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Poetry
Table of Contents.
Introduction
Poets background
In The Midst Of Hardship
- Synopsis
- Activities
Latif Mohidin
Bibsy Soenharjo
POETRY
About Poetry
Poetry
What is poetry? Poetry is a genre that is very different from prose and drama.
Poetry is distinguished by moving us deeply. A poem is an expression of a vision that is
rendered in a form intelligible and pleasurable to others and so likely to arouse kindred
emotions.
There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined
poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings". Emily Dickinson said, "If I
read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is
poetry" and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or
cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or
nothing." In short, it is the epitome of life, the elixir of enjoyment.
Poetry is a lot of things to a lot of people. Homer's epic, The Odyssey, described
the wanderings of the adventurer, Odysseus, and has been called the greatest story
ever told. During the English Renaissance, dramatic poets like John Milton, Christopher
Marlowe, and of course Shakespeare gave us enough to fill textbooks, lecture halls, and
universities. Poems from the romantic period include Goethe's Faust (1808), Coleridge's
"Kubla Khan" and John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
POETRY
Characteristics of Poetry
Poetry
Poetry has the ability to surprise the reader with an Ah Ha! Experience -revelation, insight, further understanding of elemental truth and beauty. Like
Keats said:
"Beauty is truth. Truth, beauty.
That is all ye know on Earth and all ye need to know."
Poems may include rhythm (the regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed
beats)
The table below will give you a quick look at the characteristics of poetry.
Characteristics of Poetry
POETRY
Types of Poetry
Poetry
There are many types of poetry but the more common ones will be dealt with below.
Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and
five syllables. Haiku poetry originated in the sixteenth century and reflects on
some aspect of nature and creates images.
Temple bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!
Limericks
Limericks are short sometimes bawdy, humorous poems consisting of five lines.
Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a Limerick have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one
another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each
other.
There was an Old Man with a gong,
Who bumped at it all day long;
But they called out, 'O law!
You're a horrid old bore!'
So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.
Cinquain
Cinquain (cinq which means five in French) has five lines. Line 1 is one word
(the title). Line 2 is two words that describe the title. Line 3 is three words that
tell the action. Line 4 is four words that express the feeling. Line 5 is one word
that recalls the title. American poet Adelaide Crapsey created the cinquain
based on the Japanese haiku.
Dinosaurs
Lived once,
Long ago, but
Only dust and dreams
Remain
An ABC Poem
An ABC poem has a series of lines that create a mood, picture, or feeling. Lines
are made up of words and phrases. The first word of line 1 begins with an A, the
first word of line 2 begins with a B etc.
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
Acrostic Poem
An acrostic poem, sometimes called a name poem, uses a word for its subject.
Then each line of the poem begins with a letter from the subject word. This type
of poetry doesn't have to rhyme.
Here's an example using the word school:
Shabonee is where I go
Computers, spirals, books, and more
Homework every night
On math, science, reading, and social studies
Our class does lots of fun projects
Learning never stops
Concrete/Shape Poem
In this kind of poetry, the words themselves form a picture. It is based on the
spacing of words. The pattern of the letters illustrate the meaning of the poem. It
does not have to rhyme and can be of any length.
Try this out. What do you think the shape of the poem resembles?
)
a
pen
_cil
holds
a gr
eater
know
ledge
than
any c
omp
uter,
a pen
cil hol
ds 100
years
of ex
peri
ence
and
has
been
thro
ugh
the
stori
es of
milli
ons
POETRY
Elements of Poetry
Poetry
The elements in prose and poetry are almost similar. The table below will best illustrate
the terminology used where the elements are concerned.
