[TCA-Asyn-Sep] ENG3U ...

We are going to begin the poetry unit with the simplest type of poem, the three lined haiku. 

By looking closely and listening, the simple haiku will teach you a great deal about how to analyze and respond to much longer and more complicated poems that we will study in this unit.

Responding to a poem by knowing what to like or disliking (and why you do) is a first step to becoming a student of poetry.  

You may even find yourself wanting to write poetry as I did when I was about 17 years old. I have continued to write that (off-and-on) for over 50 years. 

In the version of the haiku that we are going to examine, we are limited to 17 beats – 5 – 7 - 5 

Words have a rhythm and have beats – in English we call them syllables

Haikus tend to focus on: 

1. a brief moment in time, 
2. juxtaposing two images, and 
3. creating a sudden sense of wonder and insight. Buddhists would use the term “enlightenment.”