Odes

  1. Ode --
  2. Persona --
  3. Voice --
  4. Characterization –
  5. Extended Metaphor --

“Ode to Basketball”

Basketball,
you rule my world.
You make my day,
Oh an object of my life.
Basketball
you are always on my mind.
When I'm in the gym
I want to be with you,
basketball,
with your dark black creases
and your bright orange crust.
I'll dance to the music you make---
the sound of your swish,
the rhythm of your dribble.
Basketball,
I'll dive,
I'll hustle,
I'll sprint,
just for you.
If I were granted three wishes
by a genie,
I'd ask for a court,
a hoop,
and,
of course,
you, basketball.
Friend,
I'd do anything for you.
You want me to run laps?
I'll run laps.
You want me to run across the country?
In a heartbeat.
Anything,
anything,
anything,
for you,
basketball.

“Ode to Spell Checker”

Eye halve a spelling checker

It came with my pea sea

It plainly marks four my revue

Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word

And weight four it two say

Weather eye am wrong oar write

It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long

And eye can put the error rite

Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it

I am shore your pleased two no

Its letter perfect awl the weigh

My checker tolled me sew.

Read “Ode to my Socks” by Pablo Neruda on p. 498 and answer the following questions.

  1. Ode: Why is a pair of socks traditionally an unusual choice for the subject of an ode?
  2. Metaphor: Why does the persona compare the socks to sharks, blackbirds, and cannons? What qualities about the socks are suggested by these comparisons?
  3. Summary: Summarize the speaker’s moral (the main message in the poem) in your own words.

Go back to the poem to complete the following chart:

Figurative Language / Example from poem / Why I think it’s interesting or fun
Simile
Extended simile
Metaphor
Extended metaphor

Create your own ode: If you could talk directly to an article of clothing—your most comfy pair of jeans, your favorite hoodie, your oldest pair of shoes—what might you say? Write an ode to an object you see every day. Start by observing the object closely and making some notes about how it looks (to help you with imagery), what it resembles (to help you make comparisons for similes and metaphors), and how it makes you feel (to help you find your voice and tone for the ode). Remember to make the ode longish and include poetic devices. Complete the chart below to help you get ideas. Write in three items you might write about at the top of the chart, and complete the chart with your own ideas.

Ode to my…
Brainstorming ideas:
How it looks:
What is resembles:
How it makes me feel: