Haiku & Japan Research
Today in the lab, please complete the following:
Also/or:
Read about and practice some haiku today.
Haiku, as you probably know, is a short, closed form of poetry originating in Japan. It is traditionally a poem about nature (and our relationship to nature), as opposed to senryu which is a poem form specifically about human nature. In American translation of the poem form should be fewer than 17 syllables (often 10 words or fewer), and haiku avoids metaphor, personification, or other such poetic devices. Instead two ideas are balanced in harmony through juxtaposition.
Haiku uses a seasonal or key word called kigo. Each season has its own kigo. The kigo is often used in the 1st or 3rd line of the haiku.
Winter imagery, for example, often depicts grief, death, distance, and serenity. Take a look at some kigo and see if you can use it as a central image in your own haiku:
Spring kigo:
balmy night, departing spring, tranquility, vernal equinox, lengthening days, muddy road, melting snow, lingering snow, slush, thin mist, haze, moon, flood, Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, kite, balloon, wild geese returning, any baby animal, nightingale, hawthorn, pussy willow, tulip, snow drop, plum blossom, cherry blossom, violet, Mother's Day, April Fool's Day
Summer kigo:
Summer solstice, summer evening, summer morning, slow day, short night, summer fog, lightning, sudden shower, summer dew, cloud peaks, scorching/blazing sun, bare feet, awning, sunburn, sunglasses, ice tea, sweat, cactus flower, summer grove, lake, fly, swatter, carnation, marigold, gardenia, moth, cicada, perfume, waterfall, fan, independence day, weeding, blue cornflower, honeysuckle, cherry, strawberries, blackberries, sunflower, snapdragon, potato, carrots, melons, lotus
Winter kigo:
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle, sleigh rides, snowfall, blizzard, snow or ice sculptures (snowmen, etc.), football playoffs: "The Super Bowl", ice fishing, ice hockey, ice skating, polar plunges, sledding, tobaggoning, snowboarding, skiing, snow shoeing, snow shoveling, candles, firewood, fireplaces, etc., Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Earth Day, The Epiphany (Episcopal, Catholic), Groundhog Day, Hanukkah, Martin Luther King Jr., Day, Lincoln's Birthday (12th February), President's Day, Pearl Harbor Day, St. Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday (22nd February), midterms, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, juncos, mockingbirds, owl, sparrows, crows (Rochester), tufted titmouse, woodpeckers, poinsettia, Norway pines
Autumn kigo:
Lingering summer, short day, wild geese, crows, woodpecker, red dragonfly, raking/burning leaves, rose of sharon, BBQ, pomegranate, pumpkin, fallen leaves, shrike (bird), black cat, mushroom gathering, gleaning, harvest, corn field, deer, Labor Day, Halloween
Activity: Write a page of haiku.
HOMEWORK: None. Research links as you see fit for your education. Continue writing your monologue piece(s), continue writing haiku.
- Read the handout on the Korean poet. I'll discuss Korea in more depth in the next few classes. Ask your sub for the handout. Read the poems. Think about them. Note what you liked and reinforce your knowledge of poetry and poetic techniques.
- Check out the links from last class. Read and research. Take notes where appropriate. Inspire yourself. Use the research and links, clips, etc. to create. Brainstorm some ideas.
- Working alone or with your group of 1-3 from last class, spend some time with your dramatic monologue writing exercise. Consider the form of your work: are you writing a one-person play script? Fiction (a short story) similar to Akutagawa's "In A Grove"? A poetry cycle with dramatic monologues? Decide with your group what form your work will take. Then spend time today in the lab to write it.
Also/or:
Read about and practice some haiku today.
Haiku, as you probably know, is a short, closed form of poetry originating in Japan. It is traditionally a poem about nature (and our relationship to nature), as opposed to senryu which is a poem form specifically about human nature. In American translation of the poem form should be fewer than 17 syllables (often 10 words or fewer), and haiku avoids metaphor, personification, or other such poetic devices. Instead two ideas are balanced in harmony through juxtaposition.
Haiku uses a seasonal or key word called kigo. Each season has its own kigo. The kigo is often used in the 1st or 3rd line of the haiku.
Winter imagery, for example, often depicts grief, death, distance, and serenity. Take a look at some kigo and see if you can use it as a central image in your own haiku:
Spring kigo:
balmy night, departing spring, tranquility, vernal equinox, lengthening days, muddy road, melting snow, lingering snow, slush, thin mist, haze, moon, flood, Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, kite, balloon, wild geese returning, any baby animal, nightingale, hawthorn, pussy willow, tulip, snow drop, plum blossom, cherry blossom, violet, Mother's Day, April Fool's Day
Summer kigo:
Summer solstice, summer evening, summer morning, slow day, short night, summer fog, lightning, sudden shower, summer dew, cloud peaks, scorching/blazing sun, bare feet, awning, sunburn, sunglasses, ice tea, sweat, cactus flower, summer grove, lake, fly, swatter, carnation, marigold, gardenia, moth, cicada, perfume, waterfall, fan, independence day, weeding, blue cornflower, honeysuckle, cherry, strawberries, blackberries, sunflower, snapdragon, potato, carrots, melons, lotus
Winter kigo:
Freezing rain or freezing drizzle, sleigh rides, snowfall, blizzard, snow or ice sculptures (snowmen, etc.), football playoffs: "The Super Bowl", ice fishing, ice hockey, ice skating, polar plunges, sledding, tobaggoning, snowboarding, skiing, snow shoeing, snow shoveling, candles, firewood, fireplaces, etc., Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Earth Day, The Epiphany (Episcopal, Catholic), Groundhog Day, Hanukkah, Martin Luther King Jr., Day, Lincoln's Birthday (12th February), President's Day, Pearl Harbor Day, St. Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday (22nd February), midterms, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, juncos, mockingbirds, owl, sparrows, crows (Rochester), tufted titmouse, woodpeckers, poinsettia, Norway pines
Autumn kigo:
Lingering summer, short day, wild geese, crows, woodpecker, red dragonfly, raking/burning leaves, rose of sharon, BBQ, pomegranate, pumpkin, fallen leaves, shrike (bird), black cat, mushroom gathering, gleaning, harvest, corn field, deer, Labor Day, Halloween
Activity: Write a page of haiku.
HOMEWORK: None. Research links as you see fit for your education. Continue writing your monologue piece(s), continue writing haiku.
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