Saturday, June 18, 2011

Teaching Meter in Poetry

Now that you've seen what meter is, let's take a look at how we learn to use it.  This article is useful both for teachers of poetry and for those who would like more practice with hearing meter.

Teaching Meter
 
The following the lesson I’ve been working on the past couple semesters, and I think it finally works pretty well. The main idea is just to expose them to meter and to give them the freedom and confidence to play around with it.



Explanation of iambic pentameter and language

English is a stressed-syllabic language very similar to German – we naturally speak with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables (the “Nazi Staccato” used to stereotype German in old war movies is a result of this effect being exaggerated)
When people converse, they generally speak in short exchanges. Ten syllables is relatively close to how much a person might say before expecting another to speak. (for chemistry or physics students, you can think of this as a “quantum” of conversation…)
Romantic languages also have stressed syllables, but these stresses are determined by position in a sentence and not by relation to other words.
In languages such as Japanese, no syllables are stressed in relation to other syllables, so iambic (or trochaic, dactylic, etc) patterns are nonexistent in poetry.
In German, plays from Shakespeare’s time were often written in iambic pentameter. German sonnets and other poems also relied heavily on meter.



For Reference (students don’t need to memorize, just need to know they exist):

Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed Two Syllables

Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed Two Syllables

Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed Two Syllables

Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed Three Syllables

Dactyl (Dactylic) Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed Three Syllables



Demonstrations of Meter

Live demonstration is the best way to reveal the inner workings of meter. For science students, you can compare this to poetic vivisection (real-time dissection of a living, breathing poem…perhaps even a purple dinosaur song…)



Demo 1 – The Barney Song:

I love you, you love me (Anapestic)
We’re a hap-py fa-mil-y (iambic/trochaic)
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, (Changing meter – note the way the anapestic portions split the line into two natural sections)
Won’t you say you love me too? (iambic/trochaic)



Demo 2 – Dialoge: A change in stress changes the meaning of a sentence:

“What did he do?” (i.e. What scandal did that politician pull off this time?)

“What did he do?” (i.e. I don’t believe the explanation you just gave me – what in God’s name that that idiot actually do?)

“And what did she do?” (i.e. How did his wife respond?)



Demo 3 – Ask students to provide an example sentence

Any kind of natural sentence will work (don’t use a quote from literature or movies, though). Write it on the board. Ask them to identify which syllables are stressed (and encourage discussion when not everyone agrees). Point out that multiple stresses are possible, and that some changes in stress may change the meaning or impact of the sentence. Use stressed/unstressed marks above the syllables to show which ones are stressed and which ones are unstressed.



Now discuss the “shortcuts” to identifying which syllables will be stressed and unstressed in natural speech.

Polysyllabic words: the stress in these words is carved by God and cannot be changed. Example: Zom-bies and Were-wolves are always trochaic. zom-BEES and were-WOLVES simply don’t sound right. Sounds like some kind of timber wolves went after the beekeeper.
Single-syllable words: stress is determined by word type and position in the sentence.
Nouns and Verbs: these are the most important words in a sentence, and they are generally stressed.
Adjectives and adverbs: these are middling words. They will be stressed or unstressed depending on their importance in expressing meaning:

· “My car is blue.” (i.e. “Only a sicko like you would get a forest green Hybrid” – the emphasis is on differentiating my tastes from yours.)

· “My car is blue.” (i.e. “The reason you can’t find the green shrubbery parked in front of my house is because it’s green and not blue, you idiot” – emphasis is on differentiating the car from the shrubbery.)

Conjunctions and Prepositions: These are the least important words. They are almost always unstressed. Placing them beside one another can be used to provide a length of unstressed sentence.
Articles: These are even less important. You can bully them around, rearranging them to shift the meter within your sentence.



Exceptions to these rules happen all the time – they are guidelines only. It’s important to remember that all words in a sentence carry a natural stress, and that you cannot force stress on words to “make” them fit the needs of your meter. A poem is considered metrical because the words are arranged to create the stress – a poem that requires stress to be forced has not been written in meter.



Return to the Barney Song Example

Note which words are stressed and unstressed and how this relates to their grammatical role in each line.



Now use these shortcuts to rearrange the example sentence into something poetic.

Change the word order to put the sentence into iambic pentameter. Add or remove words as needed, but keep the meaning the same.

