Poetic Elements

​Couplet

• two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit.

Example:

"If the track is tough and the hill is rough,

THINKING you can just ain’t enough!"

- Shel Silverstein

​Quatrain

• a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.

Example:

"Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow." - Robert Frost

​Free Verse

• poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.

Example:

"Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare" - Langston Hughes

Multiple Choice

True or False

Stanzas in a poem are made up by lines.

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

How many stanzas should a quatrain have?

• 3 stanzas

• 4 stanzas

• 5 stanzas

• 6 stanzas

Multiple Choice

What poem has no set rules?

• Free verse

• Lyrics

• Parody

Multiple Choice

A couplet poem has ............... lines of poetry that rhyme

• 2

• 4

• 6

• 8

Multiple Choice

What structure is this poem?

• couplet

• Limerick

• Quatrain

• Haiku

​Kwame Alexander (1968-)

Kwame Alexander is a product of Chesapeke Public Schools. He attended Georgetown Elementary, Crestwood Junior High School, and is a graduate of Great Bridge High School. As the son of two authors, Alexander was immersed in literature as a child.   He grew up with an interest and love of poetry that grew into a passion for the genre.  As a student at Virginia Tech, he decided to become a poet after being inspired by his professor, Nikki Giovanni.  

 

As his writing career evolved, his love for poetry began to encompass children’s literature. He is a bestselling author of 36 books, and in 2015 Alexander was awarded the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor for The Crossover, a basketball story told through different forms of poetry.

Alexander believes poetry can change the world and is dedicated to this vision through service to others. To develop student authors, he began the Book-in-a-Day program to encourage young authors in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. He also worked to build literacy in Ghana where he led a delegation of writers and activists who delivered books, built a library, and facilitated instruction to teachers. 

Open Ended

Write your own couplet!