PROSE/DRAMA
POETRY
Plot
Subject matter
Theme
Theme
Characterization
Very rarely
Point of view
Voice/persona
Tone
Tone
Mood
Mood
Sources
URL
: http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/poetry/a/poetry.htm
Date accessed : 12 October 2009
URL
: http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/davidc/6c_files/Poem%20pics/
cinquaindescrip.htm
Date accessed : 12 October 2009
Poets Background
LATIFF MOHIDIN
Born on 25 August 1941 in Negeri Sembilan, Latiff Mohidin was educated at Lenggeng,
Seremban, Singapore, and the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. This poet and artist has held
exhibitions of his works and travelled abroad extensively in the 1960s and 1970s. He has
served as Writer in Residence at the Science University of Malaysia, Penang, the National
University of Malaysia and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. At present, Latiff is a freelance poet
and artist. His poems have won the Putra I poetry Award. Among his books are: Sungai Mekong
(1972), Kembara Malam (1974), and Wayang Pak Dalang (1977). Garis: Dari Titik ke Titik
(1988), a book on the creative process (art and poetry), won the Honourable Diploma Prize at
the Festival of International Books at Leipzig, Germany in 1989.
Latiff Mohidin is usually known for his graphic and imagistic experiment. He addresses
social themes in his poems, illustrating the all-important concept that poetry serves society.
Among the poems he has written are Dream 1, Mirror, The Puppeteers Wayang, Words Adrift
on Air, The Legend of the Dawn, His Thick Shroud, The Shore of Time, Mask of My Name is
Rawana and A City, A Grandmother and Death.
Poets Background
BIBSY SOENHARJO
Bibsy Soenharjo was born in Jakarta on 22 November 1928. Bibsy and her siblings were
homeschooled and each was encouraged to pursue their own interests. She had a particular
fondness for literature and, after returning home from a four-year stay in Japan, Bibsy began
writing her first prose in 1957, and then poetry in the 60s. The Literary Review, an international
quarterly published by Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, USA, published her first
four literary pieces in their Autumn and Spring Editions in 1967 and 1968 respectively. In 1967
also, her poem, Jakarta, March 1967 was published in the Australian magazine Hemisphere,
while Setelah Gerhana Bulan (After the Eclipse of the Moon) was published in Gelanggang, an
Indonesian cultural magazine now defunct.
Her poems have appeared in bilingual anthologies, with her Indonesian works translated
into English, Dutch and Japanese and her English poems into Indonesian and Dutch. She
continued to write prose pieces in Indonesian that appeared in Jakarta dailies under the pen
name Nuspati.
Bibsy Soenharjo now lives in Jakarta with the youngest of her three sons, Haryo, his wife
Sutji and their children.
10
Synopsis
This poem tells of the hardship that a family in a village faces after a big flood. The elders return
at dawn in soaking-wet clothes. They go straight to the kitchen. They are probably hungry. Their
hands and legs are bruised but they do not show any sign of despair or of losing hope.
After braving the dreadful flood for the last 24 hours, they still can not find their sons albino
buffalo. Despite all the adversities and suffering, the people in the poem do not complain or
lament on their misfortunes. They spend time together, enjoying each others company. They
are grateful for the fact what they still have instead of what is lost. Life goes on with their daily
chores of preparing food and habit of rolling their cigarette leaves. They are still able to joke with
one another.
11
A Picture Says A
Thousand Words
Aims
To introduce the context of the poem
To elicit from students feelings and attitudes
Materials
Steps
Distribute Handout P1 and let students talk about the pictures. Fill in
Worksheet P1 : Looking at Pictures
Ask students about their personal experience in a flood, fire or landslide. Let
students watch a downloaded video from youtube.com of a current natural
disaster .
Conduct open class discussion: What do people do when disaster strikes?
Give students Worksheet 2 called Find Someone Who. and instruct
students to go around the class to find the various people with various
experiences in the set time phase.
12
Sources
On Tsunami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpgsCaFe4sM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuqKh
www.ogrish.com
On Hurricane Katrina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB33kPIhBkc
On Padang, Indonesia earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnr9Mcg_jIo
Date accessed : 12 October 2009
13
HANDOUT P1
A Picture Says A
Thousand Words
14
15
16
WORKSHEET P1a
A Picture Says A
Thousand Words
Looking at pictures
17
WORKSHEET P1b
A Picture Says A
Thousand Words
Find somebody who
FIND SOMEONE WHO.
