Guidelines for FreeVerse:

1. There are no set patterns for rhythm or rhyme.
2. Form and length of lines may vary.
3. Emphasis is on the thought expressed.
4. Incorporate some poetic devises. See Judges Sheet that follows.
5. Study the free verse taken from John Milton’s Paradise Lost and notice the poetic devices of personification, metaphor, alliteration, and allusion.

"Evening"

Now came still evening on, and twilight gray
Had in her sober livery all things clad;
Silence accompanied, for beast and bird.
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale.
She all night along her amorous descant sung
Silence was pleased, now glowed the firmament
With living sapphires. Hesperus that led
The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon,
Rising in clouded majesty, at length
Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.

“Watermelons” by N.P, a ZLO student

Watermelons are one of the sweetest fruits.
They taste best on a hot summer’s day.
So juicy that it drips down my face
And onto my shirt when I take a bite!
Green swiggles around the thick rind,
And bright red on the inside,
Waiting to be eaten!
When watermelons are very ripe,
They “CRACK” as the knife sinks in.
Watermelon – the summer’s fruit.

FREE VERSE POETRY
JUDGES SHEET

Name _______________________________________ Score _________________

Structure:
Followed guidelines for free verse 5 4 3 2 1
Good word usage 5 4 3 2 1
Appropriate punctuation 5 4 3 2 1
Incorporated poetic devices* 5 4 3 2 1

Content:
Apparent originality and creativity 5 4 3 2 1
Clarity of topic and theme 5 4 3 2 1
Logical, sequential development of theme 5 4 3 2 1
Evokes a purpose or emotions 5 4 3 2 1

Presentation:
Voice volume 5 4 3 2 1
Voice inflection an expression 5 4 3 2 1
Followed punctuation 5 4 3 2 1
50% memorized 5 4 3 2 1

*Poetic device:
metaphor – comparison between unrelated nouns or ideas
simile – comparison between unrelated nouns using “like” or “as”
personification - giving human traits to objects or ideas
alliteration – same consonant sound in two or more words close together
imagery – mental picture
hyperbole – extreme exaggeration