Sinkwine: how to create examples. What is a syncwine and how to write it? What parts does a syncwine consist of?

Cinquain is a verse without rhyme, which consists of five lines. Each of them is created in accordance with certain restrictions. Cinquain arose at the beginning of the twentieth century under the influence of classical Japanese poetry haiku (haiku) and tanka. The creation of syncwine is included in the educational and educational methods of a huge number of teachers around the globe. This article proposes to consider the basic principles of compiling a syncwine with examples on various topics.

Why do you need to compose syncwines?

Writing such a poem is a rather difficult task, requiring compelling reasons to include it in the educational program and use it in teaching children and improving the skills of creative people. And such reasons really exist.

  • First, writing requires the poet to have a large vocabulary and the ability to “play with words” to express his ideas and thoughts in a form limited by strict rules.
  • Secondly, whatever the topic of the work, the author will have to study it fully and from different angles in order to make his work complete and deep. Therefore, for any material, such a poem can serve as a form of study and memorization.
  • Thirdly, this kind of creativity develops in elementary school students the ability and desire to understand the world around them, describe it and evaluate what is happening.
  • Fourthly, the joint creation of syncwine (in pairs or groups) contributes to the generation of new, unique ideas and unexpected solutions.
  • Fifthly, working on a poem requires imagination and develops fantasy.
  • Sixth, such practice in the classroom helps to identify the individual qualities of students, useful for developing the most effective approach to teaching.

In addition to those listed, anyone can discover other advantages of writing syncwines, but only after their own “testing of the pen”.

The structure of a classic syncwine

There are many options for syncwine: from the classic (so-called traditional) five-line poem to more originally designed “butterflies” and “mirrors”. This article presents the classic structure, examined using the example of a poem about a puppy. It looks like this:

Cinquain line

Grammatical meaning

Actual meaning

Number of syllables

One noun or (less commonly) pronoun

The subject or phenomenon that will be discussed

Two syllables

Dear, kind

Two adjectives (which?) or participles (what is doing?)

Two characteristics of the phenomenon or object named in the first line

Four syllables

Barks, loves, grows

Three verbs (what does it do?)

Actions of an object or phenomenon, or (less often) actions performed on it

Six syllables

Gives people laughter and joy

One sentence of four words, not counting auxiliary parts of speech (prepositions, conjunctions, particles)

Revealing the essence of an object or phenomenon, expressing the author’s attitude towards it

Eight syllables

Your friend

One word or phrase

A synonym for the word from the first line, an association, an explanation, or a word expressing the author’s attitude towards him

Two syllables

Due to a number of linguistic features, the rule of accurately counting the number of syllables often has to be neglected. The number of words in the fourth line may also vary. In practice, people of different ages and professions or teachers of different subjects can change, supplement and expand the restrictions and rules for writing syncwine to their liking.

Other types of syncwines

Like any other art, versification has undergone many changes throughout its existence. The complex syllabic structure (the number of syllables in lines) of syncwine led to the fact that its variations arose in various literary movements, significantly different from the original concept.

  • Reverse syncwine is an inversion of the classical one. Instead of the usual sequence of syllables “2, 4, 6, 8, 2”, the reverse appears - “2, 8, 6, 4, 2”.
  • The mirror cinquain consists of two poems five lines long. Moreover, each poem is an independent syncwine: the first is classical or traditional, and the second is the opposite. They are united by a common theme contained in the first and last lines.
  • Cinquain butterfly is a form of versification almost identical to the previous one. The sequence of syllables of a mirror syncwine can be written as "2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 2, 8, 6, 4, 2". In the case of the butterfly, the poem is reduced to nine lines—the fifth or sixth line in the previous version is eliminated. The resulting sequence is "2, 4, 6, 8, 2, 8, 6, 4, 2".
  • The Crown of Cinquains is a poem of twenty-five lines or five classic cinquains. There are a huge number of applications for this form of versification. Thus, you can consider less specific and more general topics in detail, address their various aspects, and approach the issue of revealing the topic in full. A longer poem, as a result of increasing the number of words-characteristics, becomes more informative and valuable in terms of semantic load.
  • A garland of cinquains is almost the same as a crown, but of thirty lines, where the twenty-sixth corresponds to the first, the twenty-seventh to the second, the twenty-eighth to the third, and so on.

