Japan's Haiku Master

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

In the February 2008 issue of National Geographic there is a great article on Japan's great haiku master, Matsuo Basho. The 7th grade text that I currently use talks about this poet and the article gives some beautiful examples of his work. For Example: Listen a Frog
Jumping into the stillness
Of an ancient pond!
What is interesting about his haiku's is that they do not follow the 5-7-5 verse. This maybe is because they could not be translated correctly. The article has beautiful pictures and Japanese writing. The story of this old master is very easy to read and I think my 7th graders will be able to understand it when I read it to them. I always have my students write haiku's for a class project and this article is a rare find! I will bring it next Tuesday to share.

[clay dube]

Please discuss this further in the Asia in My Classroom forum -- I know that many people are interested in using haiku with students and would appreciate your summary of the NG article.

[Anonymous]

I love teaching about Haiku not only when I teach Japan in my history classes but also when I teach poetry in my English classes. I found and bought a wonderful bok on how to write Haiku. It always sounds simple enough to my students at first glance, but as they read and explore more about it, they find it is quite an art form.

In addition to the basic Haiku form, the bok goes on to describe how to write Renga and other short poem forms. Although I teach a little bit about Haiku during the Japan unit, I was inspired by our last meeting to include more about it and its connection to the Japanese culture when I teach that unit next year!

[Anonymous]

I have taught various forms of poetry over that past several years, and of all the different poetic forms, students seems to enjoy learning, analyzing, and writing haikus the best. I feel that it is such a valuable form because of its unique ability to convey such a wide array of subject matter as well as depth in so short of a text. I feel that it is extremely important for the students to know the significance of nature as a motif in the haiku, as well as the history of the haiku as a form- specifically its development and use.

[Anonymous]

In 1689 Poet Matsuo Basho set off into Japan's backcountry, walking more then 1200 miles while keeping a journal called Narrow Road to a Far Province. Japan was just becomming an imperial power under the Tokugawa government and guns had then replaced the samurai's bows, arrows, and swords. Basho's own father, a minor samurai, may have made his living not by the sword, but by teaching children to write.
Basho started his literary career writing haikai's or linked verses. In his mid twenty's Basho moved to Edo and opened his own school known as The Basho School. Raised as a Taoist he turned to Zen Buddhism when his home that a student had built him burnt to the ground. Soon after he wrote:
"Tired of Cherry
Tired of this whole world,
I sit facing muddy sake
And black rice.
In 1688 Basho was depressed and exhausted from the demands on his life and felt as though he "felt breezes from the afterlife acoss his face." It was in May of 1689 that Basho and his friend and disciple, Sora, set out on a pilgrimage to visit sites of literary, religious or of military importance. He wanted to become a hyohakusha--"one who moves without direction." He did just that, and walked for five months.
Basho died in 1694 and left behind Haiku's that summon the reader back to an ancient time in Japan when nature was spiritual and the landscape clear and clean.
"Sadly, I part from you;
Like a clam torn from its shell,
I go, and autumn too."
Narrow Road 1689
This was Basho's last haiku.

[Anonymous]

I have taught the Haiku and Tanka styles of poetry to my 10th grade students in the past. They had a difficult time with them because they are used to working with longer poems where they are asked to interpret the poems. They had a difficult time connecting with the images of these very short poems.

I showed them some Imagist poetry by William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, and HD and we talked about the poem as a painting creating an image in the mind to be interpreted differently by each reader based on his or her experience.

This seemd to help them with the Haiku and Tanka. I also used these poem types to teach my students about diction. We talked about how important word choice is when writing poetry with the strict rules that you see in poetic forms like these.

[Anonymous]

When teaching English Language Learners, it is important to recognize that each student has to struggle to write grammatically correct sentences. Extend that into paragraphs, and the original thoughts get subsumed by grammar correctness.

