DIFFERENT FORMS OF POETRY (CONVENTIONAL FORMS)

1. Blank Verse is a literary device defined as un-rhyming verse which has 10 syllables in each line.
Example #1: Mending Walls (By Robert Frost)
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
2. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry; one line of five syllables; one line of seven syllables; and a final line of five
syllables. It is about everyday things; written in the present tense.
Example #2
Soft, summer twilight,
suddenly a sound; Frog leaps
in the old pond – Splash!

3. Limerick - A kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second and fifth lines rhyme with each other,
and the third and fourth lines which are shorter form a rhymed couplet
-The rhyme scheme (pattern) is – a a b b a.
Example: "An infatuated man from Dover,
was left by his imaginary lover.
He pulled his hair,
in sheer despair,
forgetting a wig was his cover."
4. Free Verse is a poem without standard rhyme patterns and line length
TAGALOG POEMS
5. The Tanaga is a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at
the end of each line --- that is to say a 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, with an aabb rhyme scheme
Example: Sa gubat na madawag
Tala’y mababanaag.
Iyon ang tanging hangad,
Buhay ma’y igagawad.
-Bannie Pearl Mas
6. The dalit is a type of short Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with eight syllables each.
Example: Nag-aaral siyang pilit
Nang karangala’y makamit.
Buong buhay s’yang nagtiis.
Makapagtapos ang nais.
7. Diona is a traditional Filipino poem which consists of three lines with seven syllables in each line; all lines rhyme
with each other.
Example: Ang butil na kaysarap,
Parang gintong kumislap,
Katapat nito’y ulap.
-Darlene Mayo

EXPERIMENTAL TEXTS
A. TYPOGRAPHY
1. Concrete poetry is an artistic expression of written language. Concrete poets make designs out of letters
and words. Even though the visual pattern (shape) can really catch our eyes, it is the language itself that
makes a poem poetic.
B. GENRE-CROSSING TEXT
1. Prose Poem-A kind of poetry that is written in paragraphs which contains language play, images, and with
Instances of poetic meter.

2. Performance Poetry/ Spoken Word Poetry - reading or declaiming poetry in a way

that acknowledges the presence of an audience

READING AND WRITING FICTION

FICTION- Mainly drawn from the writer’s imagination rather than using facts or valid historical information
1. Character - An individual (human, animal or other creature) in a literary work

Protagonist: the leading character or the major character in a fictional text.

Antagonist: the character who opposes the protagonist.

The character/s in a story may be either of the following:

• Static Character: The character’s personality, opinions, and/or actions stay the same throughout the
entire story.
• Dynamic Character: The character’s personality, opinions, and/or actions change because of what
happens in the story.
2. Plot - a series of interconnected events in which every occurrence has a specific purpose
a. Dramatic or Progressive Plot

b. Episodic Plot: This is also a chronological structure, but it consists of a series of loosely related
incidents, usually of chapter length, tied together by a common theme and/or characters. Episodic
plots work best when the writer wishes to explore the personalities of the characters, the nature of
their existence, and the flavor of an era.
c. Parallel Plot: The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a common
character and a similar theme.
 d. Flashback: This structure conveys information about events that occurred earlier. It permits authors
to begin the story in the midst of the action but later fill in the background for full understanding of
the present events. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a story.
3. Point of View- The vantage point from which a story is told.
-It reveals who tells the story and what that narrator can “see” or how the narrator or the characters
“see” the story.
A. 1ST PERSON POV : PARTICIPANT NARRATOR - The participant narrator in a work of literature is written
in the first person. Such a character may be a protagonist or may be an observer, or minor character
standing a little to one side, watching a story unfolds that mainly involves someone else.
b. 2ND PERSON POV – The narrator uses the pronouns you, your, or yours. This POV is used if the text’s
purpose is to persuade or give directions.
c. 3RD PERSON POV: NONPARTICIPANT NARRATOR – can be classified into three:
• Omniscient or All-knowing: sees into any or all of the characters’ minds, souls, feelings, and
motivations
• Limited Omniscient: sees into one character
• Objective: does not see into any characters, but merely reports events from outside
4. Setting of a story is its overall context- where, when and in what circumstances the action occurs.
5. Conflict - The main problem or struggle in a story between the protagonist and an opposing force
(antagonist).