It is not at all necessary to use different variations of syncwines in didactic activities, since children usually have enough of the classical ones. But to broaden your horizons and find the limit to your own capabilities, you can try yourself in compiling all these options. If any of the readers decide to start creating such poems on a serious level, familiarity with different forms will allow you to find your own style.

Russian language and literature

This is probably the most popular lesson that practices writing unrhymed five-line poems. This is most likely due to the fact that this particular subject sets as its highest goal the development in students of the ability to express their thoughts using all the richness of their native language.

Before you start creating your own, it is recommended that you become thoroughly familiar with examples of syncwines in the Russian language. Composing both something similar and something completely special after this will not be difficult. So, you can characterize famous personalities from the world of literature in poetic form:

Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Shocking, futuristic.

He loved, wrote, drew.

He went down in history as a revolutionary poet.

This approach to studying authors can interest even the most indifferent children and teenagers to reading. In addition, examples of syncwines from literature will serve as strong motivation for students. They will encourage them to read and study the work carefully.

This is an example of a syncwine on the topic “Crime and Punishment”:

Raskolnikov.

Poor, confused.

Kills, reasons, repents.

Is the creature trembling or has the right?

Thus, among other things, students can be tested on their ability to characterize and evaluate characters and analyze them critically.

Social science

The science of life in society literally requires the education in students of the ability to express a personal position, fitting into the forms and framework provided for this. Therefore, syncwine will be an excellent tool for assimilation of material. This is an example of a syncwine on the topic “society”:

Society.

Tolerant, democratic.

Creates, protects, coordinates.

There are certain norms in society.

Specifically. Laconically. Exactly. Examples of syncwines in social studies in this case should be encouraged primarily not for a rich vocabulary, but for knowledge on the topic in question.

Mathematics

The “queen” of exact sciences requires memorizing a huge number of formulas, theorems and axioms. Despite this, paradoxically, the best approach to assimilation is creative. Through a fantasy training task, students can look at a certain aspect in a new way, change their attitude towards it and approach the lesson with more enthusiasm.

Vieta's theorem.

Simple, incomplete (quadratic equation).

Adds, multiplies, equates.

Used to solve quadratic equations.

Discriminant.

This is how it always seems at first glance: mathematics is a serious and boring subject. Examples of syncwines, however, prove exactly the opposite. So why not try yourself in a new direction?

Elementary school students can also be captivated by examples of syncwines and their composition:

Useful, different.

We count, add, subtract.

The numbers indicate the number of items.

And for older people, a work created by them themselves can become the best algorithm for memorizing complex topics:

Sarrus method.

Simple, convenient.

We add, multiply, add.

Serves to find the determinant.

The focus in this case is on understanding the concept and the ability to explain it in your own words.

Biology

Examples of syncwines in biology are usually very amusing and inspiring for students in classes that are just beginning to learn about the animal world.

Mammal, omnivore.

Catches (mice), sleeps, takes care (of offspring).

There are breeds of wild cats.

As with math, some older kids also find their charm in unrhymed poetry.

Red blood cells.

Red, biconcave.

They are “born” in the bone marrow, transport oxygen, and “die” in the liver.

Red blood cells are vital for humans.

Physics and astronomy

This subject is not so popular as a springboard for creative research, but here you can find the most interesting works.

Positive, negative.

Attracts, repels, divides.

Depends on the number of electrons.

Magnitude.

Or this option:

Direct, passing.

Reflects, refracts, changes direction.

Subject to the laws of reflection and refraction.

Geography

Countries and geographical objects often become objects of poetic attempts by novice writers.

Large, port.

Exports, extracts, develops.

China is the leader in the iron and steel industry.

Or this poem:

Amazon.

Deep, dangerous.

Flows, flows, feeds.

Record holder for the area of ​​the hydrographic network.

Story

Despite the fact that history is not an exact science, it is rarely compared with creativity. However, examples of syncwines on historical topics make us convinced that such an attitude is erroneous and requires rethinking.

Otto von Bismarck.

Talented, patient.

He won, he conquered, he strengthened.

Prussian general who created an empire.

Germany.

