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SHS CREATIVE WRITING MODULE

Quarter 1 - Module 4.4: Becoming an Active Free Verse Poet

Writing free verse poetry

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: “No copyright shall subsist in
any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of
the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be
necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may,
among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.”

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand

names, trademarks, etc.) included in this book are owned by their respective
copyright holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek
permission to use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The
publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Regional Director: GILBERT T. SADSAD

Assistant Regional Director: JESSIE L. AMIN

Development Team of the Module

Author: RHENLYN O. RELUYA

Editor: SUZETTE P. BARCENA
Reviewers: JOE-BREN L. CONSUELO and SDO CAMARINES NORTE
(headed by EMMA V. DASCO)
Illustrators: JOHN LEONARD P. CUIZON & KENNETH JOSEPH P. OCAMPO
Layout Artist: CRIZ T. NUYLES

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Introductory Message

For the teacher:

Welcome to the SHS CREATIVE WRITING MODULE!
This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by
educators from public institutions in Department of Education Region V
(Bicol) to assist you, the teacher in helping the learners meet the standards
set by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their personal, social, and
economic constraints in schooling.
This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and
independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this
also aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking
into consideration their needs and circumstances.
As a teacher, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use
this module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while
allowing them to manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected
to encourage and assist the learners as they do the tasks included in the
module.

For the learner:

Welcome to the SHS CREATIVE WRITING MODULE!
This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and
time. You will be enabled to process the contents of the learning resource
while being an active learner and at the same time an adventurer. Diego
your learning companion is with you as you embark in this learning journey.
You will transport in the different realms to learn and perform noteworthy
tasks.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do
not hesitate to consult your teacher. Always bear in mind that you are not
alone.
We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful
learning and gain a deep understanding of the relevant competencies.
More so, use your notebook or a separate sheet of paper in noting significant
details and pieces of information in the different modules and even in
accomplishing the tasks given to you. You can do it!

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 Hi there! This is the moment you have been waiting for! Diego will bring
you to a stone castle where you need to get the last magical seed from
the sad White Queen’s daughter living there.

To get the fourth seed from the White Queen’s daughter, you have to
bring her lost friend Draga back home. Draga is a small dragon that
protects her from enemies. Unfortunately, Draga is trapped in an unknown
place where beasts are ruling. To free Draga from the beasts, you need to
explore the vivid and breathtaking world of free verse poetry and write a
free verse poem!

Don’t worry, Diego is with you! Just remember why you need to
complete the magical seeds!

The White Queen’s daughter will open a door for you going to where
the beasts are. Before she shows you the way to the beasts, you need to
do this task. Diego will show you the directions in order to accomplish this
task.

Directions: Encircle 5 words which you will encounter in this unit from the
puzzle below. Write each word beside its synonym below. Write your
answers in your notebook.

S W E I U V E R S E
F R E E D A G O J S
M U L Z V F A S E A
O A A C O M R A D E
C O N S T R A I N T
M G I K E T F B E D
C H E M S O U C I L
C A U T I O U S F M

1. self-ruling , _______________________
2. stanza, _______________________
3. companion, _______________________
4. inhibition, _______________________
5. mindful, _______________________

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 Great job buddy! The White Queen’s daughter will now let you enter
the portal to the beasts. Be careful on your journey!

As you see the place, you will be greeted by a raven! The raven gives
you a challenge before you can fully enter their place. Diego will help you
accomplish this.

Directions: Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast free verse and
prose poetry. You can try to surf the internet for information or read a
literature book. Write your answer in your notebook.

Great! You’re done! The raven will now let you in! Be ready to save
Daraga!

On your way to the beasts’ place, you are asked to learn more about
free verse poetry! That’s what the raven wants you to do.

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Free verse poetry
The term free verse is a direct translation of the French phrase vers libre,
which describes a specific movement in French poetry in the late
1800s.The, declared objective of the movement is to release poetry from
the bondage of the strict conventions of rhythm and rhyme to which it has
always been shackled.

