Drawing an Unusual Comparison: Metaphor, Simile, Extended

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Drawing an Unusual Comparison Metaphor, Simile,
Extended Metaphor and Stanza

• Revising for Stanzas

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Revising for Stanzas

• As you write, you pay attention to organization
  without realizing you do. Maybe you grouped
  certain lines according to mood, time period or
  subject.
• These groups of lines are called stanzas.

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Revising for Stanzas

• Stanzas are used to indicate a shift in time,
  place, or subject or to create a consistent
  pattern.
• Both of the previous poems used stanzas. One
  involving 9 line lengths each the other used
  three lines.

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Revising for Stanzas

• But you do not need to have consistent line
  length in your stanzas, but all stanza breaks
  must indicate a shift or change. The change or
  shift can be time, attitude, subject, etc. It
  can be anything.

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Stanzas and Rhyme Schemes

• Sometimes stanzas are determined by the rhyme
  scheme
• Each line is assigned a letter. If the last word
  rhymes with a previous lines last word, that
  line gets the same letter.

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Rhyme Scheme

• Roses are redViolets are blueSchool isnt bad
  for the headNeither are you.

(A)
(B)
(A)
(B)
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Set Stanza Forms

• Some poetry forms do require a consistent form
  for length such as sonnets and sestinas.
• The English Sonnet is a poem form consisting of
  14 lines, each with ten stressed and unstressed
  syllables known as iambic pentameter, with a set
  rhyme scheme of a b a b c d c d e f e f g g.

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Set Stanza Forms - Sonnet

• XVIII (Sonnet 18)
• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
  (a)Thou art more lovely and more temperate
  (b)Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
  (a)And summer's lease hath all too short a date
  (b)Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
  (c)And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
  (d)And every fair from fair sometime declines,
  (c)By chance, or nature's changing course
  untrimm'd (d) But thy eternal summer shall not
  fade, (e)Nor lose possession of that fair thou
  ow'st, (f)Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in
  his shade, (e)When in eternal lines to time thou
  grow'st, (f)So long as men can breathe, or eyes
  can see, (g)So long lives this, and this gives
  life to thee. (g)
• ---William Shakespeare

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Set Stanza Forms

• The sestina is an old fixed form of poetry,
  dating as far back as the twelfth century. It
  consists of six six-line stanzas and a three-line
  concluding stanza. The ending words of the first
  stanza are repeated throughout each subsequent
  stanza in a set pattern. The same six words
  appear in the concluding three-line stanza, two
  in each line.
• See example at http//www.geocities.com/Athens/De
  lphi/7086/rksestina.htm

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Set Stanza Form - Sestina

• Hogwash the Token Artist
• The moment when he lifts the Porker prize
• Would be the highlight of an artist's life.
• Saul Hogwash comes so close to it each year
• And misses it, by just a coat of paint.
• Though there's no doubt of this pig's massive
  talent,
• He will use watercolour for his art.
• The short list features many kinds of art.
• There's Tania Mulch, who won last year's prize,
• A cowpat-sculpting sow whose major talent
• Is publicising scandals in her life,
• So that the portrait that the tabloids paint
• Of her becomes more scarlet every year.

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Book Examples

• Plaths poem Youre shifts in mood from the
  first to the second stanza. The first stanza is
  full of concrete images (turnip), the second with
  uncertainty (a vague fog).
• Wiburs poem The Writer groups like actions or
  ideas together in 3 line groups (tercets). His
  grouping brings attention to sentence length.

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Book Examples

• (Wilbur cont.) Stanzas 1 3 are single sentences
  with a single action.
• Stanzas 4 5 contain only one sentence.
• Stanzas 6 10 show a sentence length that keeps
  increasing in size. It is one long sentence that
  describes the action of the starling.
• Last stanza is back to a short sentence.

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Book Examples

• (Wilbur cont.) Why would he do this? Was it
  coincidence? Not.
• He wanted to establish pace and create tension
  much as the writing process does the same thing.

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Why Use Stanzas?

• Stanzas introduce white space and make the reader
  pause.
• Pausing slows the pace if the poem.
• It creates tension, especially when the reader
  must read several stanzas to get one sentence.

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Writers Practice 3.4

• Writers Practice 3.4
• Make sure you have emailed WP 3.3 BEFORE you
  attempt 3.4.
• Pay close attention to the instructions. It will
  make you analyze your poem and practice with
  another completed poem before attempting yours.

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Writers Practice 3.4

• Part A will help you analyze your poem by
  answering a series of questions.
• Take your time
• Part B has you taking one poem and breaking it
  into different stanzas twice.
• Each attempt should be completely different
• Do this on your own paper and be sure to turn it
  in when you turn in your final pack.

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Writers Practice 3.4

• Do not do the Write in Your Journal until NEXT
  WEEK.
• Need time away from the poem
• The following slides are for Next Week. Ill
  link these so you can look back at them.

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WP 3.4 Write in Your Journal

• Committing to a stanza length will force you to
  reconsider a poem. It might not fit the
  prescribed length. When reconsidering you might
  find you do not need many of the details you
  included.
• This will not ruin your poem. You might want to
  hang on to a detail because you love the way it
  sounds or it is clever. But, it might be hurting
  your reader.

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WP 3.4 Write in Your Journal

• Examine your work from WP 3.3.
• Organize your work into stanzas (computer will
  make this easier)
• Make your stanza length consistent (7 lines each,
  for example)
• The length of the lines is not important

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WP 3.4 Write in Your Journal

• Tips for stanza usage
• Focus each stanza around a single action or
  subject.
• Make shifts in time, place or subject at the
  stanza break.
• Extend a single sentence across the stanza break
  to speed the poems pace or to create tension.

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WP 3.4 Write in Your Journal

• Revise your metaphor draft using stanza decisions
  to clarify and cut the poem.
• At this point, you may wish to name who your
  you is. This will make it more personalized or
  define the relationship if it is unclear.
• Look at Our Writer for more guidance.