This document contains a student's rationale for their poetry anthology on the theme of happiness. The anthology tells the story of a ghost girl who is desperate to find happiness after her tragic death. It includes various poem styles and forms that explore the girl's journey and eventual finding of peace. The rationale explains the themes and meanings behind each poem, and how they contribute to telling the overarching story.
1. POEM ANTHOLOGY - HAPPINESS
Author: grace hunt
Teacher: Miss Wilkinson
Due: 5th April
2. GLOSSARY
• Simile - Comparing two things using ‘like,’ ‘as,’ ‘than,’ or ‘resembles.’
• Metaphor - Comparing two things without using the aforementioned terms.
• Hyperbole - Over-exaggerating a statement to make a point.
• Alliteration - Repeating the same letter at the start of the majority of words in a sentence.
• Personification - Giving human like traits to an inanimate object.
• Assonance - Repeating a similar sound in a word multiple times throughout a sentence.
• Consonance - The sound created by reoccurring consonants in a sentence.
• Repetition - Repeating a sentence or phrase, generally for dramatic effect.
• Imagery - A descriptive sentence that creates an image in the reader’s head.
• Rhyme - Using two words with a similar sound to them, usually at the end of two seperate lines.
• Rhythm - When the words and/or rhyme in a poem give said poem a sort of beat.
• Euphemism - A phrase used that has been dulled down to be more innocent than its original
meaning, yet still relates to something more harsh.
• Onomatopoeia - A word describing a sound.
• Idiom - A sort of well known phrase, with a meaning that doesn’t relate to the words contained
inside of it.
3. EXAMPLES
• Simile - “Your eyes are as gold as treasure.”
• Metaphor - “The world is yours.”
• Hyperbole - “My my, I’m dying.”
• Alliteration - “Oh, so I’m a short, snarky sausage now? Sure.”
• Personification - “His hair soared back…”
• Assonance - “Help! My boat won’t float!”
• Consonance - “His ship sailed suddenly out to shore,”
• Repetition - “No, don’t. No means no, and don’t means don’t. Don’t do it!”
• Imagery - “The sandstorm whipped up against the cracked wooden planks,
boarding up the windows of the rundown diner.”
• Rhyme - “The cat in the hat sat on the old, tattered mat.”
• Rhythm - “Revolution radio! Operation no control!”
• Euphemism -“You’ve been demoted to the unemployed status- your new
office can be found by the exit.”
• Onomatopoeia - “Meow! I’m a cat now.”
• Idiom - “Wow, this zone has really gone to the dogs.”
4. RATIONALE
The theme I have chosen for my anthology is finding happiness, although it is rather complicated
to explain as I have based all my poems around one common story— the idea that, while people
have many different conceptions of the afterlife, ghosts can’t “Rest In Peace” until they find true
happiness. My poems tell the tale of a girl who lost her life in a tragic fight, who now lives in a
hellish purgatory- desperate for happiness that she can’t find. I chose this theme as I thought it
would be an interesting concept, plus something as simple as “friendship” or “sport” really wasn’t
doing it for me— I couldn’t write about it. So sure, the tale of a ghost may seem a bit odd for the
theme of happiness, but it worked.
In order of appearance, the poetic styles I used are:
- Published Poem (Not my own— ‘Unbidden,’ by Rae Armantrout )
- Ballad (The Beginning.)
- Haiku (Welcome to the World)
- Cinquain (Are you down?)
- Diamante (Ghost.)
- Limerick (Coffee.)
- Free verse (Lifeless.)
- Shape poem (The End.)
(Continued)
5. RATIONALE
• Unbidden (Rae Armantrout)
I chose to use Unbidden as my published poem, solely because it fits in perfectly with my theme.
’Each loves you. Each has left something undone…’ infers that the ghost/s in question are
peaceful, yet still have something they desire to achieve on this Earth— much similar to the
persona in my poems, a ghost who desires release from the world.
• The Beginning.
The Beginning, as the name eludes, is where the story of the persona starts— the day she died.
