Question:
Cinquain poem advice please?
I am an activities director at an Assisted Living facility. I am planning a poety reading night and also I would like the residents to try their hands at writing some cinquain poems with "Spring" as the theme. They are a little nervous about this....performance anxiety....so I want to give as much assistance as I can. Many of them do not remember parts of speech and are going to need some additional coaching in order to successfully do this activity. Can you provide me with a listing of approriate gerunds related to the following themes:
Springtime
First blooms
mud season
gardening/seedlings
birds
spring rain
Any other ideas to help these senior citizens compose cinquain poems would be helpful
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Cinquains are fairly easy.
Five lines
Two syllable word
Four syllables
Six syllables
Eight Syllables
Two syllables (contains the word from the first line)
Example...
Evil
It is to shun
The King of Righteousness
And to make a compact with the
Devil.
--Anonymous
People are nervous about poetry because they often don't get it and have not been given the tools to get it.
Give them the tools and encourage them to use the form to help them shape the poem. Think of it as a skeleton to lay the flesh of a poem over.
Don't worry about parts of speech and proper grammar just yet. That can all come from revision. The main key here is to break the seal, get something on the page, and show them the only thing they have to fear is fear of writing.