18
ACTIVITY P2
Getting-To-Know-You
Aim
Materials
Worksheet P2
Handout P2
Steps
Paste strips containing information of the poet around the classroom - on the
board, wall, table, behind the chair, door, windows, etc.
Get students to work in groups of four.
Give each group Worksheet 3 with questions asking for information related to
Latiff Mohidin. Set a time frame for this activity.
Decide on the winners. The first group with the most number of correct
answers will be the winner.
Notes
Instead of seven strips,
other information can
be pasted around the
classroom to allow the
students to be
discriminate in their
selection.
19
WORKSHEET P2
Getting-To-Know-You
Questions
1.
2.
3.
Answers
education.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
20
WORKSHEET P2
Getting-To-Know-You
STRIPS OF PAPER ( to be pasted around the classroom on the table, behind the chair,
beside the door etc)
Latiff was born on 25 August 1941 in Negeri Sembilan. He is Malaysia's most celebrated
living artist and poet and is considered a national treasure.
Called 'Boy Wonder' since age 11, Latiff Mohidin was educated at Lenggeng, Seremban,
Singapore, and the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. He also got his art training in Germany at
Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Atelier La Courriere in France and Pratt Graphic Centre in
America. He shaped the development of art practice and literature through his extraordinary
vision.
This poet and artist has held exhibitions of his works and travelled abroad extensively in the
1960s and 1970s. He has served as Writer in Residence at the Science University of
Malaysia, Penang, the National University of Malaysia and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
His poems have won the Putra I Poetry Award. Among his books are: Sungai Mekong (1972),
Kembara Malam (1974), and Wayang Pak Dalang (1977). Garis: Dari Titik ke Titik (1988), a
book on the creative process (art and poetry), won the Honourable Diploma Prize at the
Festival of International Books at Leipzig, Germany in 1989.
21
Some of Mohidins poems are Dream 1, Mirror, The Puppeteers Wayang, Words Adrift on
Air, The Legend of the Dawn, His Thick Shroud, The Shore of Time and Mask of My Name is
Rawana and A City, A Grandmother and Death.
Social or public poems are a very important sub-genre in modern Malaysian poetry. Latiff
Mohidin addresses these social problems in his poems, illustrating this all-important concept
that poetry serves society. He finds pride in his social commitment. In the poem, In the Midst
of Hardship, he uses the social themes of poverty, hardship and perseverance closely
associated with the local peasants.
22
ACTIVITY P3
Materials
Worksheet P3
Handout P3
Steps
Introduce emoticons that portray different feelings. Get students to talk about
the various feelings shown. Get students write down appropriate words for
each emoticon.
Distribute Handout 3. Recite the poem with rhythm and intonation. Let students
cut out and paste emoticons on the section of the poem that they feel
appropriate.
Discuss the students options and let them state the reasons why they have
chosen a certain emoticon.
23
HANDOUT P3
24
WORKSHEET P3
_____________________
_______________________
__________________
____________________
_____________________
________________________
25
ACTIVITY P4
The Search Is On
Aim
To allow students to explore ways in which figurative language is
used in the poem
Materials
Worksheet P4
Handout P4
Steps
26
HANDOUT P4
The Search Is On
Assonance
Line 12
Assonance
Lines 2 and 3
27
WORKSHEET P4
The Search Is On
Find two examples of _________________________ .
Write them in the binoculars with the line number or numbers.
Line ________
Line ________
28
ACTIVITY P5
Acrostic Poem
Aim
To enable students to write simple poetry using key words found
in the poem
40 minutes
Materials
Steps
Get each student to write a word from the poem ( for e.g. despair, albino,
hardship ) vertically on the left hand side of the paper.
Ask the students to write a word or a phrase that begins with each letter
creating a poem.
Tell them to use Handout 5 as a guide.
29
HANDOUT P5
Acrostic Poem
30
Answer Key
Worksheet P2 : GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU
2
3
Negeri Sembilan
Lenggeng/Seremban/Singapore/
University of Fine Arts in Berlin/
Hochshule fur Bildende Kunste/
Atelier La Courriere in France or
Pratt Graphic Centre in America.
7
8
society.
