Good morning 706,707.  Today we are looking at rhyme scheme and how to identify it.

Essential Question: How does a poem's form or structure contribute to its meaning?

L.T. I can analyze a poem's form or structure and how it contributes to a poems meaning.

Poetry is writing that uses words, sound, and structure  in special ways to express meaning. Sometimes poets arrange their thoughts in stanzas, or groups of lines. Stanzas may have a particular pattern of rhyming words. Sometimes poets write in free verse.  In free verse, The arrangement of lines is irregular, and there may be no rhyme scheme, or pattern of rhyme, at all. Poets may also repeat certain sounds, words, or patterns to call our attention to them, or create a rhythm.


The poem below describes the tasks a mother must do each day. Notice the rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is based on the last sound in each line. When two lines have the same rhyming sound they are assigned the same letter.
 
                                I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow         A
                                Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow         A
                                And then I must scrub and bake and sweep    B
                                Till stars are beginning to blink and peep       B

Notice lines 1 and 2 are assigned the same letter.  Lines 3 and 4 are assigned the same letter. The last word in each line that rhyme determines the rhyme pattern. So the rhyme scheme in this poem is "AA, BB"
Lets look at the chart below to learn how the structural elements in this poem contribute to its meaning.

Structural Element                                                        What it adds to the poem

Rhyme scheme                                                      The AA,BB rhyme scheme helps tie together the
                                                                            parts of each idea-starting the fire, and cleaning all
                                                                            day.

Repeated pattern                                                    Ending each line with a group of verbs suggests the
                                                                             day-in and day-out nature of the woman's work.

Poem's meaning: the work of a mother is ongoing and difficult.

Read the following poem; identify the rhyme scheme. Number the stanzas. Think about the meaning in each stanza. Write which words or phrases are repeated.
What is the speaker expressing? What are the parents trying to do for the child?

                                                                  A Barred Owl

                           The warping night air having brought the boom
                            Of an owl's voice into her darkened room,
                          We tell the wakened child that all she heard
                          Was an odd question from a forest bird,

                            Asking of us, if rightly listened to
                         " Who cooks for you?" and then "Who cooks for you?"

                        Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear
                        Can also thus domesticate a fear,
                         And send a small child back to sleep at night

                         Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
                         Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw
                         Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.

What do you think the poem means?