Genre of Literature

General Introduction To Poetry


Subject: Literature-in-English

Theme: Genre of Literature

Topic: General Introduction To Poetry

Sub Topic:

Date: dd/mm/yyyy

Class: S.S 1

Average Age: 14 years and above

Duration: 35 Minutes

No of Learners: 40



Learning Objectives:

By the end of the lesson learners should be able to:

DEFINE/MEANING OF POETRY:

Definition of Poetry: Poetry is a form of writing stimulated by emotion and expressing a deep feeling that may be very difficult to explain in literary form. This is because it is the sum total of the use of certain devices such as rhyme, rhythm, metre, the figure of speech, stanza, subject matter, the poet’s feeling, his/her attitude to the subject matter, etc. This use is expressed in a manner of language application that attracts attention to it, especially when words are found or used in unusual places or settings. From the above, it becomes necessary to note that a poet is literally permitted to use language the way it pleases him/her. And this liberty or freedom with the language used by a poet is called Poetic License. This is the freedom to change the system and rules of a language in order to achieve a particular effect. Poetry is also seen as a spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions and feelings in tranquillity by deploring rich diction. Poems can be classified on the basis of content, style and structure.


List Characteristics/Features of Poetry

Poetry is a sophisticated literary form that typically emphasizes figurative language in addition to the aesthetic value of the words and lines and the overall meaning of the words. Poetry is a distinctive and fascinating art form due to several characteristics. The characteristics of poetry are what gives it its identity and set its writing style apart from other literary forms. Interstingly, poetic conventions are not set in stone, and there are no strict rules on how to write poetry. Although there are no hard-and-fast guidelines for composing poetry, there are some established characteristics that may be easily identified in poems, making it possible to distinguish poetry from other forms of literature. On this note, they are:

1. Imagery: Poetry is often characterized by the use of vivid language that engages the senses to evoke an imaginative picture in the reader. The use of descriptive language to evoke the reader’s senses or conjure up mental images is referred to as imagery. It entails utilizing vivid and evocative language to appeal to the reader’s senses, such as sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Imagery can also be employed in other literary forms like prose, and drama, to enhance the overall atmosphere or mood of a piece of writing and to convey complex ideas or themes in a more tangible and relatable way.

2. Figurative Language: Poets employ figurative language, another crucial trait of poetry to portray complicated emotions and to give their writing a deeper meaning. The use of words or phrases with connotations other than their literal ones to evoke a particular response or communicate a more nuanced concept is referred to as figurative language. Literary elements including metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism are frequently used in this sort of language. Figurative language can be used to paint a more vivid and imaginative picture of a scene or idea in a variety of literary genres, including poetry, prose, and drama. It is frequently employed to elicit feelings or to increase the reader’s engagement and retention of the text.

3. Rhythm and Meter: Poetry often has a distinctive rhythm and meter, created through the use of syllables, stresses, and other sound patterns. To establish a particular cadence or flow of words within a poem, rhythm and meter are two essential characteristics of poetry. Poetry lines have rhythm, which is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, and meter, which is the orderly placement of those stressed and unstressed syllables.

4. Sound Devices: To give their writing a musical character, poets often utilize sound techniques like rhyme, alliteration, and assonance. Poetry often employs sound devices to add musical effects, deepen the poem’s emotional impact, and enhance its meaning. These literary devices make use of sound in a variety of ways, including onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, and repetition. To establish a rhythmic pattern or highlight a certain topic, repetition includes using words, phrases or sounds repeatedly. At the end of a line, typically, rhyme is the process of matching the sounds of two or more words.

5. Using the same consonant sound at the beginning of words in close proximity is referred to as alliteration. This technique produces a musical effect and can be used to highlight specific words or concepts. Using words that mimic the sounds they describe is known as onomatopoeia. Examples include phrases like “buzz” and “whisper.” Other sound strategies in poetry include assonance, which uses the same vowel sound frequently in a line, and consonance, which uses the same consonant sound repeatedly in a line. All of these strategies can contribute to the poem’s overall power and meaning while giving it a distinctive and memorable sound.

6. Compression: Poetry frequently stands out for its capacity to succinctly and powerfully express difficult concepts and feelings. In literature, the capacity to concisely and effectively transmit a lot of information, emotion, or meaning is referred to as compression. This is possible through the use of a variety of literary devices, including symbolism, metaphor, and imagery, which enable the writer to convey intricate thoughts and feelings in only a few words.

7. Form: Each form of poetry, including sonnets, haikus, and ballads, has its distinctive characteristics and structures. Form in poetry relates to the actual arrangement of the poem, its stanza structure, and its use of rhyme and meter. A poem’s form can significantly affect how it is read and comprehended. E.t.c.


