku there is a person. Put yourself in each person’s shoes, one by one. Consider: • In the first haiku, do you wait for the toad to move, or do you poke it? • In the second haiku, do you ever use that bucket again? • In the third haiku, what do you think you were doing the minute before the frog jumped in? • In the fourth haiku, how long are you able to see the hills?

“My Papa’s Waltz”By Theodore Roethke Quickwrite, p. 561

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore RoethkeElements of Literature—rhyme • Rhyme – the repetition of accented vowel sounds, and all sounds following them, in words that are close together • Approximate rhyme – rhymes that do not rhyme exactly, but appear to • Rhyme scheme – the pattern of rhyme in a poem

My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.5 We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother’s countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist10 Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt,15 Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt. Listen for the waltzing rhythm created by the words in this poem. The/ whis/key/ on/ your/ breath da DA da DA da DA Could/ make/ a/ small/ boy/ diz/zy da DA da DA da DA da Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem.

What kind of work does the father do? What evidence is there in the story? • He works with his hands doing manual labor.

p. 563, Question 1 • How do you think the speaker feels about his father and the rough waltz?

p. 563, Question 2 • How does the mother feel about the waltz? How would you explain her reaction?

p. 563, Question 3 • How would you interpret line 3, “But I hung on like death”?

p. 563, Question 4 • Death is a word that usually has connotations of loss and sadness. Which other words and images in the poem have negative connotations? Which have positive connotations? You could prepare your response by making a chart like the one below.

p. 563, Question 5 • How would you express the poem’s message, or theme? (Hint: Does the poem say anything about love?)

p. 563, Question 6 • The title promises music, and Roethke delivers a three-beat waltz rhythm and a regular rhyme scheme. Scan the poem to show its meter. What is the rhyme scheme? Read the poem aloud. Do you think it sounds happy or sad?

“Combing”By Gladys Cardiff Quickwrite, p. 566

“Combing” by Gladys Cardiff • Repetition – • Alliteration – • Assonance –

Bending, I bow my headAnd lay my hand uponHer hair, combing, and thinkHow women do this forEach other. My daughter’s hairCurls against the comb, Wet and fragrant—orangeParings. Her face, downcast, Is quiet for one so young.I take her place. Beneath My mother’s hands I feelThe braids drawn up tight As a piano wire and singing, Vinegar-rinsed. SittingBefore the oven I hear The orange coils tick The early hour before school.She combed her grandmother Mathilda’s hair usingA comb made out of bone. Mathilda rocked her oak-wood Chair, her face downcast, Intent on tearing rags In strips to braid a cottonRug from bits of orange And brown. A simple act,Preparing hair. Something Women do for each other, Plaiting the generations.

Repetition • Find examples of alliteration in this poem: • Find examples of assonance in this poem:

Plaiting or braiding is the act of tying strands of hair together into one bigger strand. The bigger strand is obviously stronger than the individual hairs are. What do you think this symbolizes in this poem? • What other activity in the poem could be seen in a similar way?

Question 1, p. 568 • What gifts are giving in “Combing”?

Question 4, p. 568 • What do you think the poet means in “Combing” when she refers in the last line to women “plaiting the generations”?

Question 5, p. 568 • What other things do family members do that tie or braid generations? What other gifts do parents give children?

Scansion – • Rhythm – • Meter – • Feet – • Common types of feet: • iamb – • Trochee – • Anapest – • Dactyl – • Spondee –

“Harlem”by Langston Hughes Quickwrite, p. 590

Tone – • Figure of speech – • Simile – • Metaphor –

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— 5 And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags10 like a heavy load.Or does it explode?

What does Hughes compare a dream to? • How would you describe his tone?

English I ECHS C. Edge