Day 25 ~ How to Write an “Acrostic Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth ”

Most people have heard about and even written an “acrostic” poem. It’s a rather simple pattern and can be quite fun to do. You can choose any word to be your base – a word or name that you write down the left hand side of your paper, one letter under another. 

And there are so many “National Days” today you just might want to use one of them as a prompt – or not – up to you (of course).

But here are some ideas to get you thinking: Because today, April 25, 2017 is:

DNA Day
Hairstylists Appreciation Day
Hug A Plumber Day
International Marconi Day
National Mani-pedi Day
Red Hat Society Day
World Penguin Day

SO, it only takes a few steps to get started –

1. Choose a name or the object of your poem.
2. Write that name or that word down the left hand side of your paper vertically, generally using all capital letters.
3. Start each sentence of your poem with the capital letter on that line.
4. No need to worry about rhyming or counting syllables or anything.
5. Each line can be whatever length you choose, from one word to a longer sentence.

Examples: 

One word/line acrostic for the name “Susan” (Yes, I know this is a lame example, but it’s just an example. I know you can do better):

Super
Unique
Sweet
Adorable
Nice

Or, use the first letter as the beginning of a sentence instead of a single word.

I shared the following last year, but I really can’t let this poetry form pass without sharing this delightful experience I had while teaching English in China once again. 

I had a 14 year old student named “Fiona.” I explained how to write an acrostic poem and suggested to the students that they choose a favorite animal for their poem. I gave additional details and then they got busy.

Soon they were showing me their poems. They did a wonderful job. Then Fiona turned in her poem:

Snow is falling down.
No one wants to stay outside.
A little girl stands at my front door.
Knocks it with a little cry.
Early afternoon, she falls asleep in my room.

I read it and told it that it was a lovely poem but it had nothing to do with a snake. She replied, “But I wrote ‘snake’ down the left hand side.”

So I explained that the poem also needed to be ABOUT a snake if that was the word she chose. So she said, “Okay,” took the paper back, added a few words and turned it back in…

Here is what she added to that last line of “Early afternoon, she falls asleep in my room … and then she turned into a snake.”

I loved it!! Love her!! I laughed so hard. It is a cherished memory. And now, you can enjoy it too. Cheers!!

Whatcha’ got?

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

Day 23 – How to Write a" Sonnet" for “30 Poems in 30 Days” for #NationalPoetryMonth

Today, April 23, 2017 is “Talk Like Shakespeare Day” so it seemed appropriate that we should try our hand at writing sonnets ~ right? OK, then ~ here are some things to consider:

There are 154 surviving sonnets by William Shakespeare. He probably wrote more than that. If you want to make your sonnet (or anything else you write or say TODAY) sound like Shakespeare, here are a couple of links to help you out: 

Talk Like Shakespeare 

Shakespeare’s Insult Generator ~ well, this is NOT for a sonnet - how romantic would insults be? THIS link is just to have fun today for "Talk Like Shakespeare Day." Cheerio!! 

DETAILS about SONNETS to consider ~

“Shakespearean” or “English” sonnets are 14 lines long and divided into three stanzas of four lines and one stanza of two lines. Shakespeare was well-known for his sonnets. There is also the “Italian Petrarchan” sonnet form which has two parts: a rhyming octave (abbaabba) and a rhyming sestet (cdcdcd). However, for now, let’s just work on the “Shakespearean” sonnet.

Please note that there IS a PARTICULAR RHYME SCHEME:

We will use this traditional rhyme scheme:

1) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG   

Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, with five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables in one line.

The English sonnet has four sections. Each of the first three sections has four lines following the rhyming pattern "ABAB CDCD EFEF." The last section has two lines that follow the "GG" rhyming pattern. 

Personally, I have never attempted writing a sonnet so I will be joining you today in trying to create one.

Here is a well-known sonnet of Shakespeare’s that you can use as a guide.

Happy rhyming!!

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

By William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
     So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
     So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much! 

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.

 

Day 3 ~ How to Write a “Synonym or Antonym Poem” for “30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

So, today I’m trying a poetry form that is also completely new to me. I had not previously written one of these, but it incorporates a couplet, is only three lines long (and the first line is ONLY a one word title) and it seemed intriguing. I must admit it turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated. But don’t be discouraged. This “30 poems in 30 days” challenge is meant to be fun. So, give it a try and if you find it really isn’t for you, then write any style poem for today ~ but at least, look it over. Despite being harder than I expected, I actually am quite pleased with the results. So, here ya’ go:

Synonym and/or Antonym Poetry:

"Synonyms" ~ resource for synonyms and/or antonyms (depending on which little dot you click up by the search button)

Well, since we did couplets yesterday, let’s expand on that form just a bit and then we’ll move on to something different tomorrow. So, “Synonym” and/or “Antonym” poems are quite short, only three lines and they include a couplet, which was yesterday’s poem so the endings in both lines of a couplet need to rhyme. I guess I should have helped you out yesterday with a couple of online rhyming resources.  

Here you go. They are pretty nifty!! Enjoy!

"Rhyme Zone" ~ plug in a word, hit search and it kicks out a list of rhyming words (this one is the easiest to you, I think, because the other one gives you thousands of choices and that  that’s too long to sort through and can be overwhelming. So, whichever you like…

"Rhymer" ~ pretty cool – even has six options on how to rhyme: end rhymes (rhyme ending words), last syllable rhymes, double rhymes (like walking/talking), triple rhymes (have the same vowel sounds in the third-to-last syllable and all following sounds (explanation, destination, imagination), beginning rhymes (scenery/cedar) and first syllable rhymes (carrot/caring).

OK, so for today we need a title (which you type across in all CAPITAL LETTERS) and underneath you will write a couplet but with these specifications:

Choose any word.  Write that word in capital letters on the first line.  In a thesaurus or at "SYNONYMS" ~ resource for synonyms AND antonyms ~ you can look up some synonyms (or antonyms, if you wish) to that word. Choose around 3-5 synonyms OR antonyms and list them below your one word title. THEN, on the third line, come up with a descriptive phrase about the word. And yep, the ending words of both lines need to rhyme.

Here are a couple of examples I came up with:

IMMIGRANT

Pioneer, settler, foreigner, outsider, newcomer

Welcome, I, too, walk to the beat of a different drummer.

© 2017 Stephanie Abney

GROWTH

Emergence, evolving, increment,development.

Without life’s obstacles there is little improvement.

    © 2017 Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.