Poetry Response Journal
In your poetry response journal, you will write 1-1.5 page responses (standard format) for 5 poems of your choice. This means you need to write 1-1.5 pages for EACH poem. You may choose from poems we have discussed in class, other poems from the textbook, or poems you have discovered in another place.
One of these poems may be the lyrics from a song. You will also do some discussion posts on poems and may use those responses as a starting point for your journal responses. If you choose to respond to a poem that was not discussed in class, turn in a copy of it with your journal.
Now, what should be in these responses. Above all else, I want your responses to be honest and genuine. If a poem confuses, you but for some reason still fascinates you, contemplate why.
Perhaps you have always had a strong reaction to a particular poem or song; consider writing about the memories or associations this poem brings to you. I would like you to refer to the actual text in your response, but you should not treat these responses a mini-essays.
I want this to be your chance to explore your responses to literature through informal writing. One bit of advice: in order to make this response uniquely your own, try to limit or eliminate your use of clichés.
For example, instead of saying that a poem "really paints a picture for the reader," explain in specific words what images the poems brings to your mind. A final reminder: even though this sound like a fairly easy assignment, I caution you that you need to put effort into it as it takes time to generate a thoughtful response to poetry.
Poem discussed in class:
"Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne
"On Death, Without Exaggeration" by WislawaSzymborska
The Panther" by Rainer Marie Rilke
"That the Science of Cartography Is Limited" by Eavan Boland
"The Purse Seine" by Robinson Jeffers
"Traveling Through the Dark" by William Stafford
"Ode to a Nightingale" by Keats
Poetry Vocabulary List
Diction
Denotation
Connotation
Persona
Syntax
Tone
Allusion
Simile
Metaphor
Synecdoche
Metonymy
Personification
Apostrophe
Hyperbole
Understatement
Paradox
Oxymoron
Symbol
Allegory
Didactic Poetry
Irony
Image
Alliteration
Assonance
Euphony
Cacophony
Rhyme
Eye Rhyme
End Rhyme
Internal Rhyme
Masculine Rhyme
Feminine Rhyme
Near Rhyme
Rhythm
Stress
Accent
Meter
Scansion
Foot
Iamb
Trochee
Anapest
Dactyl
Spondee
Blank Verse
Caesura
End-stopped line
Run-on line/Enjambment
Form
Free Verse/Open form
Stanza
Rhyme Scheme
Couplet
Tercet
Terza Rima
Quatrain
Sonnet
Italian Sonnet
Shakespearean Sonnet
Villanelle
Sestina