10
31
Oh My!
Aim
40 minutes
Materials
Worksheet P1
Steps
Divide students into four groups and give each group a card with a picture
of the four elements; the sun, earth, wind, water.
Distribute Worksheet 1. Get each group to discuss and list all the disasters
that could occur in the element given. Tell them to write on the worksheet
given be presented to the class.
Get each group to choose one disaster and discuss how it affects peoples
lives. (They should guess how these people move on with their daily lives
such as how they prepare food, wash themselves and their clothes clean,
and where they sleep, etc.)
Tell them to write what they have discussed in the worksheet given. Let the
group members write sentences describing the way the people lead their
lives after a disaster and add their feelings when doing it. (This can be
given as homework. A descriptive essay on the life of a disaster victim as
a follow-up activity.
Variation
Hold a debate on which disaster is the most impactful. Get two teams to choose
representatives from their groups. Let other groups judge who the winner is.
Tell them to write out an interview with a person who has been a victim of a natural
disaster.
32
WORKSHEET P1
Oh My!
ELEMENT:
33
Report a Disaster
Aim
80 minutes
Materials
Newspaper, mahjong paper, coloured markers, pictures, glue, scissors
Steps
Tell students to bring articles and pictures of natural disasters they can find
in the newspapers, magazines or from the Internet
Tell them to discuss ways to raise money to help the victims. They are to
choose the best way to raise money to help the victims.
Tell them to create a poster which includes the heading of the fund-raising
project, pictures, method of delivering the cash and kind, and venue of
collection.
Tell them to paste all posters around the classroom. Let the students judge
which poster is the most impressive.
34
Word Explosion
Aim
To enable students to make word associations in order to extend
their vocabulary
40 minutes
Materials
Handout P3
Steps
Divide the students into groups of 3 to 5. Ask each group to write the word
Disaster in the middle of the mahjong paper.
Give each group the materials above and Handout 1. Get the students to make
as many words as they can that are related to Disaster in five minutes.
(Students may use the words in the poem)
Ask students their reasons for choosing those words. Get the students to
extend from the words they have chosen (like a spidergram).
Allow or encourage high profiency students to write an essay based on the
word Disaster at home.
Variation
The activity can also be conducted with the whole class. Instead of the group
brainstorming for ideas.
If the students are weak, you can help the students by giving clues for students to come
up with words. Write the words on the board.
35
HANDOUT P3
Word Explosion
AN EXAMPLE OF WORD EXPLOSION
RAIN
FUNDS
RECEDE
RAISE
DROWN
WATER
FLOOD
DEATH
LEVEL
BOAT
LOSS
SMELLY
SWIM
CLOUD
36
I Remember Poem
Aim
To enable students to share an unforgettable memory by
writing simple poetry using key words found in the poem
40 minutes
Materials
Handout P4
Steps
Get students to think of all the memories related to time shared with someone.
Write down words related to the memory.
Give out Handout 2. Tell them to use as a guide.
Begin the sentence with I Remember Edit and arrange these sentences to
form a stanza ( as in a poem ).
Ask them to present their work.
37
HANDOUT P4
I Remember Poem
Example 1
Example 2
I remember when I was small
I remember the cute little kitten I once had
As a pet
I remember the days we spent cuddling and playing together
But most of all
I remember the day the cute little kitten was gone
38
Synopsis
The poem is about a persona, a lady who fell for the wrong man. She was
fascinated with his quiet eyes and believed that his eyes showed his true emotion and
feelings for her. The mans eyes had the power to charm her and made her believe him
and be nice to him.
However, the man was actually a pleasure seeking man, a flirt. As the lady was
truly fascinated and charmed by the man, she did not listen or did not want to listen to
any advice concerning the mans true behaviour. In the end, she realized her error and
was broken hearted.
