Dimante poems have very different features than Limericks, since there is no rhyme scheme (since verses don`t need to rhyme), and no syllabification, since the poem`s structure is organized according to the number and type of words in the poem. The structure of a Diamante poem can be clearly understood from the picture below:
From this diagram shown above we can see that line 1 is structured with 1 noun, line 2 has 2 adjectives, line 3 has 3 verbs (IMPORTANT! These verbs need to be verbs which end in -ing. For example skiing, typing, thinking,etc.), line 4 has 4 nouns, line 5 should have 3 verbs also ending in -ing, line 6 should have 2 adjectives and line 7 should have 1 noun. When we have an organization of words like this we get as a result (as seen on the picture above) a diamond- like shaped poem, which is the reason why the poem type is called "Diamante" or "Diamond" in Italian (and Spanish too, but the name is given to the poem from Italian)
It seems simple, but it is a little more complicated since you need to apply the following specific rules of structure: - The last noun has to be a synonym or antonym of the noun from line #1. For example if your noun from the first line is fire, the noun from line 7 should be a synonym (like heat) or an antonym (like ice). - Adjectives and Verbs from lines 2 and 3 have to be related or should describe the noun specified in line 1, and the ones from lines 5 and 6 should be related to the noun located on line 7. For example if your first noun is Fire, the adjectives (on lines 2) should describe the fire, something like hot, and the verbs (on lines 3) also should be related to the sky, for example moving or burning. Additionally, if your last noun is ice your adjectives (line 6) should describe ice, like cold, blue or hard, and verbs (line 5) should also be related to ice, like freezing. - Finally, the first two nouns from line #4 need to be related to noun #1 (for example if the first noun is fire the first two nouns from line 4 should be related to fire, like heat) and the last two nouns from line 4 should be related to the second noun (in case we use the same example, ice, you should use a noun related to ice, like water)
History: - Diamantes were created by Dr.Iris Tiedt of San Jose State university, in the United States of America.
Example of Diamante
In this example we can clearly identify many of the features of the Diamante poem. At first sight we can see that the poem is diamond-shaped, and that the amount of words in each line are correct (1,2,3,4,3,2,1). When analysing it more deeply we can see that the classification of the words are also right, and that all of them correspond to the verb they should correspond. This is a bit easier to do if the first and last nouns are synonyms since most adjectives and verbs that can be used to describe one will most likely describe the other noun as well. For example we can see that the nouns are synonyms, storm and tempest, and most of the words in the poem can be used to describe both nouns like Powerful, Wild, Thunderstorm, Soaking, etc. This poem makes me feel a little bit scared since it shows the power that storms and nature in general have. It also makes me have a little more admiration and respect towards nature, since most of the time we can not appreciate its true powers Reflection before writing the Diamante poem: I think that the production of this poem will be very easy, since it is simple to think about things that describe two nouns at the same time, or simply two different nouns. I am very excited to write this poem up because I want to see how creative I can get with a poem structure as simple as this is. I think that the structure will help me, since it doesn't put any type of restriction over syllables or rhyme, which gives me the possibility to inspire myself in an easier way than in limericks, where inspiration faded away as we counted the syllables and founded rhyming words for the poem to follow the correct structure. I really want to do a poem related to nature, specially after reading the example of Diamante (shown above) which makes me feel respect towards "mother nature"
My own Diamante
Evidence of Process:
Final Diamante Reflection: When analysing my Diamante poem we can identify the features of this type of poetry in it. First of all, we can see that the number and type of words in each verse are correctly structured. We can check this if we take a look at both the diagram of the Diamante structure, and at my produced Diamante at the same time. We can see that all verbs end in -ing, that both nouns are related and are synonyms (Earth and Home), and that all words in the poem describe these two nouns at the same time. In the poem I tried to show the positive side of Earth and to outline how generous the planet is with all its inhabitants, this with the purpose of making people reflect, appreciate and respect our home. Writing this Diamante was very easy, since I had a lot of options to choose from in order to make the Diamante. I chose Earth and Home since I was very inspired, and had a lot of ideas before starting to write the poem up. After choosing my topic, the write-up process got even easier when Mrs. Giron gave us the Diamante graphic organizer. This organizer made things a lot easier since you knew exactly what words to use in which section of the poem. In this case, I think the structure of Diamantes helped me a lot in my composition, since it was a very simple and easy structure to understand,and it was also easier to organize my ideas since I knew exactly what words I should use in which section of the poem. It was very useful. Without this structure and graphic organizer it would've been more complicated to develop my ideas and get a good result. I really enjoyed using this structure since it made me feel a good poet, when developing my ideas and actually writing an original poem. It was very satisfying.