Foreign language

This is quite an unusual occasion to show your creative abilities, since it is incredibly difficult to compose a poem, even without rhyme, in a language that is not your native one. Nevertheless, if any of the readers decide to do this, syncwine will certainly turn out to be one of the most convenient, useful and effective forms of versification. Compared to others, it has a number of advantages:

  1. Opportunity to enrich your vocabulary. To express your thoughts, you will certainly have to look into the dictionary, and this is already an excellent act of self-development.
  2. Language practice. As you know, there is never too much of it.
  3. Lack of rhyme and flexible syllabic structure. The only difficulty will be the choice of words and phrases, that is, what you need to pay attention to when learning a foreign language.
  4. An opportunity to look at things in a new way. By explaining familiar concepts in unusual (foreign) words, a person always discovers new horizons for himself. Anyone will feel this only after starting to compose a syncwine.
  5. Opportunity to share knowledge through poetry. For example, speaking about the same object or phenomenon, different people will note its different characteristic features, actions, synonyms or associations. Sharing them will allow you not only to learn new concepts, but also to change your attitude towards certain things for the better.

Some more beautiful syncwines

Despite the fact that this form of versification quickly gained popularity among teachers and educators, it was initially created for aesthetic purposes. And now many connoisseurs of original literary solutions can find exceptional pleasure in it. For example, when discussing philosophical topics:

Illusory, passing.

It goes, surprises, likes it.

The main thing in it is human happiness.

Fantasy.

And not only. Within this literary form, only the limitations of the author's imagination apply. Very often there are various variations that in one way or another refer to the so-called “ancestors” of the form - Japanese haiku and tanka. Therefore, the motives of the unity of man with nature and the cult of nature itself are very popular.

Hot, distant.

It rises, it sets, it grins.

It warms like the smile of a loved one.

Summing up

Cinquain is a unique poetic form, characterized by both rigidity of the framework and flexibility in the presentation of thoughts. It can be used for educational or educational purposes, as a method for memorizing and attracting attention. It can help the student engage in critical analysis of the material, develop his creativity and ability to evaluate the world around him. Cinquain can also become an outlet for a creative person. If, for example, the soul asks for poetry, but the head is not friendly with rhyme, these unusual poems can be the ideal solution. If you are learning a foreign language, the described method of versification can help enrich your vocabulary. In addition, syncwine can serve as a technique for memorizing information. Some people remember their own formulations of what they study much better than those they find in textbooks or on the Internet.

Quite a lot of people have heard the term syncwine, but not everyone knows what exactly it means. It is especially incomprehensible to those who are far from literature. Let's figure out what syncwine is and how it can be used in pedagogy.

History of syncwine

Cinquain is a five-line poetic form that originated in the USA at the very beginning of the 20th century. Its ancestor is considered to be the American poet Adelaide Crapsey. She was inspired to create this form by Japanese haiku poetry. After its spread, syncwine was used for didactic purposes, because thanks to this poetic form it was possible to get rid of monotonous speech in a child. Syncwine is also used to synthesize complex information.

Types of syncwine

Sinkwine has several types, on which the rule for its composition depends. So, the following varieties are distinguished:

  • Traditional cinquain consists of 5 lines with a syllable structure of 2-4-6-8-2 and 22 syllables;
  • Reverse syncwine is a form where there is a reverse sequence of verses (2-8-6-4-2);
  • Mirror syncwine consists of two five-line forms (the first is traditional, the second is reverse syncwine;
  • The butterfly cinquain is a nine-line verse form with a syllabic structure of 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2;
  • The Crown of Cinquains - 5 traditional cinquains that are combined into one complete poem.
  • The garland of cinquains is a kind of analogue of the wreath of sonnets. This is a kind of crown of syncwines, to which a sixth cinquain is added. Moreover, the first line is taken from the first syncwine, the second - from the second, the last from the last. It's quite complicated, but nevertheless it sounds pretty good. But not everyone can compose such a poem, since it requires certain skills.

If you want to practice composing syncwines, you should start with the traditional version, over time you will be able to improve your skills and move on to more complex options.

Synquain structure

Anyone can make a cinquain, you just need to do it according to a certain structure.

