If you are a student who loves reading and writing, you will definitely enjoy English Composition. Advisors encourage students to take English Composition during their freshman year, mainly because subsequent advanced level English courses will be required, and the successful completion of English Composition is the prerequisite. There are several components to the curriculum. One of the more challenging subjects is poetry.
One of the first things you learn about poetry is that it requires a lot of critical thinking and understanding of words. It is not easy to sum up an expression, opinion, or message in a few verses. Words must be carefully deliberated to ensure the correct words convey the exact message. One way to develop word vocabulary is to study word origins. This exercise broadens your scope of words and language.
When exploring poetry, students will learn about the various forms of poetry. The most common type is the rhymed verse. These are familiar to us because we learned them first at home either through reading time with Mom or while watching educational programs on television, and we learned them in elementary school. Rhymes are pleasurable to read and listen to when read aloud, but still require work to create. Limericks, a type of rhymed verse, are typically studied at the middle-college level. A limerick is a short verse that includes both rhyme and rhythm and contains a funny or surprise ending.
Narrative poems will also be explored in the English Composition course. These are poems that tell a story. Perhaps the best-known narrative poem is the holiday classic, "The Night Before Christmas." Writing narrative poems require a great deal of imagination. After all, the purpose of a narrative poem is to tell a complete story, with a beginning, middle, and end.
Haiku is a Japanese poetic form. The verse contains only 17 syllables arranged in three lines. Haiku poems are interesting because they are subject specific. Haikus deal with nature, and the verse must paint a clear image of what the poem is about. Haikus are famous because of their concise form, much like that of a telegram. Because Haikus are short in form, they are ideal for elementary aged children to create.
Free verse is unrhymed poetry, and rhythm is not an important component of free verse. Good free verse poetry is reliant upon word choice and visual images. As you learn about free verse poetry, you will learn to choose words to describe something and then put them together to express a thought or tell a story without concern for rhyme or rhythmic sound. Students learn to write free verse poetry by working with lists of words or phrases they have collected over a period of time.
To prepare for the poetry component of the English Composition course, go to the library and start reading various works. Explore the various types of poetry formats and determine ahead of time which one you enjoy reading and which one you are confident creating. Also, take the time to research famous poets and understand why they are famous.
No comments:
Post a Comment