ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


4th Grade Videos 155 videos

ELA 4: How Words Can Help
1205 Views

Sticks and stones, right? Well...only sometimes. It's a good idea to make sure your words aren't going to hurt others. Let's look at some ways to d...

ELA 4: Debating Like a Champ
744 Views

Learn to debate like a champ. It's way better than debating like a chimp. That just takes mudslinging to a whole new level.

ELA 4: Types of Biographies
277 Views

Today we'll learn about biographies and autobiographies. And no, the second one has nothing to do with the lives of cars. 

See All

ELA 4: Love That Dog and How It’s a Narrative Poem 315 Views


Share It!


Description:

There are surprisingly few dogs in this video. Just a heads up. Instead we'll talk about poetry and what makes a narrative poem. You can always take to google images if you're having puppy withdrawals afterwards.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

“Love That Dog” by Sharon Creech. [Man reading Love That Dog]

00:15

It’s a novel about a boy named Jack and his dog Sky.

00:19

OR IS IT?

00:21

In many ways, “Love That Dog” is so much more than just a novel,

00:24

because it's written as a poem. [hand swipes away novel]

00:26

And since it tells a story, we know that it's not just any poem, but a narrative poem.

00:31

In order to get a better idea about how this work is different from any other novel, how about

00:36

we look at the very first page of the book?

00:38

Now does that look like the start of a novel to you? Not quite. Mostly because it only

00:43

has a small handful of words on the entire page. [Arrow points to poem]

00:46

The publisher probably hated that.

00:50

“September 13

00:52

I don't want to because boys

00:54

don't write poetry.

00:55

Girls do.”

00:56

Okay, so what can we gather from this page? Well, it seems to be written from the perspective [Jack sitting down at a table]

01:00

of Jack, and it seems like he's writing in his journal about how he doesn't want to write

01:04

poetry, because apparently his teacher has asked him to.

01:07

That's quite a lot of information to be gathered from such a small number of words, isn’t it?

01:11

If we turn to the next page, what do we see? [Novel turns page]

01:14

“September 21

01:15

I tried. Can't do it.

01:17

Brain's empty.”

01:19

From this, we start to get the feeling that Jack isn't too happy. He seems frustrated [Jack stands up and walks away]

01:23

about his inability to come up with ideas for writing poetry.

01:26

He's upset that he tried and failed. Now we know even more about Jack and how he's feeling.

01:31

We’ve been there, felt that.

01:33

Let's try one more page.

01:34

“September 27

01:36

I don't understand the poem about

01:38

the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens

01:40

and why so much depends upon

01:42

them.

01:43

If that is a poem about the red wheelbarrow

01:45

and the white chickens then any words

01:47

can be a poem. You've just got to

01:49

make short

01:50

lines.”

01:51

Here, we can see that Jack is still frustrated, but appears to be analyzing and thinking about [Jack thinking about poems]

01:55

poems a bit more now.

01:57

In fact, he's decided that “anything” can be a poem if you write it in short lines,

02:01

and so he's written in short lines…

02:02

…showing us that he’s at least attempting to write his own poems. [Jack playing a guitar]

02:05

And that’s the power of poetry. With such little text, the author has been able to tell

02:10

us so much about what's going on and how Jack is feeling.

02:13

Even the spacing and line length tell us more about him and his inner struggle.

02:17

And it's definitely a narrative poem because it's telling a story.[Coop discussing narrative poems]

02:21

Even in three short pages, we have a beginning,

02:23

a middle, and an end – a small story within a larger one.

02:28

At the beginning, Jack is told to write a poem and doesn't want to. [Teacher approaches Jack and asks him to write a poem]

02:31

In the middle, he has tried but feels like he fails.

02:34

And finally, at the end, Jack has analyzed and studied poetry and figured out how he

02:38

might be able to do it, so he writes his own poem. Sorta kinda.

02:42

As you read the rest of the book, continue to think about how this style of narrative [Man reading book]

02:46

poetry tells a story and reveals the plot.

02:48

But also keep in mind that narrative poetry can show us characters' emotions and feelings,

02:53

and explore thoughts, themes, ideas, and different perspectives.

02:56

Oh, and while you're looking for all of that, don't forget to enjoy reading it, too! [Waiter serving Love That Dog poem]

03:00

Sorry. We know we just put a lot on your plate.

Related Videos

ELA 4: How Words Can Help
1205 Views

Sticks and stones, right? Well...only sometimes. It's a good idea to make sure your words aren't going to hurt others. Let's look at some ways to d...

ELA 4: Debating Like a Champ
744 Views

Learn to debate like a champ. It's way better than debating like a chimp. That just takes mudslinging to a whole new level.

ELA 4: Types of Biographies
277 Views

Today we'll learn about biographies and autobiographies. And no, the second one has nothing to do with the lives of cars. 

ELA 4: Complete Sentences
775 Views

In this lesson we'll subject you to some verbs and predicates. Each one is a necessary part of a complete breakfas—er...sentence.

ELA 4: Word Choice
222 Views

Choosing words carefully is important. You may end up vexing the assemblage of citizens you're conversing with...or you might even just plain bore...