Poetry is an excellent vehicle to develop vocabulary and writing skills for ELLs because they no longer get hung up with grammar; they can concentrate on their ideas. They have the freedom to write without rules getting in the way.

Some of my best poetry has been written by ELL students who may have struggled with a paragraph and getting the sentences correct, but once released from the rules, could fly with their ideas.

I think Haiku appeals because the students view it as short and uncomplicated. [Edit by="jchristensen on May 27, 10:39:28 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

To: jfannon

What is the title of the book you referred to? Would you please include ISBN? [Edit by="jchristensen on May 27, 10:37:46 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

The National Geographic article mentioned at the start of this thread sounds like a good teacher resource but as is mentioned in other postings there are numerous text on Haiku that could be brought into the classroom.
I was interested in what CA Standards are addressed by introducing and using Haiku in the curriculum. For 7th grade the link is primarily with the Social Science standard 7.5: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilization of Medieval Japan. As you can see, the link to Haiku would be a stretch. Within 7th grade the Language Arts Standards mention use of analogies in poetry (1.1). But again, somewhat of a stretch to teach Haiku in the 7th grade.
For 6th grade there is no link between the CA History standards and Haiku, however there are several Langauge Arts standards that could be used to validate the instruction of Haiku in the classroom. The strongest connection to the standards is 3.0: Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. The use of poetry is mentioned specifically in 3.4. Theme and imagery are utilized in 3.6 and 3.7 respectively and obviously would validate the use of Haiku as curriculum material.

[Anonymous]

I agree with you, students can learn a great deal about poetry and language by putting together Haiku's because they are short and uncomplicated; therefore, students who struggle with the language don't feel overwhelmed by the task.

[Anonymous]

I agree that students can learn a great deal about language through poetry, in particular haiku.
Although haiku is short, there is nothing uncomplicated about it, esp., for students with learning disabilities. The form is too rigid. To ask these students to write a poem in 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables each is the equivalent of asking them to write a 10-page essay. Since I want to teach haiku, I've been browsing through my teacher's manuals and what I've discovered is that many writers try to capture the spirit of the haiku, but they don't necessarily follow the format. Isn't a sonnet a sonnet, an epic an epic, and a haiku a haiku if it follows the format? Is a haiku a haiku by any other format? I want to teach haiku, but I want to teach it right.

[Anonymous]

My students like writing Haikus because there is a formula. It gives them freedom with their ideas, because they are not worried about the grammar. I like to asign a haiku on a specific topic that I wan them to show understanding of. they also like clapping to figure out the amount of sylables in a word. I also help my students come up with a symbol for their name. As a learning center, we make rubber stamps. Since they are using an exacto knife, I work with four at a time while the other students are working on a different project and then we rotate so each student gets to make a stamp. Then they stamp their poem and I mount them on colored paper and post them on the wall.

[Anonymous]

It is always nice to give students a formula. Whether students want to admit it or not, they like rules. I do something with sonnets that my students like.

I read them the sonnet "Nun's Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Rooms" by William Wordsworth. The poem is actually about how sometimes rules and restrictions are actually a blessing. Just like the sonnet's 14 lines can be very refreshing. It is nice to know what is expected of you before you begin. My kids know that when they are writing a sonnet, or Tanka, or Haiku, they have a limited space to get thier point across.

Also a nice way to discuss condenced language, not wasting words, and concision.

[Anonymous]

the book you are looking for is the February 2008 issue of the National Geographic. The cover has a black pharoh on it, the Basho article is towards the back! Enjoy

[Anonymous]

i'm jealous. i think having an english/history listen would be wonderful in regards to japan. haiku is reall zen like for it subconscious observasion of manifested realty. that ng issue is wonderful and i shared it with the class as i read it with a heart felt sincerety. to my amazment the kids really dug it. i'll go further with it this year as i have a personal collection of it myself. i would like lori anderson to do an album on haiku, i feel she or pehaps borjk would be able to animate it to a marketable level.

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