Poetry and Songwriting
Overview
The Poetry & Songwriting Honor is all about discovering how powerful words, rhythm, music, and creativity can be. You’ll learn how poets and songwriters use language to create emotions, tell stories, inspire people, and communicate ideas—and then put those skills into practice by creating and sharing your own work. This honor transforms you from someone who simply reads poems or listens to songs into someone who understands how they are created.
Requirements
1. Define the following terms as they relate to poetry. Give an example of each:
- a. Alliteration
- b. Allusion
- c. Audience
- d. Hyperbole
- e. Imagery
- f. Line
- g. Metaphor
- h. Mood/tone
- i. Onomatopoeia
- j. Personification
- k. Repetition
- l. Rhyme
- m. Rhythm
- n. Simile
- o. Speaker
- p. Stanza
2. Poems can be divided into hundreds of types. List five different types and a poem in each group.
3. What is the difference between assonance and consonance? Give an example of each.
4. Research one type of poetry and write a brief history about it, including names of influential authors and poems.
5. How are poetry and songwriting the same? How are they different?
6. Describe the role of a songwriter and how their role is different from that of a lyricist or melodist.
7. Explain the differences between perspective, situational, and narrative poetry.
8. Define melody, countermelody, and harmony, and how they relate to songwriting.
9. Describe the differences between a verse, chorus, and bridge.
10. Large sections of the Bible are written as poetry. With your instructor and your unit, discuss why you think this is the case.
11. Why do poetry and songwriting have such an impact on the minds of people? Are there good and bad forms of each? How can an author write poems or songs for the glory of God?
12. Complete one of the following:
- a. Individually or with your unit, write a short poem of at least three verses using techniques discussed above. Share it with your instructor.
- b. Individually or with your unit, write a song consisting of at least two verses and a chorus, using techniques discussed above. Share it with your instructor.
13. Complete one of the following:
- a. Present your poem or song with your club as an audience. The presentation should be creative and can involve more than just the author(s).
- b. If applicable, display your poem at a Pathfinder event, such as a fair, camporee, or Investiture ceremony.
- c. Create a video of your poem or song.
Answer key & resources
Master awards
This honor counts toward:
Investiture Achievement
This honor is required, suggested or listed as an option in:
Adapted from AY Honors/Poetry and Songwriting on the Pathfinder Wiki, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. See the original page's history for its authors.
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