Imagery

The brevity of haiku makes good use of imagery vital.  In order to convey meaning, emotion, and a "moment in time" in so few syllables you must make every syllable count. Another description of haiku is a poem that describes a moment of clarity, where some circumstance or image has so touched a person that they must stop and compose a poem. For this reason you must develop the "haiku eyes" mentioned in the introduction and look at the world clearly, examine things more closely.

Do!
Do use specific words:
Instead of "flower" use "pansy" or "iris" so that the reader has a more vivid image of the flower.

Do!
Do your research:
If you don't know the name of the species of bird then look it up.
If you are writing about a spider's web, read about webs.

Don't!
Don't use Literary Devices like metaphor, simile, etc. and try to avoid the repetition of same words that just add extra words to the poem without adding additional meaning. These muddy the image and often result in too many words.

Don't!
Don't tell the entire story, haiku is not prose.
Although using specific words helps to sharpen the picture the haiku as a whole should not read like a novel.
Try not to explain what you saw but to show it through the images you use. Give the reader the suggestion and let them complete the picture based on the pictures your words create.
For example, instead of

try

In either example you know children have been coloring Easter eggs and made the traditional messes. The first is a sentence while the second one is a haiku.
 

Now answer the following questions:

2. Which is the sharper image?
meat roasting
food cooking

3. Which is the sharper image?
a rose petal
a flower petal

4. Which is the sharper image?
bad smell
car exhaust

5. What is the error being demonstrated - "The moon peeked through my window."
personification
simile

6. What is the error being demonstrated - "Icy cold wind"
repetition
alliteration

7. What is the error being demonstrated - "old man river"
metaphor
simile

8. What is the error being demonstrated - "I feel as happy as a pig in mud"
metaphor
simile

Score = 
Correct answers:

ASSIGNMENT!! Good job! Now you practice.

• Use the last three questions (numbers six through eight)
• Rewrite the incorrect phrases so that they are haiku appropriate.
• Use the "Teacher Email" link at the top to send your response to me.