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Can You Haiku?
A giant firefly: that way, this way, that way,
this -- and it passes by.
--Issa (1762-1826)
Introduction
Haiku show us the world in a water drop, providing
a tiny lens through which to glimpse the miracle and mystery of life. Combining
close observation with a moment of reflection, this simple yet highly sophisticated
form of poetry can help sharpen students' response to language and enhance their
powers of self-expression. In this lesson, students learn the rules and conventions
of haiku, study examples by Japanese masters, and create haiku of their own.
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able
to: - Describe the traditional rules and conventions of haiku.
- Interpret
examples of haiku.
- Characterize the image-evoking power of haiku.
- Develop
a vocabulary and ideas for writing haiku.
- Compose a haiku based on a personal
experience.
Guiding Question:
How
are haiku poems composed? How do they differ from other forms of poetry? How does
a haiku paint a picture or create an image with just a few words? What makes this
form of poetry seem so personal, intimate, and appealing?
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
- This lesson plan consists of four learning activities that you can use together
as a unit or adapt separately to your curricular needs.
-
Review the suggested activities, then download and duplicate any online materials
you will need. If desired, you can bookmark specific web pages so that students
can access relevant online materials directly. (See Selected EDSITEment Links for a guide to locating online materials.)
- For guidance on talking about and interpreting haiku, explore the "Haiku
by Basho" section of the AskAsia
website, an interactive introduction to this seventeenth century master who pioneered
the haiku tradition, and the Haiku for
People website, which takes a more contemporary approach, celebrating haiku's
development into a form of poetry practiced around the world.
Suggested ActivitiesLesson 1: Reading Haiku
Lesson 2: The Rules of Haiku Lesson 3: Haiku Warm-Up
Writing Haiku
Lesson 1 Reading Haiku
Provide students with a selection of haiku from those available
through the AskAsia website at
Haiku
by Basho and Haiku for People.
Include both classic and contemporary examples in your selection. Have members
of the class read each poem aloud and ask students to comment on similarities
they notice among them. Through this discussion, help students recognize that
haiku are: - Very short: just three lines usually fewer than
twenty syllables long.
- Descriptive: most haiku focus sharply on
a detail of nature or everyday life.
- Personal: most haiku express
a reaction to or reflection on what is described.
- Divided into two parts:
as they read haiku aloud, students should find that each includes a turning point,
often marked by a dash or colon, where the poet shifts from description to reflection,
or shifts from close-up to a broader perspective.
Lesson 2 The Rules of Haiku
Drawing
on the students' observations, provide an outline of the main rules for writing
haiku, as explained at Haiku
by Basho and Haiku for People:
- Form: Traditional Japanese haiku have seventeen syllables divided
into three lines of five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables respectively.
These syllable counts are often ignored when haiku are written in other languages,
but the basic form of three short lines, with the middle line slightly longer
than the other two, is usually observed.
- Structure: Haiku divide
into two parts, with a break coming after the first or second line, so that the
poem seems to make two separate statements that are related in some unexpected
or indirect way. In Japanese, this break is marked by what haiku poets call a
"cutting word." In English and other languages, the break is often marked by punctuation.
This two-part structure is important to the poetic effect of a haiku, prompting
a sense of discovery as one reads or a feeling of sudden insight.
- Language:
Haiku should include what Japanese poets call a kigo -- a word that gives
the reader a clue to the season being described. The kigo can be the name of a
season (autumn, winter) or a subtler clue, such as a reference to the harvest
or new fallen snow. Through the years, certain signs of the seasons have become
conventional in Japanese haiku: cherry blossoms are a kigo for spring, mosquitoes
a kigo for summer. Sometimes, too, the kigo will refer to an individual moment
in the natural cycle, such as dawn or moonrise, without reference to a particular
season. The kigo is also important to the haiku's effect, anchoring the experience
it describes in a poetic here and now that helps sharpen the imaginative focus.
- Subject: Haiku present a snapshot of everyday experience, revealing
an unsuspected significance in a detail of nature or human life. Haiku poets find
their subject matter in the world around them, not in ancient legends or exotic
fantasies. They write for a popular audience and give their audience a new way
to look at things they have probably overlooked in the past.
This same point
of view can be found in traditional Japanese woodblock prints (called "ukiyo-e"),
which distill a timeless beauty from the constantly shifting scene of daily life.
For examples of woodblock prints that can help students visualize the world of
haiku, visit the Ukiyo-e Museum
of the Nagoya Broadcast Network, accessible through the
Teaching (and Learning) About Japan website on EDSITEment, and browse the
galleries called "Rain and
Snow" and "A Sense of
Journey." In each gallery, click on the small image to view a larger version
with an interpretative caption, then click the larger version to view the image
at maximum size.
Lesson 3 Haiku Warm-Up
As preparation for writing their
own haiku, have students brainstorm a glossary of words they might use, based
on the rules and conventions of this form of poetry. Begin with the kigo, asking
students to suggest words that would give a clue to the season in their haiku
(e.g., robin, crocus, Final Four for spring; heatwave, fireworks, grasshopper
for summer; jack-o-lantern, harvest, kickoff for autumn; icicle, hibernate, holly
for winter). Then, for each season, have students choose an occurrence that might
be the subject of a haiku and brainstorm descriptive language that would help
a reader visualize that scene. List their suggestions on the chalkboard and use
this exercise to help students generate ideas for their haiku, encouraging them
to see the range of possibilities beyond a description of nature.
Writing
Haiku Finally, have students write a haiku based on some personal experience,
using at least one of the words they have brainstormed in class. Pair students
to edit and suggest improvements to one another's work, then hold an in-class
haiku festival, having each student read his or her poem aloud. Although haiku
do not traditionally have titles, you might invite students to suggest titles
for their classmates' work as a way to encourage discussion and a constructive
atmosphere of critical response.
Extending the Lesson
Invite students to submit their haiku to the Mainichi
Daily News, which publishes a monthly selection of "Haiku
in English" from writers around the world. At the paper's English-language
website, students can also read a wide selection of present-day haiku, including
recent winners of the Mainichi Haiku Contest. Haiku can be submitted by email
to mdn@mainichi.co.jp. Students can also create their own haiku anthology
on your school website, or display their haiku in a hallway or on a library bulletin
board. For art teachers, haiku can provide a springboard for lessons on print-making
or for creating works based on nature subjects
Mainichi
Daily NewsHaiku
in English
Teaching
(and Learning) About Japan |