39
ACTIVITY P1
40 minutes
Materials
Worksheet P1
Steps
40
WORKSHEET P1
41
ACTIVITY P2
Chain Reading
Aim
To read poem aloud with correct stress, intonation,
pronunciation and expression
20 minutes
Materials
The poetry text
Steps
42
Notes
Variation to
Steps 1 and 2
Form groups to
read each
stanza as part of
choral reading
ACTIVITY P3
Put Me Straight
Aims
To introduce rhythm in a fun way
To enable
40 minutes
students to observe and d
adjectives
To encourage students to put their cr
Materials
Worksheet P3
Steps
43
WORKSHEET P3
Put Me Straight
The following words are related to the poem He Had Such Quiet Eyes by Bibsy Soenharjo.
Unscramble them to find out what the sentences are.
1. NCOE RO ETCWI
2. SHWO NDA SHYW
3. SLOING TA ICED
4. LOASETDE SSHGI
5. TQEIU YEES
6. TTSEHINN CIE
7. LOOPS FO LEIS
8. RINGMOLIP ERH
9. RREEDN MIH
10. ELSO RYUO THREA
11. ECSOIMMPOR
12. ERLPUSAE-EGSNKIE
13. EB REUS AHTT
14. A TIB FO
15. DENETSIL OT
16. REEF FORM
44
ACTIVITY P4
Bingo
Aim
To identify meanings of words
40 minutes
Materials
Handouts P4a, P4b and P4c
Steps
45
HANDOUT P4a
Bingo
Use combinations based on 20 words taken from the poetry text for Bingo cards.
eyes
layered
lies
pleasure-seeking
realise
desolate
dice
compromise
paradise
quiet
render
compromise
advice
pools
layered
breathing
lies
dice
listened
wise
advice
sighs
imploring
lies
heart
thinnest
dice
heart
thinnest
wise
advice
realise
desolate
pools
compromise
dice
46
HANDOUT P4b
Bingo
20 chosen words and the meaning strips in Bingo.
eyes
Guidance
advice
desolate
satisfaction
A small cube with each side having a
dice
arranged in layers
47
lies
realise
become aware
agree
compromise
heaven
paradise
quiet
no noise
inhaling and expelling air from the
breathing
lungs
shallow patches of liquid
pools
render
superlative of thin
48
begging desperately
imploring
wise
judgement
muscular body organ that pumps
heart
blood
listened
49
HANDOUT P4c
Bingo
BINGO EXAMPLES TO HOW AND WHEN A STUDENT CAN SHOUT BINGO!
quiet
render
compromise
advice
pools
layered
breathing
lies
dice
pool
eyes
layered
advice
compromise
layered
quiet
lies
breathing
or
50
ACTIVITY P5
Haiku It!
Aim
To enable students to write a simple poem
40 minutes
Materials
The poetry text
Worksheet P5
Steps
51
WORKSHEET P5
Haiku It!
A haiku has a specific pattern. It has 3 lines and 17 syllables. The first and last lines have
5 syllables each, while the second line has 7 syllables. Create your own haiku.
i.
ii.
iii.
A bit of advice
____________________________
____________________________
iv.
Never compromise
____________________________
____________________________
52
Idioms Uncovered
Aims
To enable students to interpret a picture and find its meaning to
complete a task
To encourage team work and brainstorming in completing a task
40 minutes
Materials
Worksheets P1a and P1b
Steps
Get students to sit in pairs. Hand out Worksheet 1 to the pairs. Students must read
the picture to find out what they say.
Tell the students to use the clues or unfinished sentences to help uncover the
correct word.
Get students to work out the message in each of the images or combination of
images. Then, state the idioms that have the word eyes in them.
The group that decodes correctly will be given worksheet 2 to work on.
Tell them to combine the words to form correct idioms. Because a picture holds a
thousand words, students must find the correct one that will make a proper idiom.
53
WORKSHEET P1a
Idioms Uncovered
Try to work out the message in each of these images or combination of images. Then,
state the idioms that have the word eye/s in them and give the correct meaning to the
idioms.
EXAMPLE:
EAGLE
EYES
clue
.................. .......
54
...........
..
..
..
....
clue
..
.....
....
.....
......
..
..
......
.....
Use this to ..
..................
clue
Sounds like
..
.....