List and Explain Differrent Kinds of Poetry

It is important to note that all manner of poems, for convenience, are grouped under three broad kinds. And they are:

1. Narrative Poetry: It is a poem that tells a story (e.g.) Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’, Wordsworth’s ‘Solitary Reaper, etc.

2. Lyrical Poetry: It was originally a poem meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument called the lyre. But these days, it neither needs to be sung nor recited with a lyre. Nor does the lyrical poet need to narrate a story. All he needs to do is to get stimulated by what he observes, say a flower or a bee at work, and as a consequence expresses his thought and emotions about that, and possibly draws conclusions. Examples of lyrical poetry in a modern sense include William Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’ and Kofi Awoonor’s ‘Songs of Sorrow’, etc.

3. Sonnet: It is a fourteen-line poem divided into the octave (8 lines) and the sestet (6 lines). However, it is not always that a sonnet is marked by any physical division. A sonnet has a well-defined subject, often focused on one idea, thought or feeling. Most known sonnets have rhyme schemes, although different sonneteers employ different types of rhyme schemes. Most English poets wrote sonnets-Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Byron, Wordsworth, Rossetti, etc.

4. Elegy: An elegy is a poem of serious reflection that lacks particular rules, but usually is written in mourning following a death. An elegy, in poetic terms, is a funeral song. It can be thought of as a melancholy poem, which is written to mourn the death of someone.

5. Ode: An ode is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode.

6. Villanelle: A villanelle, also known as villanesque, is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain.

7. Ballad: The ballad is another old and traditional form of poetry that typically tells a dramatic or emotional story. Its origin traces to Europe.


List and Explain qualities of poetry language

Poetic language refers to the language poets use to make their poems seem richer and more interesting and evocative. Poetic language often includes various literary devices, and is often more compact than the language used in prose.

Poetic language, in contrast, adds beauty, multiple layers of meaning, and ambiguity to the words it uses. It aims to convey truths, most often about the human question, that transcend mere facts. It hopes that its readers will see life in a new way or make a new connection due to the way language is used. The greatest authors, such as Shakespeare, invented new words to communicate what they wanted to say or, like Virginia Woolf, invented a new way of writing novels to more accurately depict the subjectivity of experience.

Because it is trying to delight and communicate truths, poetic language is distinguished by its use of features such as metaphor, pun, and irony, as well as vivid imagery meant to appeal to the emotions. Discerning and debating how to interpret a poem or a story is, depending on your point of view, one of the joys or frustrations of a literary work.

Language of poetry has three qualities, they are:
1. Concise: It is usually written in lines and stanzas, it does not include unimportant details.
2. Unique: Poet uses language in their own unique way to portray their mind
3. High style: Poet uses language that is formal and rich in imagery and other poetic devices such as simile, metaphor etc

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Explain Differences between Poetry and Prose

Poetry often uses figurative language to create images or expressive ideas, while prose is more literal.
Prose is usually used for novels, essays, and non-fiction writing, while poetry is more often associated with literature, lyrics, and storytelling.
Prose is a form of writing that is based on spoken language. It is characterized by its natural flow, as well as its use of regular grammar and punctuation. Prose is often used for novels, short stories, and essays. Poetry, on the other hand, is a form of writing that is based on musicality and rhythm.

Rationale:

Literature focuses on the study of literary texts, developing students as independent, innovative and creative learners and thinkers who appreciate the aesthetic use of language, evaluate perspectives and evidence, and challenge ideas and interpretations.

Prerequisite/ Previous knowledge:

Storyings, songs, history etc.

Learning Resources:

Flash cards, Text book

Reference Materials:

J.O.J. Nwachukwu et al: Exam Focus: Literature-in-English 2021-2025
Tony Duru: Standard Literature-in-English
Internet.




Lesson Development:


STAGE

TEACHER'S ACTIVITY

LEARNER'S ACTIVITY

LEARNING POINTS

STEP 1:
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE
full class session (3 mins)
The teacher Introduces the lesson by asking questions based on previous knowledge;
1. Defined Prose
2. list ypes of Prose.
The students respond to the questions based on previous knowledge.
1. Prose is a branch(genre) of Literature which presents an events or character in a story form.

2. The types of prose are;
i. Prose Friction: This is a story which is not real but imagined.
ii. Prose Non-Friction: This is a story which is true/real.
iii. Narrative Prose: This is a story which is presented through out by narration. It takes the use of past tense (Verbs) from the beginning to the end of the story.
iv. Descriptive Prose: This is a story which presents a description of a person, place or an object. A novel may contain a description in the course of the story (presentation).
Learner’s entry points.
STEP 2:
INTRODUCTION
full class session (3 mins)
The teacher read some selected African and Non-African Poetry to students

African Poetry

Birago Diop: Vanity
Gabriel Okara: Piano and Drums
Lenrie Peter: The Panic of Growing Older
Kofi Awoonor: The Anvil and the Hammer.