One of the characteristics of free verse is the use of enjambment, a

term derived from the French which means “to step over or put legs
across.” Enjambment in poetry refers to the refusal to follow the usual rules
of lineation. The thought or idea being developed by the poet naturally
spills over or runs on from one line to the next without a major pause or
syntactical break. The lines of enjambment do not typically have a
punctuation mark. Enjambment allows the poet to let his or her ideas flow
freely and more rhythmically throughout the poem. Lineation denotes the
length of the poetic lines in relation to the line breaks, and it helps
determine the silhouette or shape of the poem; long lines produce a
poem that has a thick shape, while short lines produce a poem that has a
thin silhouette.

Because poets using free verse aren’t following certain rules when they
write, they have the freedom to choose whatever words, sounds, and
shapes they want in their poetry.

You might think that free verse sounds a lot like prose (sentences
written out in paragraph form). There are two main differences to free
verse poetry. First, it’s split into lines, which is the easiest way to recognize a
free verse poem. Second, it uses “poetic language,” meaning the poet
might use images, metaphors, repeated sounds, and made-up words in
the poem, not necessarily to make the meaning clearer but to make the
poem sound and mean what the poet wants it to.

Free verse poems do not follow the rules, and have no rhyme or
rhythm; but they are still an artistic expression. They are sometimes thought
to be a modern form of poetry; but, the free verse types of poem have
been around for hundreds of years.

Features of Free Verse

• Free verse poems have no regular meter or rhythm.
• They do not follow a proper rhyme scheme; these poems do not have
any set rules.

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• This type of poem is based on normal pauses and natural rhythmical
phrases, as compared to the artificial constraints of normal poetry.
• It is also called vers libre, which is a French word meaning “free verse.”

Types of Free Verse

Here are some of the most common types:

1. Narrative poem
The poet tells a story. Often, there is rising action, climax, and
resolution, like a short story. The poet composes the narrative by using
simile, metaphor, imagery, vivid description, line breaks, and so forth.
2. Prose poem
The poet uses complete sentences and the techniques of poetry,
simile, metaphor, imagery, and vivid description. Stanzas become
paragraphs. The language of the poem is lyrical.
3. Anecdote
The poet describes some incident or experience or event that is
humorous or interesting, and ends the poem with some insight. Poets
also use anecdotes to illustrate a truth.
4. Image poem
The poet writes a poem about an image, and relies on language that
appeals to the sense of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing to
describe the image. The poet also composes the poem using line
break, simile, metaphor, and so forth.
5. Meditative poem
The poet begins by describing a scene. This scene triggers a meditation
in the mind of the poet. The poet then returns to the initial scene with
better understanding or resolution. The poet composes the poem
using line break, simile, metaphor, and so forth.

6. Lyrical poem
A traditional form adopted by many modern/contemporary poets. The
poet writes a poem expressing personal thoughts and feelings about
an idea, person, and experience. The poet uses imagery and
description to create a mood. The poet also uses sound effects to
make the poem sound lyrical, like music. These sound effects include
alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, internal or end rhyme.
7. Confessional poem
A poem that is autobiographical. The poet writes about personal
thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Instead of looking outward,
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 observing the world, and then writing about it, the poet peers inward to
the psyche, writes about the world in relation to themselves. The poet
composes the poem using line break, simile, metaphor, and so
forth. See the poetry of Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, and Jane Kenyon.
8. Elegy
A traditional form adopted by some modern/contemporary poets. A
poem that laments the death of a loved one, such as a friend. The
poet composes the poem using line break, simile, metaphor, and so
forth. See “Oh Caption! My Caption” by Walt Whitman and “Because I
Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson.

Building Blocks
A good free verse poem uses the following building blocks or
techniques:

Syntax and grammar

Poets use a variety of syntax, such as fragments, simple sentences,

compound sentences, periodic sentences, and parallel structure. They
follow the rules of punctuation and the rules of grammar.

Line breaks and Line length

Poets use line breaks such as white space, enjambment, or end-stop

(period or comma) to indicate the reader to pause, to create emphasis,
and to create rhythm. They write short lines to speed up the pace, and
long lines to slow down the pace.

Figurative Language

Most good free verse poetry includes simile or metaphor. A simile makes
a comparison using “like” or “as.” A metaphor makes a comparison with
“is” or “of” by stating that one thing is another. Example: She is the devil in
disguise. And when required, the poet also includes symbolism and
allusion and personification.

