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