Japanese Waka Poetry Activity - SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM

SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM
                Japanese Waka Poetry Activity
In this activity, students will create their own structured Japanese waka poem in response to a
work of art from the Asian art collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum. Through the steps of
this activity, students will also become engaged in close looking at an object or image, responding
to questions and recording their observations, descriptions, and thoughts for use in creating their
waka poem. This activity combines a study of Japanese poetry with a close examination of visual
art from Japan and China, and can be expanded to fit with classroom learning in Language Arts
and Social Studies in addition to Visual Art.

Suggested Objects from Saint Louis Art Museum’s Collection:
More information about the following objects as well as images can be found in the
Museum’s Art of China and Japan Curriculum Packet, which can be accessed online at:
http://www.slam.org/asia
         Attributed to Liu Cai, Fish Swimming Amid Falling Flowers, late 11 -early 12 century
                                                                            th        th

         Sakai Hoitsu, Fans Afloat on a Stream, c. 1820-28
         Hine Taizan, Spring Woods: Passing Rain, 1856
         Wang Wending, Gathering of the Immortals, 1919
         Kayama Matazo, Star Festival, 1968

What is a waka poem?
   The form of Japanese poetry most familiar to Americans is the haiku, but the haiku derived
    from an older, but still popular poetic form—the waka. The word waka means “Japanese
    poem,” and it is a form so basic to Japanese literature that Japanese still study and write it
    today. It is also known by the name tanka, which means “short poem.” Waka poems are
    often written in groups on a similar topic, and then discussed in this group.
   These “short poems” have been important to the Japanese throughout their history. These
    have been used to celebrate special occasions since ancient times, and indeed, still are. The
    Imperial family still runs an annual poetry-writing contest open to all, and many Japanese are
    amateur poets. In the Heian period especially, a person's skill in poetry was a major criterion
    in determining his or her standing in society, even influencing political positions. Throughout
    its history, the waka has had an importance in Japanese society unparalleled in the West.
   In this activity, the waka poem is made of 31 syllables consisting of 5 lines that follow a strict,
    unrhymed five-line pattern of 5,7,5,7,7 syllables.

ACTIVITY STEPS:
1. Break into Teams: Student poets are divided into teams of no more than 3-4 students each.
2. Extended Looking and Responding: Each team selects one artwork as their subject to
   contemplate for writing. Students can spend about 5-10 minutes using their “Gathering Ideas
   & Words” Worksheet to individually collect their own responses to the artwork. Students can
   discuss their responses with others on their team, and begin thinking about their poem.
3. Writing a Poem: Teams will then have about 10 minutes to create one waka poem for their
   group using the “Creating Your Waka Poem” Worksheet. Groups should pull thoughts,
   images, adjectives, and questions from their “Gathering Ideas & Words” worksheets to help
   them begin the process of drafting their poem.

4. Sharing Poems with the Class: Groups will then share their poems with their artwork to the
   entire group, and discuss their experience of writing a waka poem (was it difficult? what did
   they learn from this activity?)

Optional Activity Extensions:

   POETRY COMPETITION
      Poetry competitions are very popular and common in Japan. The earliest competitions
        were somewhat casual entertainments, but gradually these matches became quite
        serious, with topics (often taken from imperial anthologies) set in advance and an
        appeals process in place for protesting the decisions of judges. Poetry competitions also
        became significant public forums for poets to establish reputations and display their
        poetic skills.
      One exciting way to extend this activity (especially for older students) is to have
        student teams trade their poems with another team, and then each team writes a new
        waka poem of their own that responds to the original poem as well as the artwork
        they were using for inspiration. After the teams complete their new poems, they share
        these poems with the entire class again. For each artwork, the entire class can vote to
        select the most creative poem.

   WORKING WITH OTHER TYPES OF ART
      This activity can also be very successful when applied to artworks from other periods,
       cultures, and media. For example, writing waka poems with contemporary abstract
       paintings or sculpture can be fun and easy way to structure students’ responses to these
       works of art. Try using the work of the Abstract Expressionists as the focus of this
       activity!

Additional Online Resources:

   ASIA FOR EDUCATORS
       An initiative of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, this
         excellent online resource is designed to serve teachers and students in world history,
         culture, geography, art, and literature at the undergraduate and pre-college levels. Try
         searching for “waka” on this website to find a wide array of resources and lesson
         plans, as well as an extended definition of waka.
       http://afe.easia.columbia.edu

   YOUNG AMERICAN POETRY DIGEST
      Publish your students work! The National Schools Project, initiated in 1994, is
       designed to share our youth’s talents with others, supply a national audience for
       student writing, and provide a publishing opportunity for young poets. High schools
       around the nation are invited to participate in the project by submitting their students'
       most creative poetry.
      http://www.youngpoets.org/

Sample of Student Waka Poem
             Written by students from East St. Louis High School,
                        with Teacher Jacqueline Green

                The sky shines with stars,
                While the clouds embrace the moon.
                From waters to skies,
                The Milky Way and its bloom
                It begins to come alive.

                         Kayama Matazo, Star Festival (Tanabata), 1968.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kayama Matazô, The Japan America Society of St. Louis, and Dr. J. Peggy Adeboi

WORKSHEET:
          GATHERING IDEAS & WORDS
Spend some time looking closely at your selected work of art, and create a list of some of
your responses to the following questions. Write as many descriptive words as you can
(don’t worry about writing complete sentences or complete thoughts):

What do you notice? What do you recognize?

What does this work of art remind you of? Try to be creative with this one.

What feeling do you get from this work? Is there a mood?

What does the image make you wonder about? What more do you want to know?

WORKSHEET:
             CREATING YOUR WAKA POEM
Use this worksheet to draft your group’s waka poem. The lines below can help you
remember how many syllables (not words) should be in each line. You can write your words
over these lines, but be sure to keep track of the number of syllables.

What is a waka poem?
5. In this activity, the waka poem is made of 31 syllables consisting of 5 lines that follow a
   strict, unrhymed five-line pattern of 5,7,5,7,7 syllables.

Sample Poem:
   The flowers withered, (5)
   Their color faded away, (7)
   While meaninglessly (5)
   I spent my days in the world (7)
   And the long rains were falling. (7)

       LINE 1 (5 syllables)       ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

       LINE 2 (7 syllables)       ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

       LINE 3 (5 syllables)       ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

       LINE 4 (7 syllables)       ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

       LINE 5 (7 syllables)       ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____