School help

[spudd4242]

Hey all i am doing a project for school where i must write 4 poems for 4 early civilizations, It must include some reference to how each civilization interacted with its enviroment. Now the problem is it that i have no idea how to write poems, I know they dont have to rhyme but i still am kinda dumbstruct on the whole idea of what to do. The 4 civilzatioins are...Mesopotamia, Early Egypt, Indus, and China. So any help would be greatly appreciated. Some of you history buffs expecially should chime in.

 

[the8thark]

Here is a little info on each civilisation to help you out. But there is always more out there.

Mesopotamia
http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/school...ALSTUDIES/Mesopotamia/ancient_mesopotamia.htm
http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/
http://itss229.ed.psu.edu/k-12/edpgs/su96/meso/mesopotamia.html
http://www.allabouthistory.org/ancient-mesopotamia.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/achieve.html

Egypt
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/
http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/egypt.htm
http://www.ancient-egypt.org/

Indus
http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Indialife.html
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/india/
http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/
http://www.archaeolink.com/ancient_indus and indian civilizations_ancient_india.htm

China
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/
http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/menu.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/china.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCCHINA/ANCCHINA.HTM
http://www.42explore2.com/china.htm
http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Chinalife.html


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And about the poems I'd pick a major natural landmark in each civilisations area and base the poem on that. For example in Ancient Egypt I'd talk about the river Nile and say how it was the lifeblood of the people, how they worshiped it and how they treated it so respectfully. And you can do the same with the other 3 as well.

Or you can always pick a man made feature such as the hanging gardens, great wall, pyramids etc and talk about how those effected the land around it and how the people had to overcome the issues the land gave them so they could build these structures.

Or you could use your own idea. It's totally up to you.

And for rhyme. That's not essential. But if you choose to use rhyme here is a great site.

www.rhymezome.com.

It is really good for finding rhyming words and a heap of other things when your stuck writing anything.

And writing a poem ( I do a lot of it) I have found a few basic principles work well.

1. Make each line flow from the last and that it means something. Make each word count.

2. Don't ever rehash or repeat things like in an essay. in an essay you have to conclude it by retelling what you said in the essay. But in a poem there's no eed to. Just tell what you want to and end it off. People will understand what you are going on about and there's no need to explain it to them a second time.

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To me a poem is a personal thing. It comes from the heart. Like you really feel it. it's like a song but spoken not sung and no music. And the first line is the hardest to write always. So for it just think of anything. it could be utter garbage. Just use your imagination. While keeping in the ancient civilisations context you have to follow though.

I'll use the ancient egypt as an example again.

1. I'll think of a first line.

"One day many many years ago"

That sounds ok. It's a start. Needs more. So I can think what happened all those years ago and who was there and what was it like all those years ago. And this is where you make it up partly but also base it of the facts you have researched.

2. I'll continue on a little with the poem for you do you can see where I am going with it.

One day many many years ago
There was a little boy
And every day we wend down to the river
The one they called The Nile

And when he arrived
He remembered his Pharaoh's words
"Don't anger the gods, respect our mighty river"
So he prayed for the river Gods mercy
As he bathed in it's mighty waters

And as he finished up he heard a sound
The slaves were making yet another pyramid

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I think you get the idea. The verses or stanzas btw can be any length you like. I think having each one roughly the same length is nice. And you can have a chorus or not. It's totally up to you.

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Well good luck with this project you have. I know my poem attempt was pretty bad but for 3 mins work it's ok I guess. You'll definantly write something better.

Good luck!