Non-African Poetry

Alfred Tennyson: Crossing the Bar
William Blake: The School Boy
Williams Shakespeare: Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day?

Thereafter, the teacher review/introduce what poetry is; the forms and types of poetry; the elements of peotry and features of poetry.
The students listen attentively to the teacher. Introducing the topic for discussion.
STEP 3: DEVELOPMENT
Group Work (2 mins)
The teacher guides the learners to form four groups and asks them to choose their leaders and secretaries. Learners choose their group leaders and secretaries. Inculcating leadership skills, competitive spirit, cooperation, teamwork and a sense of responsibility among learners.
STEP 4: EXPLORATION
3 mins
Mode: Individual
The teacher asks the students to describe times they have either been involved in the use of idiomatic expressions, proverbs or strong literarily words in story telling or seen others doing the above, thereafter leads students to define poetry. The students contribute by describing such instances, thereafter defined poetry.
Poetry is one of the genres of literature. It is a literary work that expresses the writer’s feeling and ideas or experience in an imaginative language. It is written in condensed language and doesn’t always give up its meaning easily.

Poetry is a piece of writing arranged in patterns of lines and stanzas. It is an expression of the poet’s feelings or experiences in imaginative language.
Identification of prior ideas.
STEP 5: DISCUSSION
5 mins.
Mode: Group
The teacher guides the students to list and explain types of Poetry. The students quickly list out the types of poetry.
The types of poetry are;
1. EPIC: This is a long poem that narrates the heroic deeds of a great person, a group or events that form the cultural history of a society.

2. LYRIC: This is usually a short , simple poem that is often in a song – like style.

3. BALLAD: This is a slow, love song, or poem written to express the heroic past of a village, community or great men. It is also a long song or poem that tells a story.

4. DIRGE/ELEGY: It is a mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.

5. SONNET: It is a poem consisting of 14 lines. The first 8 lines are called an Octava while the last 6 lines are called Sextet.

6. ODE: This type of poem is a direct address to someone or an object that is not present, as if the person or object is present.
Being able to list and explain the types of prose, types of prose, different kinds of prose and elements of prose.
The teacher guides the students to list and explain the features of poetry. Learners expected respond:
1. Lines: it expresses ideas or feelings in lines.

2. Stanzas: it is a collection of verses, it is a unit of a poem written or printed as a paragraph, equivalent to a verse.

3. Couplet: it refers to a pair of lines that are of the same length, one following the other. This refers to two successive rhyming lines in a poem

4. Sestet: it is the last six lines of a poem that contains 14 lines.

5. Rhyme: this refers to the sameness of sounds between words in poetry. Rhyme is a short poem that uses words that flows with the same sounds. Rhymes add rhythm and music to poems.

6. Rhyme scheme: this is the manner or sequence in which a rhyme occurs at the end of each line of a poem.

7. Rhythm: it is when there is a regular repeated pattern of sounds. It is the measured flow of words, phrases, their sounds, their pauses and the beats roused by the stressed and unstressed syllables.

8. Verse: it is a line of poetry, this is a set of lines that forms one part of a poem(stanza).

9. Repetition: it is the act of repeating for emphasis.

10. Imagery: it is the use of words to describe ideas.

11. Meter: In poetry, meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. It is the regular or orderly sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

12. Mood: this is how a poem makes the reader feel.

13. Theme: this is the meaning or interpretation given to the subject treated by the poet. Theme is the lesson derived from the poem.

14. Subject matter: this is the idea or concept behind the poem.

15. Tone: simply means how the poet/speaker feels towards the subject/topic of the poem. He/she may be delighted, happy, scornful, critical, excited, exhilarated, saddened, disappointed, nasty, melancholic, superior, angry or whatever. The poet has an attitude towards the topic/subject which informs the poem as a whole.
The teacher guides the students to List and Explain Differrent Kinds of Poetry. The students List and Explain Differrent Kinds of Poetry
1. Narrative Poetry: It is a poem that tells a story.
2. Lyrical Poetry: It expressing the writer's emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way.
The teacher guides the students to List and Explain qualities of poetry language The students List and Explain qualities of poetry language
1. Concise: It is usually written in lines and stanzas, it does not include unimportant details.

2. Unique: Poet uses language in their own unique way to portray their mind

3. High style: Poet uses language that is formal and rich in imagery and other poetic devices such as simile, metaphor etc.
STEP 6: APPLICATION
4 mins
Mode: Group
The Teacher guides the students to Explain Differences between Poetry and Prose. The students expected answer.
Poetry often uses figurative language to create images or expressive ideas, while prose is more literal.

Prose is usually used for novels, essays, and non-fiction writing, while poetry is more often associated with literature, lyrics, and storytelling.

Prose is a form of writing that is based on spoken language. It is characterized by its natural flow, as well as its use of regular grammar and punctuation. Prose is often used for novels, short stories, and essays.