She was in a rather heated fight, after having accidentally trespassed onto royal grounds. This
startled the guards, and out of instinct they shot at her, briefly bringing her life to an end.
However, as she had unfinished business on this world, her soul continued to live alongside the
last memory it contained— fear.
• Welcome to the World
Welcome to the World is a short introduction as to how the persona feels confused about her new
situation in the afterlife, and how she fails to understand at first why everyone she encounters
suddenly seems so paranoid around her.
(Continued)
6. RATIONALE
• Are you Down?
This poem could have two meanings:
-The persona is struggling to find happiness, so she resorts to doing what would’ve brung her
childhood self joy— playing on a swingset. The swingset provides the persona a fleeting feeling
of joy, and she begs for it to stay.
- The swingset can be partially used as a metaphor for how we all die eventually, but it’s worth
sticking around for the thrill of the ride known as life.
• Ghost.
This poem acts as a sort of filler— It was made simply to describe how the persona feels, and
how everyone else views her: A terrifying creature
• Coffee.
The sole purpose of this poem is to lighten the mood— I felt like most of the poems in this
anthology have been pretty dark so far, so why not write a poem about what makes me happy?
Coffee is stunning, of course, until it cools. Then it’s sickening.
(Continued)
7. RATIONALE
• Lifeless
This poem is about the rather obscure ending of the persona— All while she was searching for
happiness, she didn’t realise that happiness itself was coming to find her. Happiness is presented
through a small fox, who’s job is to give the dead the peace they crave. As soon as the fox and the
persona spot each other, they find peace in themselves. The fox clambers back into the woods to
slumber, at least until another restless soul passes. The girl has finally achieved her goal—
Happiness. She is now able to rest in peace.
• The End.
This poem is a sort of eulogy to the persona— It can be seen as being read by an audience,
narrator, or even pastor at the ghost’s funeral. Now resting in peace, the persona is given a final
goodbye, and laid to rest. She achieved what she had wanted this entire time: Happiness, and a
true end.
(End)
9. THEBEGINNING.
Once there was a ghost,
A girl with no name
A powerless host
Caught up in a gunfight and wrenched in shame.
It was her fault that the fight had ensued,
She’d startled the guards with her ghastly frame.
Now sat on the ground and covered in wounds,
At last and at once she cried out in pain.
Bang, bang
A bullet to the head.
Bang, bang
She dropped down dead.
But she still had the will,
The will to live
And though her cry was shrill
Her soul would not give.
One like no other,
The girl with no home,
The ghost with no shelter,
The girl with no name.
13. Coffee.
I need some coffee, you don’t understand
It keeps me going through this tragic land
Coffee makes me drool
Until it goes cool
I mean jeez, no one wants cold coffee, man.
14. Lifeless.
One drop.
Then another.
Slowly the grey of the storm crept in,
encasing all those below
But there was only one.
The shallow claps of her iron-clad boots,
Echoing- if only for a brief period of time
The girl herself was puzzling—
Lifeless.
Pure white yet walking,
with striking blue eyes
Emerging from the bushes was a fox,
Fur as silken and dull as the girl herself
The fox, however, was lacking drag
She was unaffected by the storm
Traipsing along the path,
The girl stopped.
Almost in her tracks.
Almost as if she didn't have a choice.
In sighting the fox,
A single blink—
A single tear—
Was all it took.
But her tears mixed with the rain,
and she fell silent.
Lifeless.
The fox clambered back into the black of the woods,
sated until it was needed again.
It’s eyes shone even fiercer now-
To say it was lacking tears would be a lie.
But it’s job was done.
And it slept once more.
Cold as ice.
Lifeless.
15. TheEnd.
Finally at rest
and in peace with
her soul,
her happiness
found
with a tear in our
eyes,
for she was a good
girl,
our joy and our
pride.
We would like to
say,
please rest in
peace,
you are not
forgotten,
nor your pain out
on the streets.
May the earth rest
your soul,
Our beautiful
ghost girl.
though her life was dull—
We will remember her,