Appropriate word choice or diction

Free verse poets choose words for their meaning (denotation or

dictionary meaning), implied meaning (connotation), and sound (rhyme,

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alliteration, assonance). Example: The boy sat on the soiled sofa/sipped a
cold soda/ read a comic book. Most free verse poets use everyday
language, words that you’d here in a conversation. The following poem
by Louise Gluck is a good example of how poets can use everyday
language to create a powerful poetry:

Memoir

I was born cautious, under the sign of Taurus.

I grew up on an island, prosperous,
in the second half of the twentieth century;
the shadow of the Holocaust
hardly touched us.
I had a philosophy of love, a philosophy
of religion, both based on
early experience within family.
And if when I wrote I used only a few words
it was because time always seemed to me short
as though it could be stripped away
at any moment.
And my story, in any case, wasn’t unique
though, like everyone else, I had a story,
a point of view.
A few words were all I needed:
nourish, sustain, attack.

Imagery

Good free verse poets use language that appeals to reader’s sense of
sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. The poet uses imagery to show the
reader what happened or what the poet experienced with his/her senses.

Symbolism

On occasion, the free verse poet uses symbol, metonymy, or synecdoche.

A symbol refers to something other than its literal meaning. Some poets
use well-recognized symbols. (Examples: cross, dove, bible) Others create
their own. (A blooming yellow tulip in the garden can be a symbol of birth
or springtime.) Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the poet replaces
the word of one thing with the word or phrased that is closely associated
with it. (Example: Crown instead of Monarch) A synecdoche is a figure of
speech in which the poet substitutes the “part for the whole.” This part or

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attribute or characteristic is used by the poet to refer to the entire person,
place, thing, object, and so forth. (Example: The teenager purchased a
“set of wheels.” Wheels refer to a car or truck.

Sound Devices

A memorable poem has a pleasing sound when read aloud. This

pleasuring sound is created with particular poetic devices, such as
alliteration (repetition of consonant sound of two or more words on a line
or lines) and assonance (repetition of vowel sounds of two or more words
on a line or lines). When required, poets also use onomatopoeia, internal
rhyme, or end rhyme. Free verse poetry is meant to be read for its
meaning and sound. Both invoke an emotional reaction.

Rhythm

A good free verse poem has rhythm or beat. This rhyme is based on the
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables on a line. Meter can be part of
rhythm. For instance, a poet can include rhythm by using a particular
metrical pattern. Though a free verse poem doesn’t have to comply to a
metrical pattern, such as iambic pentameter, many modern and
contemporary poets rely on “syllabic meter” to create rhythm. For
instance, the poetic might create a poem in which each line has the
same number of syllables. Poets also use other techniques, such as parallel
structure and repetition, to create rhythm. Line break is also an important
way to create rhythm. The poet can use white space, enjambment, or
end-stop, such as a period or coma. Poets also create rhythm by
changing the pace. The poet can speed up or slow down the pace of a
poem, make it fast or slow, smooth or interrupted—even irregular by using
different lengths of line. A long line slows down the pace, while a short
line speeds up the pace. Usually a longer line has more syllables than a
short line.

Point of view

Free verse poetry can be written from different poets of view—first person
(“I”), second person (“you”), or third person (“he/she”). Before selecting a
point of view, the poet should determine how he/she is going to present
the poem to the reader. The poet has two choices: First, the poet can turn
inward–and then write about thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
Secondly, the poet can turn outward—and write about other people,
objects, things, events, topics in the world. If the poet turns inward, to the
psyche or self, then the poem is usually written in the first person (“I.”) If the

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poet turns outward—to view the outside world, the poet can still write in
the first person. However, usually the poet writes in the third person using
(“he/she.”)

Sometimes the poet writes in the second-person point of view using “you.”
In this case, the poet is referring directly to the reader. Example: You
smoke your cigarette/ you read your paper/You sip your morning
coffee/You ponder how another day will unfold/You’ve learned that a
day can play out like a football game/ Often you don’t know who will win
until the very end.

Sometimes, the poet invents a persona, and then composes a poem as if

he were someone else. For instance, the poet might write a poem in the
voice of someone dead or alive or famous. Most free verse poems are
written in the first-person point of view (“I”), or the third person point of
view (“he/she”).

