Activities on Poetic Creativity

1.1 The Person I Am Looking For

A4. Rewrite the following lines replacing the underlined words:
If you accept counsel without getting sour
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof
Act: If you accept advice/suggestion/ without getting bitter/irritate/angry
And re-examine/re-check/introspect yourself in the sunrays/brightness/focus thereof
(Do not write all options suggested.)

2.1 I Ran Into A Stranger

A4 Frame four poetic lines on the following situations using a rhyming pattern:
“While introducing great personalities, we praise them very highly and talk about their qualities, but while speaking about our friends we may not follow the same trend.”
The above situation is written in the structure of prose. Simply breaking sentences into lines will be poetic structure. Let the students know the structural difference between prose and poetry. Let them practice the pattern of rhyme scheme such as aabb, abab,abba
Activity: 1. While introducing great personalities,
We praise them very highly and talk about their qualities,
But while speaking about our friends
We may not follow the same trends
Activity 2 . While introducing great personalities,
While speaking about our friends,
We do not follow the same trends.
We praise the great very highly and talk less of friend’s qualities.

Activity 3.
While introducing great personalities,
And speaking about our friends
We praise the great very highly and talk less of friend’s qualities.
Why do we follow the different trends?
Activity 4
For great personalities we have a lot of praise.
As if it is a craze of todays.
But the praise we forget for friend.
Praising friend is not today’s trends.

3.1 Suburbs

Life is beautiful, enjoy it. Don’t run after money, don’t destroy it or you will be a fool.
Based on this theme compose two poetic lines of your own.
Activity 1
Run not after money to make you fool
Life is a thing of beauty to enjoy cool.
Activity 2
Don’t run after money. Life is beautiful.
Don’t destroy it or you will be fool.
Activity 3
Enjoy the beauty of life
Money stabs you with greed’s knife.

4.1 Old Women

Compose four poetic lines keeping in view your parents’ love and care for you and your accountability for them.
Activity 1
How can we forget?
The love and care
The parents, with us share
Are we not accountable to see
Their life is set?


Activity 2
O dear mom, O dear dad!
We pledge never to make you sad.
You are our dearest mentors,
We will always be your protectors.

5.1 The Felling Of the Banyan Tree
Compose tow poetic lines against the cutting of trees.
Activity 1
When you cut the trees, you cut your life short.
When you uproot the tree; it will damage your heart.
Activity 2
Do not cut trees, it’s not fair.
It will deprive you of fresh water and air.
6.1 Nation’s Strength
Activity 1
Ask the red dust of empires passed away
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And their glory to decay.
Add two poetic lines to with rhyme scheme pattern of ‘ abba’
Ask the red dust of empires passed away
Is it the sword? Is it the blood?
That turned their stones to rust with bleeding flood
And their glory to decay.


7.1 Peace Is A Woman And A Mother
Her daughter in Hiroshima
And her sons in Vietam
………………………………….
………………………………………..

Compose the last two lines of your own using the names of countries and the names of cities rhyming with each other
Activity 1
Her daughter in Hiroshima
And her sons in Vietam
Her moms in Kohima
And her sisters in Suriname.

8.1 Concrete Jungle
Compose two more lines to rhyme with following lines
Activity 1
No more woods
No more natural goods.
Want of foods
Loss of moods.
Activity 2
No more woods
No more natural goods.
No more happy moods
No more natural foods.


…………………………………

Poetic Creation Type Questions

Poetic Creation type question aims at the hidden quality of the students. Students are expected to bring out his poetic ability which everyone has hidden in him. Questions framed under this would be of creative type. For example, questions may be like :
1. Add suitable poetic lines of your own to rhyme with the last two lines of the extract.
"Be it the victory of war or the mourning of defeat
Life sheds tears on death after all "
Answer :
Be it the victory of war or the mourning of defeat
Life sheds tears on death after all
Should we repeat
And make suffer this earth ball?
2. Arrange the following lines to suit the aabb rhyme scheme.
People slowly learn about life, my son,
Through the years, as suns rise and sink
But I beg you that now, and later on.
You won't be ashamed   -  to think!
Answer
People slowly learn about life, my son,
But I beg you that now, and later on.
You won't be ashamed   -  to think!
Through the years, as suns rise and sink

3. Write few poetic lines by using words (choose words from the extract)
4. Rearrange the following lines without changing the meaning.
When you are at home I have no peace -
I can't find a quiet nook
And time and again you come to me :
" Daddy, read me a book! "
Answer.
I have no peace when you are at home
A quiet nook I can't find
You come to me time and again
" Read me a book, Daddy"
5.Rewrite the following lines by changing background of farm instead of mill.
When the stars go off
Tall chimney sirens sound
Daily with fast steps
Marching to the mill

Answer :
When the stars go off
Cocks sounds cock a doodle do
Daily with fast steps
Marching to the farm

Students are expected to write their emotions. No doubt it is rather difficult. We should enable them write their own English. We have to focus on skill development. As an examiner we should test not the quality of the creation but the ability to create something poetic. As a teacher we need to arrange activities in the classroom so that students can try to create few poetic lines.
                                                Prafulla Mahure
  Mahatma Gandhi Jr College Gadchandur