55
WORKSHEET P1b
Idioms Uncovered
Try to work out the message in each of these images or combination of images. Then,
state the idioms that has the word eye/s in them and give the correct meaning to the
idioms.
FROM
MEANING:
..
R
Sounds like
clue
clue
MEANING:
56
Eye!
Aim
To extend key word usage in idiomatic expressions
40 minutes
Materials
Handout P2
Worksheet P2
Steps
57
Notes
Make a
bookmark using
the word eye
HANDOUT P2
Eye!
Meaning : agree.
58
Meaning
: ignore something.
59
WORKSHEET P2
Eye!
Complete the sentences with appropriate idioms.
1.
The teacher knows everything we do, she must have ___________________of her
head!
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
I'm sorry I didn't call you yesterday, but I was ________________________ in work.
8.
9.
10.
Nobody should see that I'm doing this, so _______________________ and tell me if
someone is coming.
60
80 minutes
Materials
Coloured papers, mahjong papers, markers and
pictures of celebrities
Worksheet P3
Steps
61
Notes
Discuss the following
topic: Is the reality
show on television on
looking for the right
spouse by meeting
with many men and
women the right way?
What do you think?
WORKSHEET P3
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
CHARACTER TRAITS:
62
80 minutes
Materials
Worksheet P4
Steps
Divide the students into two groups of gender, boys and girls. (If in a single sex
school get another group to imagine themselves as the other gender if possible)
Get the groups to think of the power of the eyes to men and women and how they
use them to get the things they want. List the situations where the eyes play a very
important role. Complete worksheet 5.
Get each group to present their findings to the rest of the class.
Get the groups to comment on the other groups presentation and explain why
they agree or disagree with the groups work. Discuss with the whole class.
Variation
-
This activity can be changed by exchanging the gender of the girls to think like
boys and boys to think like girls when explaining the usage of eyes by girls and
boys in any situation possible.
This activity can also focus on one aspect of the eyes; can they be used to lie?
Let the two groups discuss how the eyes are used to lie.
Another variation would be by reducing the age from teenagers to young children
and explain what things they lie about.
63
WORKSHEET P4
.
.
.
2)
.
.
.
3)
.
.
.
LIST THE REASONS FOR THE HEARTBREAK IN THE POEM. [FROM THE MALE OR
FEMALE PERSPECTIVES.]
1)
.
.
.
2)
.
.
.
3)
.
.
.
64
Answer Key
WORKSHEET P3 : PUT ME STRAIGHT
1. NCOE RO ETCWI
ONCE OR TWICE
3. SLOING TA ICED
DESOLATE SIGHS
4. LOASETDE SSHGI
QUIET EYES
5. TQEIU YEES
6. TTSEHINN CIE
THINNEST ICE
7. LOOPS FO LEIS
POOLS OF LIES
8. RINGMOLIP ERH
IMPLORING HER
RENDER HIM
9. RREEDN MIH
COMPROMISE
11. ECSOIMMPOR
PLEASURE-SEEKING
12. ERLPUSAE-EGSNKIE
BE SURE THAT
A BIT OF
14. A TIB FO
LISTENED TO
15. DENETSIL OT
FREE FROM
65
WORKSHEET P2 : EYE
Has an eye
2 Keep an eye
Up to my eyes
10
PHYSICAL TRAITS:
Slim and slender.
Clean and smell nice.
Long hair.
CHARACTER TRAITS:
Intelligent.
Careful and think before she acts.
Open minded to many current and new things.
66
POETRY
ASSESSMENT 1
Authentic Assessment
Poetry
PORTFOLIO
SCRAP BOOK
STUDENTS HAVE TO USE AND FOLLOW THE SAME STYLE IN PRESENTING THE
PORTFOLIO
SCRAP BOOK:
-
THE STUDENTS CAN ADD MORE CONTENTS INSIDE THEIR SCRAP BOOK
STUDENTS CAN PRESENT THEIR SCRAP BOOK ANY WAY THEY WANT
ACCORDING TO THEIR CREATIVITY
67
ASSESSMENT 2
Read the poem carefully. Then decide on how best you can graphically present
the content of the poem.