Poetry, on the other hand, is a form of writing that is based on musicality and rhythm.
Being able to explain the differences between Poetry and Pros
STEP 6: EVALUATION
Mode: Entire Class
5 mins
The teacher asks the students the following questions:
(1) Define the poetry and list the forms of poetry.
(2) explain the important of peotry
(3) Exemplify lyric and explain the following epic, Ballard, and dirge
(4) List and explain qualities of Language of poetry
(5) explain the characteristics of poetry.
The students Provide answers to the following questions.:
(1) Poetry is a style of writing that uses a formal organization and that is often divided up into lines or stanzas, or it refers to something beautiful.
There are two main forms of poetry: oral and written poetry.

Poetry can also be defined as a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings.

(2) Poetry is so important because it helps us understand and appreciate the world around us. Poetry's strength lies in its ability to shed a “sideways” light on the world, so the truth sneaks up on you. No question about it. Poetry teaches us how to live.

(3a)

LYRIC: Lyric is a collection of verses and choruses, making up a complete song, or a short and non-narrative poem. A lyric uses a single speaker, who expresses personal emotions or thoughts. Lyrical poems, which are often popular for their musical quality and rhythm, are pleasing to the ear, and are easily put to music.

There are several types of lyric used in poems such as given below:
Elegy
An elegy is a mournful, sad, or melancholic poem or a song that expresses sorrow for someone who has bee lost, or died. Originally, it followed a structure using a meter alternating six foot and five foot lines. However, modern elegies do not follow such a pattern, though the mood of the poem remains the same.
Ode
An ode is a lyric poem that expresses intense feelings, such as love, respect, or praise for someone or something. Like an elegy, an ode does not follow any strict format or structure, though it uses refrains or repeated lines. It is usually longer than other lyrical forms, and focuses on positive moods of life.
Sonnet
A sonnet uses fourteen lines, and follows iambic pentameter with five pairs of accented and unaccented syllables. The structure of a sonnet, with predetermined syllables and rhyme scheme, makes it flow off the tongues of readers in way similar way to a on song on the radio.
Dramatic Monologue
A dramatic monologue has theatrical quality, which means that the poem portrays a solitary speaker communing with the audience, without any dialogue coming from other characters. Usually, the speaker talks to a specific person in the poem.

EPIC: An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.



DIRGE: A brief hymn or song of lamentation and grief; it was typically composed to be performed at a funeral. In lyric poetry, a dirge tends to be shorter and less meditative than an elegy.



BALLAD: A ballad is a poem that tells a story, usually (but not always) in four-line stanzas called quatrains. The ballad form is enormously diverse, and poems in this form may have any one of hundreds of different rhyme schemes and meters.



(4) qualities of Language of poetry are:
i. Concise: It is usually written in lines and stanzas, it does not include unimportant details.

ii. Unique: Poet uses language in their own unique way to portray their mind.

iii. High style: Poet uses language that is formal and rich in imagery and other poetic devices such as simile, metaphor etc

(5) Characteristics of poetry include:
i. Poetry is a composition of which expresses ideas or feelings in lines.

ii. Poetry tends to have regular rhythmic pattern.

iii. Poetry usually makes uses of carefully chosen words and figures of speech.

iv. Poetry is usually beautiful.
v. It is often divided into stanzas.
Asking the learners questions to assess the achievement of the set objectives.

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ASSIGNMENT The teacher gives learners take home
Construct poems using Alliteration.

NOTE

Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant in a line or lines of poetry. Its function is primarily to reinforce meaning or focus attention on certain qualities or attributes but it is also a means the poet can use:
- To achieve unity in a line or stanza
- To create musical effects
- To assist in creating atmosphere, mood and tone.

The learners copy the assignment Better understanding of Poetry as Genre of literature
CONCLUSION
2mins
Teachers wrap up from the learners' contribution on types of poetry with
example

EPIC:

This is a long poem that narrates the heroic deeds of a great person, a group or events that form the cultural history of a society.
Example; paradise by John Milton.

LYRIC:

This is usually a short, simple poem that once was meant to be sung.
Example; streamside exchange by J.P Clark.

BALLAD:

This is a slow, love song or poem written to express the heroic past of a village, community or great men.
Example; The rime of the ancient mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

DIRGE/ELEGY:

This is a song that meditates on death, it celebrates in a mournful way the death of an individual or relation.
Example; songs of sorrow by Kofi Awoonor.

SONNET:

This is a poem of 14 lines. The poem is divided into two, the first eight lines are called octave while the last six lines are called sextet.
Example; William Shakespeare’s sonnets.

ODE:

This type of poem is a direct address to someone or an objects that is not present, as if the person or object is present.
Example; Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats.
The students listen to the teacher and copy down notes. Consolidating and harmonizing scientific concepts.


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