  • The first line of this poetic form spells out the theme in just one word. It can be a noun or a pronoun.
  • The second line contains two words (adjectives or participles) that denote the properties or characteristics of the object indicated in the first line.
  • The third line must contain 3 verbs or gerunds. It describes characteristic actions or events that occur with objects.
  • The fourth line is a phrase of 4 words, it contains the personal attitude of the author of the syncwine to the subject or object that is described in the verse.
  • The fifth line is the conclusion of the above. Here you need to fit into a few words, so you will need to try hard to do it.

Of course, you need to try to follow the rules for compiling a syncwine, but to make it more interesting, you can make your own adjustments. For example, increase the number of words in lines, use appropriate parts of speech, etc. In general, the author needs to end up with a poem with meaning, and not a simple set of words that does not carry any interesting and important information.

Sinkwine from a pedagogical point of view

If you look at syncwine from the point of view of pedagogy, then this term should be understood as free creativity, which requires the author to have the ability to find the most important and significant points in the information material, and then draw conclusions. In other words, the situation or story must be stated concisely.

Sinkwine can be used as a final assignment to test the material. Also, their compilation helps a person enrich his speech and develop analytical skills. It is especially useful to compose syncwines for children, then they will be able to enrich their speech, moreover, they will develop much faster than their peers. In Russia, this poetic form began to be used only in the 90s of the last millennium, while in the West it has been used for a long time.


Cinquain was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Adelaide Crapsey, an American poet. Inspired by Japanese haiku and tanka, Crapsey came up with a five-line poem form, also based on counting the syllables in each line. The traditional one she invented had a syllable structure of 2-4-6-8-2 (two syllables in the first line, four in the second, and so on). Thus, the poem should have had 22 syllables in total.


Didactic syncwine was first used in American schools. Its difference from all other types of syncwine is that it is based not on counting syllables, but on the semantic specificity of each line.


The classic (strict) didactic syncwine is structured like this:



  • , one word, noun or pronoun;


  • second line – two adjectives or participles, which describe the properties of the topic;


  • third line - or gerunds, telling about the actions of the topic;


  • fourth line – four word sentence, expressing the personal attitude of the author of the syncwine to the topic;


  • fifth line – one word(any part of speech) expressing the essence of the topic; a kind of resume.

The result is a short, unrhymed poem that can be devoted to any topic.


At the same time, in a didactic syncwine, you can deviate from the rules, for example, the main topic or summary can be formulated not in one word, but in a phrase, a phrase can consist of three to five words, and actions can be described in compound words.

Compiling a syncwine

Coming up with syncwines is quite a fun and creative activity, and it does not require special knowledge or literary talents. The main thing is to master the form well and “feel” it.



For training, it is best to take as a topic something well-known, close and understandable to the author. And start with simple things. For example, let’s try to create a syncwine using the topic “soap” as an example.


Respectively, First line- "soap".


Second line– two adjectives, properties of an object. What kind of soap? You can list in your mind any adjectives that come to mind and choose two that are suitable. Moreover, it is possible to describe in syncwine both the concept of soap in general (foaming, slippery, fragrant), and the specific soap that the author uses (baby, liquid, orange, purple, etc.). Let’s say the end result is “transparent, strawberry” soap.


Third line– three actions of the item. This is where schoolchildren often have problems, especially when it comes to syncwines devoted to abstract concepts. But we must keep in mind that actions are not only the actions that an object produces in itself, but also what happens to it and the impact it has on others. For example, soap can not only lie in a soap dish and smell, it can slip out of your hands and fall, and if it gets into your eyes, it can make you cry, and most importantly, you can wash yourself with it. What else can soap do? Let's remember and choose three verbs in the end. For example, like this: “It smells, it washes, it bubbles.”


Fourth line– the author’s personal attitude to the topic of syncwine. Here, too, sometimes problems arise - what kind of personal attitude can you have towards soap if you are not a fan of cleanliness, who really loves to wash, or not, who hates soap. But in this case, personal attitude means not only the emotions that the author experiences. These could be associations, something that, in the author’s opinion, is the main thing in this subject, and some facts from the biography related to the topic of syncwine. For example, the author once slipped on soap and broke his knee. Or tried making soap yourself. Or he associates soap with the need to wash his hands before eating. All this can become the basis for the fourth line, the main thing is to put your thought into three to five words. For example: “Wash your hands before eating.” Or, if the author ever as a child tried to lick soap with a delicious smell - and was disappointed, the fourth line could be: “The smell, the taste is disgusting.”


