I M a Wizard of Poetry

I’m a Wizard of Poetry How to Eat a Poem

How To Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam Don't be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth. For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away. Alliteration

Poets want their work to sound interesting. Once way they do this is by using alliteration (a-lit-ter-a-shun).

Alliteration is when authors repeat the first sound of a work in a piece of writing. The same beginning sounds create an almost musical effect for the audience.

For example:

“ We're off the see the wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!”

“You billowing bale of bovine fodder!” Write sentences using alliteration:

For example:

Dorothy didn’t want to drag Toto down the dreary path.

3. Underline the examples of alliteration. Write the letter of the repeated sound next to each line. A few have been done for you.

SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT WOULD NOT TAKE THE GARBAGE OUT

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (S) Would not take the garbage out! She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans, (SC) Candy the yams and spice the hams, And though her daddy would scream and shout, She simply would not take the garbage out. And so it piled up to the ceilings: Coffee grounds, potato peelings, Brown bananas, rotten peas, Chunks of sour cottage cheese. It filled the can, it covered the floor, It cracked the window and blocked the door With bacon rinds and chicken bones, Drippy ends of ice cream cones, Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal, Pizza crusts and withered greens, Soggy beans and tangerines, Crusts of black burned buttered toast, Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . . The garbage rolled on down the hall, It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . . Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs, Globs of gooey bubble gum, Cellophane from green baloney, Rubbery blubbery macaroni, Peanut butter, caked and dry, Curdled milk and crusts of pie, Moldy melons, dried-up mustard, Eggshells mixed with lemon custard, Cold french fried and rancid meat, Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat. At last the garbage reached so high That it finally touched the sky. And all the neighbors moved away, And none of her friends would come to play. And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said, "OK, I'll take the garbage out!" But then, of course, it was too late. . . The garbage reached across the state, From New York to the Golden Gate. And there, in the garbage she did hate, Poor Sarah met an awful fate, That I cannot now relate Because the hour is much too late. But children, remember Sarah Stout And always take the garbage out!

Shel Silverstein, 1974 Figurative Language- Using Similes

A simile is a phrase comparing one ting or another using the words “like” or “as”.

For example:

“When the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby.”

In this example from the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy rocking is being compared to a baby. Does this help you understand how she must have felt? We can tell that she probably wasn’t scared or hurt because a baby rocking is very calm and smooth.

“His body was as round as a ball”

In this example from the Wizard of Oz, the author is comparing the tin man’s body to a ball. Doesn’t this help us picture how he looked?

Look at how using similes helps a writer to explain what he/she wants the reader to understand. UNDERLINE THE SIMILES IN THE EXAMPLES BELOW.

Without Similes With Similes The witch was mad. The witch was as mad as a grizzly bear that was just awakened in the middle of his hibernation. Toto ran fast. Toto ran down the lane like a rocket. Dorothy was Dorothy was as nervous as a turkey on the nervous. day before Thanksgiving. The winds blew. The winds blew as strong as an ox.

The munchkins The munchkins sang as merrily as a nest of sang. baby birds. Now you try it! Take these boring phrases and make them descriptive by using similes. BE CREATIVE!

The bell rang.

 The bell rang as loudly as a plane taking off.

The boy ran.

It was hot.

Toto was brown.

The witch was ugly.

Glinda was kind.

Onomatopoeia

Definition: onomatopoeia is words that sound like the objects or animals they name or the sounds they make.

Look at the example of onomatopoeia from the song below.

Ha, ha, ha Ho, ho, ho And a couple of tra - la - las That's how we laugh the day away In the Merry Old Land of Oz

Bzz, bzz, bzz Chirp, chirp, chirp And a couple of la - di - das That's how the crickets crick all day In the Merry Old Land of Oz

Here is another example of a poem that uses onomatopoeia:

30 seconds 'til the game is over. Tick tock.Tick tock. Oh no! Slap! Bang! There goes the puck! Clink! Clank!Clink!Clank! The puck is heading for the goal! Clang! Clang!Goal! Buzz!Buzz!Buzz! Game over! Rustle!Clap! Yackety Yak! We won!

By: Rachel

Here is a famous one from Mother Goose. Make the onomatopoeia words bold. The first one has been done for you.