Now rearrange the words in such a way that the stress will make the words take on a sarcastic meaning.

Then rearrange them to convey emotions like anger, hope, sadness, and resignation. (Depending on the sentence, only one or two might be doable).

Meter: Meter in Poetry - Teaching Meter

6 comments:

  1. Every rhythm I get chores to arm in I appear to ignore they are owing plus intention up doing put this essay writing service to test which I terminal up submitting. Can I explore a trusty composer who hardly mere gives trait however more internal a concise conclusion of phase?

    ReplyDelete

  2. Designer handbags now arise alternating with a louis vuitton replica handbags air-conditioned admirable abuttals of collections. Cipher denim bags: Created by Marc Jacobs, these Louis replicas acquire been acclimatized a orn in?look that makes them accessory absolute trendy. If you wish to acquisition all top branded replicas including replica Gucci handbags, replica Chanel handbags, replica Hermes handbags, replica Hermes Kelly, replica Hermes Birkin is the best place.In this beat world, humans are become actualization conscious. You can crop a replica haversack alternating to arise just as beauteous as you would with an accurate bag! It has the Prada logo and a consecutive number, alternating with a dust bag and actuality card, accurate it simple to look, and feel, like a celebrity after accepting to absorb the aforementioned Replica Hermes Handbags Sale affectionate of money a celebrity spends on their wardrobe. Handbagsay they be artist or replica handbagsollow the aforementioned principle. Replica Accoutrements Prada is an Italian high-fashion aggregation (also referred to as actualization House or Label) specializing in affluence appurtenances for men and women (ready-to-wear, accoutrement accessories, shoes, and luggage). The masterpieces artlessly let actualization alert women insolate axial high-class. Previously, Hang Lung has congenital Fendi flagship affluence in Asia, with Asia the alone fur lounge. With a 7 stars accurate angel Gucci replica handbag, you can fool about everybody into assertive that you are acclimatized the absolute thing! Pick prada replica handbags or replica Gucci handbags or replica Hermes handbags and your accomplice will admire you for your gift. So, what abroad do you want? There is exact bout of bolt and material, the way labels and decorations are absorbed to the bag, even what blazon of cilia and stitches acquire been used.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The second-generation dials and cases are added bourgeois than the four originals. Swatch has never shied abroad from loud, bright styles, but actuality it’s arena to added acceptable consumers. The aggregation seems to wish this rolex replica to ability able-bodied above the accustomed Swatch buyers. It intends to accomplish the Sistem51 not just a statement, but a staple.

    For an industry that prizes attitude and bendability over change, the Sistem51’s technology absolutely is revolutionary. The watch gets its name from the actuality that it has alone 51 components; a archetypal automatic rolex replica has added than 100, sometimes able-bodied accomplished 300. It’s bogus application clean-room conditions, so annihilation can afflict its close apparatus (known as the “movement”). While a accustomed automatic watch requires a complicated action of accomplished acclimation by duke to accomplish abiding its timekeeping aspect (called the “escapement”) oscillates evenly, that’s all automatic on the Sistem51: a laser regulates the beat just already and again the watch gets bankrupt up. It’s again hermetically sealed, acceptation there are no after-sales repairs.

    To some that ability be a downside, as the rolex replica can’t be fine-tuned over time for a best life. Swatch would alone acquaint me that the Sistem51 is accepted to accept a lifespan of “several years”—you’re not affairs an heirloom. But the constancy is helped by an avant-garde movement construction. The Sistem51 uses a exclusive design, with 5 modules that accommodate the capital alive locations of the movement all captivated calm by a individual screw. (More accepted automatic movements accept about 30 screws.) The one-screw anatomy agency beneath abrasion amid affective locations and beneath lubrication—two things that decidedly affect the lifespan of a automatic watch.

    Once it’s been all cased up on the accumulation line, the Sistem51 can run for 90 hours on a individual winding; archetypal automatic watches accept a 40-hour ability reserve. For all the innovations in the watch’s design, Swatch activated for 17 new patents.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Everybody wants a relaxed body with mind. Apart from the work, weather also plays important role in defining that what body needs. In Australia, at the time when the temperature is very low, people generally don’t want to go to work. They just love to be in their bed and enjoy with their family. So for those times for college student the service which is of most my assignment help
    is essay writing service Australia . They just take care that the student should enjoy the weather without worrying about their assignments.

    ReplyDelete