68
___________________________________________
Poet
___________________________________________
Theme
___________________________________________
Type of Poem
___________________________________________
Number of stanzas
___________________________________________
Identify literary elements (mood, imagery, symbolism, contrast, comparison) and explain
how they add to your understanding of the poem.
69
70
Personal beliefs
Nationality or ethnicity
Male or Female
Time period in which he/she lived
71
ASSESSMENT 3
Have I Understood?
Objectives:
To conduct a diagnostic assessment for students to recall information from the poem to
get insight into how well they have learned the material
To give indication to the teacher of how well the information has been taught in the previous
lessons
To enable the teacher to conduct remedial or enrichment exercises in the forthcoming lesson
based on error analysis of each and every question
1.
2.
What kind of a setting do you see in the poem, In the Midst of Hardship by Latiff
Mohidin?
3.
4.
Despite the conditions of the people in the above poem, did they give up?
Which line tells you this?
5.
What do you understand by but on their brows, there was not a sign of despair?
6.
7.
8.
Do you think the people in the poem are rich? Justify your answer with evidence
from the poem?
9.
Why do you think the people are desperately looking for the lost animal?
10.
11.
Do you think the people here are hopeful and optimistic? Justify your answer.
12.
13.
Do you think the poet has chosen a good title for this poem? Give a reason for
your answer.
14.
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ASSESSMENT 4
Have I Understood?
QUESTIONS BASED ON THE POEM
1.
The eyes have a lot of functions other than seeing. Explain one function of the eyes that
you know and give an example when that function is being used.
2.
Do you believe in seeing is believing? Give a reason for your answer and relate it to the
poem He had such quiet eyes.
3.
Why do you think the persona in the poem fell for the guys quiet eyes? Give a reason
why she likes his quiet eyes.
4.
How can you help a friend who fell for a person who you know is a pleasure seeking
person? Give a suggestion on how to help this friend.
5.
In the poem there is a phrase hows and whys. Form a question for each of the
question in the phrase with close relation to the situation of the persona in the poem.
6.
Which one is easier to do, giving advice or listening to advice? Give a reason for your
answer with close reference to the poem.
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Answer Key
ASSESSMENT 3
dawn
2
3
Village
They are soaked in water and sweat, and their clothes are tattered /They are probably
hungry after a day braving through the flood and slightly injured
They did not give up as shown in their brows there was not a sign of despair or They
were born amidst hardship
and grew up without a sigh or a complaint
These people did not give up or lose hope.
A flood
(An albino ) buffalo
No. Any possible reason(s)
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
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Answer Key
ASSESSMENT 4
1. One of the eyes functions is to show emotion like sadness and happiness. An example
would be when one feels very sad and his eyes cry and shed tears because he has lost
someone he really loved and that person is now gone forever.
2. No. It is because there are a lot of things in this world that we can see do not really
portray their true identity or the reality. In the poem the girl fell for the guys quiet eyes
because she thought that those eyes portrayed a true and genuine feeling of love.
However, the girl was mistaken as he was only a guy who wanted to seek pleasure in a
relationship and he was not serious in his relationship.
3. The persona in the poem fell for the guys quiet eyes because she thought that those
quiet eyes were showing genuine feeling of love and care for her and the guy really
loved her for who she is and there is no other reason.
4. I would help this friend by looking for proofs first and show these proofs to prove that this
person is not who she thinks he is because she might not want to believe in words as
she has fallen for him really badly. If she still does not believe me I would not do
anything else to help her and let her fall for herself.
5. How did I fall for such a pleasure seeking guys? Why I could not see that this guy does
not really love me for who I am?
6. Listening to advice is easier because we can listen and choose which part of the advice
really matters and have close relation to the problems we have.
75
POETRY
Glossary
Poetry
acrostic
albino
alliteration
amidst
assonance
bloated
carcasses
despair
Absence of hope
Haiku
horrendous
Awful, terrible
idiom
metaphor
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personification
proverbs
rhyme
scrapbook
scratches
simile
soaky
Extremely wet
77
Panel of Writers
Poetry
78