6th Grade Poetry Structure

6th Grade Poetry Structure

By Lacy McAllister

Poetry is written in lines and stanzas (groups of lines). Prose= follows standard rules including sentence structure (different).

A narrative poem written to be sung. Typically short and has a refrain (repeated stanza). Convey strong emotions such as love or righteous anger. Can be written about anything but usually is based on folklore or popular legend. "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from The Lion King.

A Ballad​

An Epic

A long narrative poem. Usually about a serious subject such as events that are important to a nation or culture. Many feature heroes who are larger than life. Examples would be "Iliad" and "Odyssey" about the Trojan War and its heroes. ​

Lyric Poems

Narrative Poems​

A Sonnet​

Free Verse

Usually short poems that express personal feelings. Sometimes they sound like they could be written to go with music even though they are not written to be sung. Emily Dickinson's works are lyrical. ​

Tells stories in verse and can be short or long. ​

Traditionally has fourteen lines of ten syllables each. Some sonnets vary from this, but they all have specific rhyme scheme and number of syllables per line. Examples would be from William Shakespeare's sonnets. ​

Poems with lines that do not rhyme. Example of this:

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

​

In the hush and the lonely silence

Of the chill October night,

Some wizard has worked his magic

With fairy fingers light.

​

The leaves of the sturdy oak trees

Are splendid with crimson and red.

And the golden flags of the maple

Are fluttering overhead.​

​

Through the tangle of faded grasses

There are trailing vines ablaze,

And the glory og warmth and color

Gleams through the autumn haze.​

"Autumn Leaves" by Angelina Wray

Stanza- Group of lines of poetry (usually 4 or more) arranged according to a fixed plan. This one has five stanzas, and each stanza is made up of four lines.

Like banners of marching armies

That farther and farther go;

Down the winding roads and valleys

The boughs of the sumacs glow.

​

So open your eyes, little children,

And open your hearts as well,

Till the charm of the bright October

Shall fold you in its spell.

​

Rhyming Words-words that sound the same at the ends, such as ball/tall, or rim/within. When a poem has rhyming words at the ends of its lines, these are called "end rhymes."

The Ball by Steven Caverly

The bounce of the ball

Either short or tall

Will make it to the rim

From the effort within

​

Rhyme Scheme- A way of describing the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. Each new sound at the end of a line is given a letter, starting with "A," then "B," and so on. If an end sound repeats the end sound of an earlier line, it gets the same letter as the earlier line.

1. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, A

2. And sorry I could not travel both B

3. And be one traveler, long I stood A

4. And looked down one as far as I could A

5. To where it bent in the undergrowth B

​

6. Then took the other, as jus tas fair, C

7. And having perhaps the better claim, D

8. Because it was grassy and wanted wear, C

9. Though as for that the passing there C

10. Had worn them really about the same, D​

​A new letter of the alphabet is used for each line that introduces new rhyme. The next stanza has a rhyme scheme of cdccd. None of the end words in the second stanza rhyme with the end words in the first stanza.

Multiple Choice

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why does my boy so often say

Chocolate chip cookies, Mama

Chocolate chip cookies, for me!

Doesn't he know I've things to do?

And he wants me to make cookies too!

Chocolate chip cookies in the mouth

Fresh from the oven all gooey and warm

Ok then, I've nothing to do

but take time to make

Chocolate chip cookies for me and you

Oh yum!

This poem has how many stanzas?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Choice

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why does my boy so often say

Chocolate chip cookies, Mama

Chocolate chip cookies, for me!

Doesn't he know I've things to do?

And he wants me to make cookies too!

Chocolate chip cookies in the mouth

Fresh from the oven all gooey and warm

Ok then, I've nothing to do

but take time to make

Chocolate chip cookies for me and you

Oh yum!

What is the rhyme scheme of the first stanza?

• abcdd

• aabbe

• abdde

• abbcd

Multiple Choice

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why does my boy so often say

Chocolate chip cookies, Mama

Chocolate chip cookies, for me!

Doesn't he know I've things to do?

And he wants me to make cookies too!

Chocolate chip cookies in the mouth

Fresh from the oven all gooey and warm

Ok then, I've nothing to do

but take time to make

Chocolate chip cookies for me and you

Oh yum!

This passage is which type of poem?

• sonnet

• epic

• narrative

• ballad

Multiple Choice

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why does my boy so often say

Chocolate chip cookies, Mama

Chocolate chip cookies, for me!

Doesn't he know I've things to do?

And he wants me to make cookies too!

Chocolate chip cookies in the mouth

Fresh from the oven all gooey and warm

Ok then, I've nothing to do

but take time to make

Chocolate chip cookies for me and you

Oh yum!

This poem is written from the point of view of

• the boy.

• the mother.

• the narrator.

• the father.