Poem-making: Ways To Begin Writing Poetry
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-9– This well-known poet, anthologist, and teacher demonstrates what makes a poem a poem in a concise, simple, readable manner. She explains the various voices of poetry; types of rhyme; and other elements of sound, rhythm, and metrics. She also discusses figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, and personification; and the forms of haiku, cinquain, limerick, free verse, and concrete poetry. The book is organized well, each chapter building successfully on the previous one. The examples throughout draw from the works of many familiar poets, and effectively illustrate Livingston’s points. However, there are no explanations for the notations used to diagram meter; for some they may be obvious in context, but perhaps not for all. The author treats mechanics and style with much more detail than X. J. Kennedy’s Knock at a Star (Little, 1985), which, while it supplies excellent and profuse examples and is extremely readable, only touches on the surface, especially where it concerns meter. While this book is an excellent introduction to the serious craftsmanship of poetry for beginners, it ends rather abruptly and, because its approach is more academic than in other books, it is likely that few children will pick it up on their own. It will certainly be useful for teachers, easily refreshing their memories of the basics and giving them a guideline to follow in teaching poetry. –Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, MD
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
As Livingston says in her introduction, she invites young people “to make the image, the thought, even the sound come alive…by arranging words, making a sort of music…to experience the joy of making a poem.” This detailed, carefully organized volume makes the invitation irresistible. Admirably, the author doesn’t condescend to her audience by skimping on the complexities; she gives the real concepts and terminology–apostrophe, tercet, consonance, dactyl, cinquain- -building from voice to the patterns and uses of sound to imagery, explaining with consummate clarity and generously providing excellent examples with a wide range of sophistication: Mother Goose to Fitzgerald’s Homer. She’s never pedantic; her eye and ear are consistently on the poem that the devices serve, while her occasional questions to the reader are not merely rhetorical but well framed to provoke imaginative thought. The last chapter is on concrete poetry, with some delightful examples of typography mimicking and extending meaning. Like a provocative poem, the book leaves readers without a neatly wrapped conclusion–the better, perhaps, to continue their own thoughts. An inspiring introduction to a notably thorny but potentially rewarding topic. Index. (Nonfiction. 10-14) — Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Product Details
* Hardcover: 176 pages
* Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st ed edition (May 15, 1991)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0060240199
* ISBN-13: 978-0060240196