Appealing Voice and Style

Voice and style are used interchangeably. They refer to tone, word
choice/diction, and sentence variety. A good poem has a respectful
tone, is constructed with everyday language, and a variety of sentence
structures, such as fragment, parallel structure, simple sentence,
compound sentences, and more. For instance, here is a poem, written by
Ted Kooser, that is like a conversation:

Flying at Night
by Ted Kooser

Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.

Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies

like a snowflake falling on the water. Below us

some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death,

snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn

back into the little system of his care.

All night, the cities, like shimmering novas,

tug with bright streets at lonely lights like his.

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Voice and Style of the Poet
Voice or style is what the readers hear when they read a writer’s work.
Several elements create the poet’s voice or style. These include:

Subject Matter. The subject you choose to write about will contribute to
the voice of your poem. For instance, if you desire to write about grief and
death, you’ll probably want to use a serious, respectful, melancholy tone.

Word Choice. The types of words you choose, the sound of these words,
and the meaning of these words will contribute to your voice. A good
poet uses everyday language, which can be understood. A good poet
also writes poetry that has a pleasing sound when read aloud.

Sentence Types. The sentence types you use are part of your voice that
you express on the page. You can use different types of sentences, such
as a fragment, simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence,
fragment, and so forth. A short sentence speeds up the pace, where as a
longer sentence slows the pace.

Grammar. Poets are told to use the active voice, concrete and specific
details, concrete nouns, and action verbs. Each contributes to the voice
of a poem. You should following these suggestions to help create a
pleasing voice.

Figurative language/Poetic Devices. In part, your style is determined by

the poetic devices you use to create your poems. You might use
alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia to create a particular sound. You
might also use simile, metaphor, imagery, symbolism to create an
entertaining poetry and to explain. Many poets prefer particular poetic
devices over others. Most good free verse uses simile or metaphor.

Tone. The tone of the poem is determined by the poet’s attitude toward
the reader and the subject. The best tone is friendly, conversational, and
respectful. Write your poetry as if you’re talking to a friend.

Point of View. The personal point of view (“I”) is more intimate. Use it to
write about yourself. The third person (“he/she”) provides some narrative
distance. Use it write about the world around you.

Life experience. Every writer is socialized by the world in which he/she

lives. Religion, the mass media, education, family, personal experience
shapes the writers view of the world.

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 The four most important aspects of developing style are tone, word
choice, sentence variety/syntax, and poetic technique.

Example of Free Verse in Literature

A Noiseless Patient Spider

(By Walt Whitman)

“A noiseless patient spider,

I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space…
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.”

If you are looking for free verse examples, then Walt Whitman is your
guy. He is known as the father of free verse English poetry. In this poem, only a
simple metaphor is used to mesmerize readers without employing regular
rhyme scheme or rhythm. We can see normal pauses in the poem unlike the
typical limitations of metrical feet.

Here are some tips to help you channel your inspiration and ideas to
write a free verse poem of your own.

How to write a free verse poem

1. What is it? A free verse poem (or blank verse poem) doesn’t follow any
specific guidelines, the way a haiku or sonnet does. Instead, you can
let your thoughts run wild so that the words on the page read more like
a conversation or story.

2. Wait, isn’t that kind of hard? Since free verse poems have no set
structure, it’s up to you to make the poem sound great without rhyming
or any type of pattern.

3. So how does it start? First, settle on a theme or event you’d like to write
about. Try to set the scene in your head and go from there. Then write
down some key words that relate to your story. Since you don’t need to

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 worry about matching up words and rhyming them, you should be
able to incorporate most of these words in your poem. Work
backwards and create the lines of your poems around those key words
to flesh out the poem.

4. Use the Five Senses. To bring life to your free verse poem, focus on
incorporating the five senses into your poem; devote one line to each
sense, or sprinkle them throughout. Using imagery and descriptive
language will help the reader understand what scene or emotion your
poem illustrates, and encourage your audience to fully experience
your work.

5. Test it out With Power Poetry. Always remember to share your awesome
free verse poem so everyone can read your rule-free poem!

