Poetry Study for High Schoolers Part 3

Here is the next batch of poetry assignments we used to finish our study of Robert Browning.

Week 7:
Read as many of his poems this week as you can fit into the allotted time. Make sure to keep a list of the poems you read in your literature journal. Read this section on SparkNotes about My Duchess. Does the use of couplets in this poem add to or distract from the poem?

Week 8 (similar to Week 2):
Choose one poem and answer one of the questions for your poetry journal.
(Here is a LINK to a list similar to ours. My son chose, "Who is the speaker and what kind of person is he?")

Week 9 (similar to Week 5):
Choose a poem and print it out. Use a highlighter to mark strong words or images in the poem. Decide on the mood/tone of the poem.  Here is a list of words you can use to describe the mood of a poem: Tone and Mood List. This week though let's have some fun with tone/mood.
1. Write a stanza from your poem this week into your journal, replacing highlighted words with synonyms.
2. Compare the two versions and tell me how your word choices changed the mood/tone of the poem.
This was a really fun assignment and at my suggestion Mr. A used the thesaurus to find words to substitute.We learned a lot about word choice and their influence on the whole feeling of a poem.


Week 10:
We can't leave our study of Robert Browning without having talked about Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Read a love poem from each poet and compare the words and feelings.
How Do I Love Thee?
Life in a Love

Our little amphibian from our walking trail last week.

Week 11:
Pick one poem from your reading and choose a stanza to memorize (at least 4 lines). Use the suggestions from this website (Rule #1) to implement with your reading. Be ready to tell me what the lines mean.
(Mr. A chose the poem Amphibian and did a great job at reciting his stanza at our Friday meeting.)

Week 12:
Our last week with Robert Browning calls for a short biographical notebook page. Pick one last poem to share with me on Friday. Have the poem printed out for your journal and highlight any words you like or think are especially fitting to the poem's tone/mood.

That wraps up our second poet of the year and I think my son is finally truly understanding how word choices effect the tone and mood of a poem. I think we are going to move on to another literary device now that he has this one solidly fixed in his mind. We are heading into a study of Robert Frost next! I can hardly wait! This poet is actually included in our Tapestry of Grace Year 4 Classic plans so I will be gleaning a few ideas from there for sure.