Animals

Bow-wow, says the dog, Mew, mew says the cat, Grunt, grunt, goes the hog, And squeak goes the rat. Tu, whu, says the owl, Quack, quack, says the duck, And what the cuckoo says you know.

By Mother Goose

Now: You write your Own Poem using Onomatopoeia

Directions: Use your favorite scene from the Wizard of Oz. Then, use the format to write a poem about it.

Sound word, sound word

Line describing action

Line telling which scene you are describing.

Imagery

Writers use imagery to “paint a word picture” for their readers. Imagery draws the reader into experiences by touching the senses which the reader already knows. This intensifies the impact of the work and helps the reader to feel like t hey were really there.

Our five senses are : sight, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling.

Read the following poem by Shel Silverstein. See if you can find examples of imagery.

"I cannot go to school today," Said little Peggy Ann McKay, "I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash, and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I'm going blind in my right eye. My tonsils are as big as rocks, I've counted sixteen chicken pox And there's one more--that's seventeen, And don't you think my face looks green? My leg is cut, my eyes are blue-- It might be instamatic flu. I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, I'm sure that my left leg is broke-- My hip hurts when I move my chin, My belly button's caving in, My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, My 'pendix pains each time it rains. My nose is cold, my toes are numb, I have a sliver in my thumb. My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when I speak. My tongue is filling up my mouth, I think my hair is falling out. My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, My temperature is one-o-eight. My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, There is a hole inside my ear. I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what? What's that? What's that you say? You say today is---Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!" ~Shel Silverstein~ Now, you try it! Pick an object from the list below or choose another object that is important in the Wizard of Oz:

Courage, brains, home, Dorothy’s shoes, Glinda’s wand, The witch’s crystal ball, Tin man’s heart, The Emerald City, The haunted Trees, or something from the movie that you think is memorable.

Now, describe it using your senses:

Item: How does it look?

How does it sound?

How does it feel?

How does it taste?

How does it smell? Write an imagery poem using the chart you just completed.

Cinquain:

A cinquain is a five line poem. There are different versions of the cinquain. Here is a common example:

Use the format below to write a cinquain about a character from the Wizard of Oz.

______Name of character

______, ______, adjective describing the character, adjective describing the character

______, ______, ______, Something the character does (Use ‘ing’ form), Something the character does (Use ing form), Something the character does (Use ‘ing’ form)

as ______as a ______adjective noun

______Name of character

Synonym Poem

Synonym poems use words that mean the same things.

I’m talking big !

I’m talking huge!

I’m talking enormous, immense,

Tremendous!

I’m talking hulking, towering,

Titanic, mountainous!

I’m talking maximum, massive,

Stupendous, gigantic, monumental!

Now you try it!

Choose a character from the Wizard of Oz: ______

Now think of a word to describe him/her or it: ______

Using the format, write a synonym poem using your describing word. Your character:______

I’m talking ______

(Your describing word)

I’m talking ______!

(Synonym for your describing word)

I’m talking ______, ______,

(synonym) (synonym)

______!!

(synonym).

I’m talking ______, ______,

(synonym) (synonym)

______, ______!!

(synonym) (synonym

I’m talking ______, ______,

(synonym) (synonym)

______, ______,

I’m talking ______!!

(Your character’s name). 5 W’s poem

A 5 W’s Poem has 5 lines. Each line answers a question beginning with the letter W. Who? What? Where? When? Why?

For example:

My Grandma (who) Makes he best pizza (what) In NJ (where) Because she loves me! (why)

To write your own 5 W’s poem, you need to do the following.

First: Choose a part of the Wizard of Oz. Summarize it in your own words using the 5W’s. Then, create your poem.

Example:

Meanie Almyra Gulch Tries to take away Toto From Dorothy’s Farm Because she is a miserable, lonely meanie!

What: When:

Where:

Concrete Poem:

A concrete poem is one that takes the shape of the object it describes.

Give it a try!

First, pick a theme or topic. (I’d like you to pick something from the Wizard of Oz!)

Next, pick a shape.

Write your poem. Do not worry about the shape yet; just write your poem. Concrete poems don't have to rhyme. Think about what you love the most about it. Think about its qualities. Whatever moves your heart will make a wonderful poem. Remember to add details!

Now that you have your poem written, draw the shape you choose from step 3 with a pencil on a piece of plain paper.

Copy your poem into the shape. You may have to play around with the shape so that your poem fits.