Five Steps to Free Verse

The best ways to write free verse is to start with wild abandon and
funnel your choice of words and movement through a tightly-focused
editing process. Try these five steps to unleash your inner poet:

1. Choose your subject and write about it. Get it all out. Stay deep
and true to the rhythm of the poetic movement rolling through you,
but get everything about the subject down on paper.
2. Check your rough poem to see if anything is missing. If you need to
add a line, or even a stanza, do so. If you’re missing a metaphor,
simile, or turn of phrase, add it.
3. Read the rough poem aloud. Free verse is a rhythmic dance with
voice and words so check the sequence of lines and make sure
that one flows into the other.
4. Move through your poem with an editor’s pen and make sure
you’ve selected the words that give proper accent and cadence
to the overall poem.
5. Read the poem aloud until it flows like honey and you feel it inside.
That’s a sure sign of a well-completed piece of free verse.

If you’d like to try your hand at free verse, there are a few tips (not
rules) that will help as you develop your own style.

Using Alliteration
Alliteration is a literary device where the first sound in a series of words is
the same, like “She shares shining shells.” You can use alliteration in free
verse to create a particular mood, feeling, or sound to the poem,

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especially when combined with careful word choice. For example, the
word “licking” forces your tongue to the front of your mouth when you say
it, like a lick! Let’s combine this careful word choice with alliteration in a
free verse poem about a hard candy on a stick!

Summer Lollipop

Licking a lolly slowly,

sunlight lapping at the lazy lake.

Lovely evening,
Lovely lolly,
lazy life.

Using Personification
Sometimes giving an inanimate object human characteristic can
breathe new life into it. (See, I just did it!) Have you ever heard someone
say that the sun was peeking out from somewhere, or that the clouds
were lazy, or the water licked the shore? That’s personification. Let’s try it
here:

Night crept in,

slow and smooth.

It smothered the city

in darkness.

Lights in windows
of tall buildings blinked,
One. Two. Again.

And opened
their bright eyes.

The night takes on the persona of a thief creeping through the darkness
and the lights blink their eyes. There are two different personifications
working in this poem, bringing it to life.

Now that you have some tools, use them to create your own free verse.
Once you write a few poems, you will begin to develop your very own

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unique style. Before you know it, you’ll be writing free verse just like Walt
Whitman!

Finally, you have found the dragon captured by the beasts. To save
him, you have to convince the beasts to let him go. Diego reminds you to
be ready because for sure there will also be challenges and he is
absolutely correct. To convince the beasts, you have to complete the
tasks that follow.

Practice Task 1: Read and study the sample graphic organizer below
made by a writer before writing her free verse and see if it is helpful.

Close your eyes and imagine your
topic.
What do you see? Write down the
images that are in your mind.
White, brown, and black spots
Humongous whiskers
Pink paws, sharp claws
Write three or more verbs that show the
action or actions that go with your
topic.
Close your eyes and picture your topic
again, but this time focus on the sounds.
What are they? What are they like?
Rumbling purr
Jingle of the bell around her neck
Thumping as she runs up and down the
stairs
Scratching on the carpet
Hungry mewing
What questions do you have to ask about
your topic or to your topic? Write your
questions here.

Rolling over What are you thinking when you look at

Stalking her toys
Eyes glued on me
Jumping on the couch or my lap
Write three or more similes that go with
your topic.
Stalking her toys like a hungry tiger
me?
Are you happy being here in this house
or would you rather be free chasing birds
all day?
How do you feel about your topic? Can
you find an interesting way to share
them, such as with repetition or a little
rhyme?

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 stalking a gazelle.
Eyes glued on me as if she was a mind I love her pink paws and her sharp claws.
reader about to reveal all my secret I love the rumbling purr of Zoë’s
thoughts. happiness when she is on my lap.
White, brown, and black spots all
jumbled together as if someone had
spilled three pails of paint

Now read the poem below composed out of the ideas written in the graphic
organizer.

Stalking her toys like a hungry tiger stalking a gazelle

I hear the jingle of Zoë’s bell
as she creeps towards the catnip-1filled mouse
Thump! She attacks and then
Thump! Thump! Thump!
She runs up and down the stairs.
She is a jumble of white, brown, and black spots
all bumping into each other
as if someone had spilled three cans of paint on her.
When I sit down to read
her eyes are glued on me
as if she was a mind reader
about to reveal all my secret thoughts
What are you thinking, Zoë, when you look at me?
are you happy all day in the house?
Would you rather be free chasing birds all day?
Zoë doesn’t answer.
She rolls over and shows her white tummy
I know she is saying
“What are you waiting for?
Come pet me!”
I love her pink paws and even her sharp claws.
I love the rumbling purr of Zoë’s happiness
when she is on my lap.

