WORD OF THE DAY:
Throughout The Crossover, Alexander uses Definition Poems to tell a story. You are going to write your own Definition Poem that mimics the format and style of the poems "cross-o-ver" (page 29),"ca-lam-i-ty" (page 39), "pul-chri-tu-di-nous" (page 55), and many others.
These poems have specific characteristics, including:
They have 4 stanzas (remember, stanza is to poem as paragraph is to essay)
Title breaks the word into syllables and provide pronunciation and part of speech
Poem tells a story
Title and Stanza Breakdown Example
TITLE: word you are defining and telling a story about
Pronunciation of word and Part of Speech
STANZA 1
Definition of the word in your own words
STANZA 2
Start with: As in: and tell summary of the story
STANZA 3:
Start with: As in: and tell middle part of story
STANZA 4:
Start with: As in: and tell ending of story
cross·o·ver from The Crossover
cross·o·ver
[KRAWS-OH-VER] noun
A simple basketball move
in which a player dribbles
the ball quickly
from one hand
to the other.
As in: When done right,
a crossover can break
an opponent’s ankles.
As in: Deron Williams’s crossover
is nice, but Allen Iverson’s crossover was so deadly, he could’ve set up
his own podiatry practice.
As in: Dad taught me
how to give a soft cross first
to see if your opponent falls
for it,
then hit ’em
with the hard crossover.
ca·lam·i·ty from The Crossover
ca·lam·i·ty
[KUH-LAM-IH-TEE] noun
An unexpected,
undesirable event;
often physically injurious.
As in: If JB hadn’t been acting
so silly and
playing around,
he would have cut
one lock
instead of five
from my head
and avoided
this calamity.
As in: The HUGE bald patch
on the side
of my head
is a dreadful
calamity.
As in: After the game
Mom almost has a fit
When she sees my hair,
What a calamity, she says,
shaking her head
and telling Dad to take me
to the barber shop
on Saturday
to have the rest
cut off.
pul·chri·tu·di·nous from The Crossover
pul·chri·tu·di·nous
[PALL-KRE-TOO-DEN-NUS] adjective
Having great physical
beauty and appeal.
As in: Every guy
in the lunchroom
is trying to flirt
with the new girl
because she’s so pulchritudinous.
As in: I’ve never had a girlfriend,
but if I did, you better believe
she’d be pulchritudinous.
As in: Wait a minute—
why is the pulchritudinous new girl
now talking
to my brother?
(make its have less than 100 words and make it sound like a fifth grader)
diz·as·ter from The Disastrous Day
diz·as·ter
[DI-ZAS-TER] noun
A really bad and terrible event
that ruins everything.
As in:
I woke up late
and missed the bus,
what a disaster!
As in:
On the way to school,
it started raining
and I forgot my umbrella,
another disaster!
As in:
During math class,
I dropped my pencil
and it rolled
all the way to the back
of the room,
what a disaster!
As in:
Finally, when I got home,
I realized
I forgot to do
my homework due tomorrow,
what a disaster!