Tanka; Renga; Writing
In the lab, please use your time to read and write a few tanka and renga poems. The renga is a collaborative project, so find a partner and write a draft today.
By Thursday, you should have completed drafts of haiku (see previous post), your collaborative dramatic monologue draft (see last two posts), and the renga and tanka drafts from today's class. I will be asking that you print these out and leave them with your sub on Thursday, May 22.
Tanka is an older form of Japanese poetry, often written by members of the court, it has become a traditional poetry form for anyone looking to celebrate or honor something. It has more feeling supposedly than haiku, although it, too, focuses on nature. It centers on a vivid image that is related to an emotion. The tanka traditionally has 31 syllables or fewer in 5 lines. Traditionally that would be 5,7,5,7,7 but contemporary tanka, like haiku, suggests fewer syllables when possible. Here are some examples. And here are some tips and pointers.
Renga is often a collaborative effort, using two poets who create the poem at the same time. It was a popular court game in ancient Japan. The idea is that one poet writes a verse, then the second poet adds his/her own ideas to the first verse, and continues to alternate between the two poets. Unlike haiku (a one-breath poem), the renga can extend to over 100 verses. Like the tanka, each verse is comprised of 31 syllables or fewer. The first poet writes the first two lines (a line no more than 5 syllables, then 7 syllables), then the second poet finishes the verse (the last three lines) with a third line of no more than 5 syllables, the fourth and fifth with no more than 7 syllables each. When starting the second verse, the roles reverse. Here are some examples.
Finally, here is a website devoted to classical Japanese poetry and poets. Enjoy!
HOMEWORK: See above.
By Thursday, you should have completed drafts of haiku (see previous post), your collaborative dramatic monologue draft (see last two posts), and the renga and tanka drafts from today's class. I will be asking that you print these out and leave them with your sub on Thursday, May 22.
Tanka is an older form of Japanese poetry, often written by members of the court, it has become a traditional poetry form for anyone looking to celebrate or honor something. It has more feeling supposedly than haiku, although it, too, focuses on nature. It centers on a vivid image that is related to an emotion. The tanka traditionally has 31 syllables or fewer in 5 lines. Traditionally that would be 5,7,5,7,7 but contemporary tanka, like haiku, suggests fewer syllables when possible. Here are some examples. And here are some tips and pointers.
Renga is often a collaborative effort, using two poets who create the poem at the same time. It was a popular court game in ancient Japan. The idea is that one poet writes a verse, then the second poet adds his/her own ideas to the first verse, and continues to alternate between the two poets. Unlike haiku (a one-breath poem), the renga can extend to over 100 verses. Like the tanka, each verse is comprised of 31 syllables or fewer. The first poet writes the first two lines (a line no more than 5 syllables, then 7 syllables), then the second poet finishes the verse (the last three lines) with a third line of no more than 5 syllables, the fourth and fifth with no more than 7 syllables each. When starting the second verse, the roles reverse. Here are some examples.
Finally, here is a website devoted to classical Japanese poetry and poets. Enjoy!
HOMEWORK: See above.
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