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 Answer this:

Did you find this technique helpful? Did it make the work of the writer
easy? Explain. Write your answers in your notebook.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Practice Task 2: Read the free verse written by Neil C. Garcia, a Filipino
poet, and analyze its message.

SONG OF EURYDICE

Understand that I am dead,

dear poet, and do not need your saving.
My underworld sleeps at the bottom of the sea--
a wet conclusion I had long foreseen:
tranquil, yes, but far from dark,
for here shift fish and coral bearing the sun
in their bodies, hammered into such shapes
as only the tides can conceive. Colors? I have those:
the dappled citrons, gentians and pinks
of your hothouse blooms, worn as skin
by prey and cool predator alike.
I am never alone, sweet musician,
for this I have discovered about the ocean:
boundless as dream, it catches
every memory we may care to hold fast,
and casts it as shimmering shadow in water:
clear midnight in your eyes, moles rioting
on your cheeks, your sleek boyish head
tilting as you smile, your slightly turned
lip, the flowing length of your torso
lapping against my thigh, limpid notes
from your harp swimming to me again and again--
fleet accompaniment to the humpbacks’ songs
of mellow war and courtship. Borne out of brine,
these forms I can embrace without fear,
for they and I surge as one wave,
a spangled rhythm, repeating itself without end.
I know you wait, still and teary-eyed
upon the warm and rippled surface.
But you must see: here I am free to love you
beyond the encumbrance of a body, sad
and fickle animal always needing to be fed.
A kind of outpouring, a happiness eddies
through me with every tidal pulse,

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 the birth of another moon upon the world’s
nether brim, the sheerest stirrings of life
inside the sea’s lambent cradles.
From where you sit, in the pith of your craft,
I may strike you as requiring release,
and indeed your vision plummets now to touch me
with salt-edged words, your hurt elegy.
But understand it is I who have released you
by escaping into meaning’s murmurous deep:
bereft of me, you have needed to strain to hear,
to pitch the net of your voice far, far
into the vast and echoing blue. Listen.
You can sing again, my precious one.
Already you have saved us both.

Answer this:

What is the message or central idea of the poem? Write your answer in
your notebook.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Practice Task 3:
Fill out the same graphic organizer as shown in Practice Task 1. Use this to
help you with your writing task. Write your own free verse poem using the
ideas you will write in the organizer. Use literary devices like alliteration,
personification etc. in your free verse to make it more appealing. Do this in
your notebook.

Close your eyes and imagine your
topic.
What do you see? Write down the
images that are in your mind.
Close your eyes and picture your
topic again, but this time focus on
the sounds.
What are they? What are they
like?

Write three or more verbs that What questions do you have to

show the action or actions that go ask about your topic or to your
with your topic. topic? Write your questions here.

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Write three or more similes that go How do you feel about your
with your topic. topic? Can you find an interesting
way to share them, such as with
repetition or a little rhyme?

Directions: Answer the questions below. Write your answers in your

notebook.

1. Among the following, which does not create the poet’s voice or style in
free verse writing?
a. Word choice
b. Grammar
c. Tone
d. Rhyme scheme

2. Which of the following describes a free verse poem?

a. It follows no set rhythm.
b. It has rhyme scheme.
c. It has set number of words per line.
d. All of the answers are correct.

3. Which is an example of free verse poem?

a. Haiku
b. Elegy
c. Cinquain
d. None of the above

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4. Which of the following lines would most likely be included in a free verse
poem?
a. The clouds are blue
And you are too.

b. Now it's time to give a shout

Our team caught it; you are out!

c. Red, orange
Color of the sun
Angry rays are everywhere

d. Math is so very fun

Because I know 1 + 1.

5. Why do authors use Line breaks and Line length in free verse?
a. To indicate the reader to pause
b. To create emphasis and rhythm
c. To indicate the reader to speed up the pace, and to slow down the
pace
d. All of the answers are correct.

