Rhyme -- a Poetic Device

As a reviewer, I sometimes comment on a poet's rhyme scheme or the type of rhyme he or she is using and the effect it has on their poem. Then I find they do not understand either the terminology or the nature of the different types of rhyme. On this course you will not only become familiar with these terms but learn to use rhyme more effectively.

Many people think rhyme only happens at the end of lines. On this course you will learn to use rhyme in a wide variety of ways as just one of the many devices that are available to poets.

Did you you know that there was plenty of poetry around before end rhyme came on the scene? If not then you are one among many who think this way. From this course you should develop a broader view of how rhyme can be employed in poetry of all types.

Learn how to enliven your free verse with rhyme. Rhyme and free verse are not totally different styles and integration is possible.

On this course you will learn by both reading and writing poetry. Your writing will be reviewed, shared around the class and discussed with a view to improving it.

The maximumn number of students on this class will be seven, so there will be time for you to work one to one with the instructor as well as interacting within the group.

The course lasts four weeks. In each week there will be two instruction sheets issued to save taking copious notes in the two chat room sessions. Each of these sessions will be followed by an assignment. The first assignment in each week will be creative. The second will deal with reviewing poems with a view to correcting errors arising.

The week by week account that follows is a guide only. Everything will be based on what you produce. there may be considerable variations in the types and levels of skills individuals bring to the class. All abilities will be catered for.

Week 1. Session 1(all sessions are of 1 hour). Introductions. Discuss the pre-course assignments. Types of rhyme. Rhyme and pronunciation. Rhyme and syllables -- the place of stress on rhyme. Masculine & feminine rhyme. The rhyme scheme. What it is and its importance in formal poetry.
Assignment: (More detail in "Assignments " section) Write formal poems using various types of rhyme.

Week1. Session 2. Discuss appropriate styles for different moods of poetry. Rhyming couplets, tercets, alternate rhyme, story rhyme, other formal styles. Discuss suitability of style to content.
Assignment:
Read and correct formal poems where rhyming errors have been made various types of rhyme. Using written work produced, discuss appropriate styles for different moods of poetry.

Week 2. Session 3. Internal rhyme, cross rhyme, near rhyme and assonance. Forced rhyme and how to avoid it. Rhyme and repeating lines. The rhyming dictionary and its uses. Finding rhymes without reference to a rhyming dictionary.
Assignment. Write repeating forms such as villanelle, triolet, rondeau etc.

Week 2. Session 4. Reviewing repeating forms giving assistance. Spotting and dealing with errors.

Week 3. Session 5 The use of scattered rhyme in free verse. How much? What sort of rhyme? When should I use free verse and when should I be more formal? Laying out free verse.
Assignment.
Write free verse poetry using scattered rhyme. Using written work produced, discuss appropriate styles for different moods of poetry.

Week 3. Session 6. Commenting on free verse with scattered rhyme. Spotting the rhymes.
Assignment.
Write a review on a piece of free verse with scattered rhyme.

Week 4. Session 7. Rhyme and Blank Verse. What can and cannot be used in Blank verse
Assignment write a short blank verse poem and review another.

Week 4. session 8. Using written work produced, discuss appropriate styles for different moods of poetry. (Feedback from students) Discussion of any aspect of the course. Suggestions for future classes on this or any other aspect of poetry.


Instructor: James Bartlett

About The Instructor: Jim Bartlett is an ex-Royal Marine Officer, and retired teacher, with a good honours degree in Education, and English and Drama, from London University. He has been a member of a local poetry group in South Wales where he currently lives alone in a redundant farm house.

Jim started writing while serving with 45 Commando, Royal Marines in Aden in the mid 1960s. At that time he was writing mainly song lyrics but later moved on to poetry after studying it on his degree course, which he undertook as a mature student between 1972 and 1976.

He has been published in poetry magazines and newspapers from time to time. In 2005 he produced a CD of self-penned songs under the title of "Tomorrow Never Comes", and published a poetry collection of thirty-six poems in 2012 entitled, "Triple Dozen" prior to joining FanStory in March 2015. His songs and poems have won several competitions.

Jim has also lectured on English Folk Lore and Song for the WEA in SE London in the late 1970s. He was urged to enrol as an instructor on FanStory by many who found his reviews of their poetry particularly helpful.