Dimante poems have very different features than Limericks, since there is no rhyme scheme (since verses don`t need to rhyme), and no syllabification, since the poem`s structure is organized according to the number and type of words in the poem. The structure of a Diamante poem can be clearly understood from the picture below:
From this diagram shown above we can see that line 1 is structured with 1 noun, line 2 has 2 adjectives, line 3 has 3 verbs (IMPORTANT! These verbs need to be verbs which end in -ing. For example skiing, typing, thinking,etc.), line 4 has 4 nouns, line 5 should have 3 verbs also ending in -ing, line 6 should have 2 adjectives and line 7 should have 1 noun. When we have an organization of words like this we get as a result (as seen on the picture above) a diamond- like shaped poem, which is the reason why the poem type is called "Diamante" or "Diamond" in Italian (and Spanish too, but the name is given to the poem from Italian)
It seems simple, but it is a little more complicated since you need to apply the following specific rules of structure:
- The last noun has to be a synonym or antonym of the noun from line #1. For example if your noun from the first line is fire, the noun from line 7 should be a synonym (like heat) or an antonym (like ice).
- Adjectives and Verbs from lines 2 and 3 have to be related or should describe the noun specified in line 1, and the ones from lines 5 and 6 should be related to the noun located on line 7. For example if your first noun is Fire, the adjectives (on lines 2) should describe the fire, something like hot, and the verbs (on lines 3) also should be related to the sky, for example moving or burning. Additionally, if your last noun is ice your adjectives (line 6) should describe ice, like cold, blue or hard, and verbs (line 5) should also be related to ice, like freezing.
- Finally, the first two nouns from line #4 need to be related to noun #1 (for example if the first noun is fire the first two nouns from line 4 should be related to fire, like heat) and the last two nouns from line 4 should be related to the second noun (in case we use the same example, ice, you should use a noun related to ice, like water)
History:
- Diamantes were created by Dr.Iris Tiedt of San Jose State university, in the United States of America.
Example of Diamante
In this example we can clearly identify many of the features of the Diamante poem. At first sight we can see that the poem is diamond-shaped, and that the amount of words in each line are correct (1,2,3,4,3,2,1). When analysing it more deeply we can see that the classification of the words are also right, and that all of them correspond to the verb they should correspond. This is a bit easier to do if the first and last nouns are synonyms since most adjectives and verbs that can be used to describe one will most likely describe the other noun as well. For example we can see that the nouns are synonyms, storm and tempest, and most of the words in the poem can be used to describe both nouns like Powerful, Wild, Thunderstorm, Soaking, etc. This poem makes me feel a little bit scared since it shows the power that storms and nature in general have. It also makes me have a little more admiration and respect towards nature, since most of the time we can not appreciate its true powers
Reflection before writing the Diamante poem:
I think that the production of this poem will be very easy, since it is simple to think about things that describe two nouns at the same time, or simply two different nouns. I am very excited to write this poem up because I want to see how creative I can get with a poem structure as simple as this is. I think that the structure will help me, since it doesn't put any type of restriction over syllables or rhyme, which gives me the possibility to inspire myself in an easier way than in limericks, where inspiration faded away as we counted the syllables and founded rhyming words for the poem to follow the correct structure. I really want to do a poem related to nature, specially after reading the example of Diamante (shown above) which makes me feel respect towards "mother nature"
My own Diamante
Evidence of Process:
Final Diamante Reflection:
When analysing my Diamante poem we can identify the features of this type of poetry in it. First of all, we can see that the number and type of words in each verse are correctly structured. We can check this if we take a look at both the diagram of the Diamante structure, and at my produced Diamante at the same time. We can see that all verbs end in -ing, that both nouns are related and are synonyms (Earth and Home), and that all words in the poem describe these two nouns at the same time. In the poem I tried to show the positive side of Earth and to outline how generous the planet is with all its inhabitants, this with the purpose of making people reflect, appreciate and respect our home.
Writing this Diamante was very easy, since I had a lot of options to choose from in order to make the Diamante. I chose Earth and Home since I was very inspired, and had a lot of ideas before starting to write the poem up. After choosing my topic, the write-up process got even easier when Mrs. Giron gave us the Diamante graphic organizer. This organizer made things a lot easier since you knew exactly what words to use in which section of the poem. In this case, I think the structure of Diamantes helped me a lot in my composition, since it was a very simple and easy structure to understand,and it was also easier to organize my ideas since I knew exactly what words I should use in which section of the poem. It was very useful. Without this structure and graphic organizer it would've been more complicated to develop my ideas and get a good result. I really enjoyed using this structure since it made me feel a good poet, when developing my ideas and actually writing an original poem. It was very satisfying.