Wow! Impressive! Perhaps, the beasts would grant your request.

Look for a sample free verse poem. Paste it on a separate sheet of paper
and discuss why the poem is free verse.

Congratulations! You did it! The beasts have decided to free the
dragon! You can now go back to the stone castle and surprise the White
Queen’s daughter.

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 To remember our lesson better, let us synthesize.

At its simplest, free verse poetry is poetry without a set

form, so it doesn’t have a repeated rhythm or rhyme scheme.
Free verse poetry often sounds like the way people speak.

Free verse is commonly used in contemporary poetry.

Some poets have taken this technique as a freedom from
rhythm and rhyme, because it changes people’s minds
whimsically. Therefore, free verse is also called vers libre.

The White Queen’s daughter is indeed happy. You did it! She is giving
you your reward! You just earned the fourth and last seed!

You can now plant the four magical seeds together. For a few
seconds, it will grow into a tree and bear fruit. You can now eat the magic
fruit and go back to your normal size! You and Diego can use the tree as
portal to enter into another world of adventures!

Time to say goodbye! I hope that your stay in Poetria Wonderland

helped you learn a lot!

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Vocabulary builder

1. self-ruling , free
2. stanza, verse
3. companion, comrade
4. inhibition, constraint
5. mindful, cautious

Keeping in you Practice

Practice Task 1:
(Explanation can be subjective)

Practice Task 2: (suggested answer)

The poem is about the tragic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. The poem
teaches that one should never look back, that they should always focus
on the future and move forward. Learn to accept that there are things in
this world that are beyond our control.

Practice Task 3:

(Use the rubric below for rating the poem.)

Excellent (5 Good (4 points) Fair (3 points) Poor

points) (1point)
Originality Poem is Poem is creative Poem is Poem
creative and and shows creative but appears
shows original original original could rushed
thoughts and thoughts have shown and did
word choices more original not
thoughts. explore
word
choices.
Free-Verse Line breaks Line breaks Line breaks Line
Conventions enhance the support the appear breaks
sound, sound, meaning, arbitrary and disrupt or
meaning, and and rhythm of do not support do not
rhythm of the the poem. the sound, help the
poem meaning, and sound,
Lines usually end rhythm of meaning,
Lines almost with strong poem. and
always end words. rhythm of

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 with strong Lines sometimes the
words (i.e. Stanza breaks end with strong poem.
nouns or are usually words.
verbs.) effective, Lines
deliberate, and Stanza breaks rarely
Stanza breaks helpful to the are sometimes end with
are always reader. effective, strong
effective, deliberate, and words.
deliberate, helpful to the
and helpful to reader Stanza
the reader. breaks
are
random

Meaning Ideas and Ideas and Communication Poem is

emotions are emotions are is not always unclear.
very clearly clearly clear, but effort It
communicate communicated is shown. appears
d. with some little
room for effort
improvement. was
made.

Poetic Two examples Two examples of One poetic No

Devices of poetry poetry devices device is used examples
devices are are used correctly. of poetry
used correctly correctly and devices
and enhance somehow used or if
the poem. enhance the they are
poem. used
they are
not used
properly.

Cooling down

1. d
2. a
3. b
4. c
5. d

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Textbook

Aguila, A.A, Galan, R.S, Wigley, J.J. (2017). Wording the World: The Art of
Creative Writing. Writing Poetry. 839 Edsa, South Triangle, Quezon
City, Philippines: C & E Publishing, Inc.
Online Sources

Examples of Free Verse Poems. Retrieved from

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-free-verse-
poems.html
Five steps to free verse. Retrieved from
http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_famous_free_make.html
Free verse. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse
Free Verse. Examples of Free Verse in Literature. Retrieved from
https://literarydevices.net/free-verse/
Free Verse Poem Graphic Organizer. Retrieved from
http://carliebence.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/2/7/25276845/la_freev
erse_poemgraphicorganizer.pdf
Hood, D. Writing Free Verse Poetry: An Overview. Retrieved from
https://davehood59.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/writing-free-verse-
poetry-an-overview/
Tips for Writing a Free Verse Poem. How to Write a Free Verse Poem.
Retrieved from https://powerpoetry.org/actions/5-tips-writing-free-
verse-poem

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