Assignment: Write Your Ode

ELA 10-A (H) (Tri 2)
2022-01-20T18:30:14Z

Due: Jan 24, 2022 by 11:59pm

ASSIGNMENT: For this poetry unit, you will be writing one ode or a poem of celebration.

An ode is a poem that is about one specific thing that you think is truly praiseworthy. This type of poem can be centered upon a person, an object, or something abstract like a feeling or an idea. Write an ODE to someone or something that is important to you, or that you want to celebrate.

Your ode should be both "specific" and "universal."

You can either describe something that is yours (my socks, my kitchen table) or more general (socks, a kitchen table).

But either way, you want to describe your thing in a specific way -- what it looks like, feels like, etc. AND you also want to connect it to some universal idea or emotion or theme. Pablo Neruda's "Ode to the Onion" is not just about onions-- it's about poverty and social justice. Looking at the examples below, Joy Harjo's "Perhaps the World Ends Here" is not just about a kitchen table -- it's about the stages and cycles of life. You don't have to hit your reader over the head with the theme; in fact, you probably shouldn't. But it should be there, emerging from all of the specific details and poetic devices.

Grading criteria:

Ode:

A title!

At least 14 lines

Special attention to imagery (language of the senses)

Meaningful content and effort demonstrated.

Powerful diction (word choice) and tone (mood).

For an added challenge, include literary devices (such as: alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, allusion, oxymoron, irony, pun, symbolism, etc).

Example ode poems for inspiration:

Ode to My Socks by Pablo Neruda

Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

Rat Ode by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ode to DJ Khaled by Amir Safi

Ode to Thrift Stores by Ariana Brown

ASSIGNMENT: For this poetry unit, you will be writing one ode or a poem of celebration.

An ode is a poem that is about one specific thing that you think is truly praiseworthy. This type of poem can be centered upon a person, an object, or something abstract like a feeling or an idea. Write an ODE to someone or something that is important to you, or that you want to celebrate.

Your ode should be both "specific" and "universal."

You can either describe something that is yours (my socks, my kitchen table) or more general (socks, a kitchen table).

But either way, you want to describe your thing in a specific way -- what it looks like, feels like, etc. AND you also want to connect it to some universal idea or emotion or theme. Pablo Neruda's "Ode to the Onion" is not just about onions-- it's about poverty and social justice. Looking at the examples below, Joy Harjo's "Perhaps the World Ends Here" is not just about a kitchen table -- it's about the stages and cycles of life. You don't have to hit your reader over the head with the theme; in fact, you probably shouldn't. But it should be there, emerging from all of the specific details and poetic devices.

Grading criteria:

Ode:

A title!

At least 14 lines

Special attention to imagery (language of the senses)

Meaningful content and effort demonstrated.

Powerful diction (word choice) and tone (mood).

For an added challenge, include literary devices (such as: alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, allusion, oxymoron, irony, pun, symbolism, etc).

Example ode poems for inspiration:

Ode to My Socks by Pablo Neruda

Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

Rat Ode by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ode to DJ Khaled by Amir Safi

Ode to Thrift Stores by Ariana Brown