Lesson Introduction
Students are often intimidated by the idea of writing form poetry, but this type of poetry can be most enjoyable to read and memorize. By first using the skills of listening, reading, and memory work to map out the structure of formal poems such as villanelles and sestinas, students will have a better understanding of the song-like and cyclical qualities of form poetry and so feel more prepared to generate their own form poems as a class and individually.
Learning Objectives
- To gain insights into the elements and structure of form poems that make use of repeated stanzas, lines, and words, such as the villanelle, sestina, and triolet
- To develop techniques to memorize poems that use repetition
- To generate and write poems that include repeated elements
Materials and Resources
- copies of Villanelle and Sestina Templates
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copies of poems:
- Damian Rogers, “Good Day Villanelle”
- Adam Sol, “Opus 75, Sestina in B-flat for the Glockenspiel”
- projector and computer with internet access for viewing videos
- rhyming dictionaries (optional)