And finally last line– summary in one or two words. Here you can re-read the resulting poem, think about the image of the object that has arisen, and try to express your feelings in one word. Or ask yourself the question - why is this item needed at all? What is the purpose of his existence? What is its main property? And the meaning of the last line greatly depends on what has already been said earlier. If the fourth line of the cinquain is about washing your hands before eating, the logical conclusion would be “cleanliness” or “hygiene.” And if the memories of a bad experience of eating soap are “disappointment” or “deception”.


What happened in the end? An example of a classic didactic syncwine of strict form.


Soap.


Transparent, strawberry.


It washes, it smells, it bubbles.


The smell is sweet, the taste is disgusting.


Disappointment.


A small but entertaining poem in which all children who have ever tasted soap will recognize themselves. And in the process of writing, we also remembered the properties and functions of soap.


After practicing on simple subjects, you can move on to more complex, but familiar topics. For training, you can try to compose a cinquain on the theme “family” or a cinquain on the theme “class”, poems dedicated to the seasons, and so on. And a cinquain on the theme “mother”, composed by primary school students, can be a good basis for a postcard in honor of the 8th of March holiday. And syncwin texts written by students on the same topic can form the basis for any class-wide projects. For example, for Victory Day or New Year, schoolchildren can make a poster or newspaper with a selection of thematic poems written in their own hand.

Why make a syncwine at school?

Compiling a syncwine is a rather exciting and creative activity, which, despite its simplicity, helps children of all ages develop systematic thinking and analytical abilities, isolate the main thing, formulate their thoughts, and expand their active vocabulary.


In order to write a cinquain, you need to have knowledge and understanding of the subject - and this, on top of everything, makes writing poems an effective form of testing knowledge in almost any subject of the school curriculum. Moreover, writing a syncwine in biology or chemistry will take less time than a full-fledged test. A cinquain in literature, dedicated to any of the literary characters or a literary genre, will require the same intensive work of thought as writing a detailed essay - but the result will be more creative and original, faster (to write a cinquain for children who have mastered the form well, it is enough 5-10 minutes) and indicative.


Sinkwine - examples in different subjects

Sinkwine in the Russian language can be devoted to different topics, in particular, you can try to describe parts of speech in this way.


An example of a syncwine on the topic “verb”:


Verb.


Returnable, perfect.


Describes an action, conjugates, commands.


In a sentence it is usually a predicate.


Part of speech.


In order to write such a syncwine, I had to remember what forms a verb has, how it changes, and what role it plays in a sentence. The description turned out to be incomplete, but nevertheless it shows that the author remembers something about verbs and understands what they are.


In biology, students can write syncwines dedicated to individual species of animals or plants. Moreover, in some cases, to write a syncwine on biology, it will be enough to master the content of one paragraph, which allows you to use the syncwine to test the knowledge acquired during the lesson.


An example of a syncwine on the theme “frog”:


Frog.


Amphibian, chordate.


Jumps, spawns, catches flies.


Sees only what moves.


Slippery.


Synquains in history and social studies allow students not only to systematize their knowledge on the topic, but also to feel the topic more deeply, “pass” it through themselves, and formulate their personal attitude through creativity.


For example, cinquain on the theme "war" could be like this:


War.


Terrible, inhumane.


Kills, ruins, burns.


My great-grandfather died in the war.


Memory.


Thus, syncwine can be used as part of the study of any subject in the school curriculum. For schoolchildren, writing thematic poems can become a kind of “creative break”, adding pleasant variety to the lesson. And the teacher, having analyzed the students’ creativity, can not only assess their knowledge and understanding of the subject of the lesson, but also feel the students’ attitude to the topic, understand what interested them most. And, perhaps, make adjustments to plans for future classes.


Composing syncwines - short, unrhymed poems - has recently become a very popular type of creative task. School students, students of advanced training courses, and participants in various trainings encounter it. As a rule, teachers ask you to come up with a syncwine on a given topic - a specific word or phrase. How to do it?

Rules for writing syncwine

Cinquain consists of five lines and, despite the fact that it is considered a type of poem, the usual components of a poetic text (the presence of rhymes and a certain rhythm) are not mandatory for it. But the number of words in each line is strictly regulated. In addition, when composing a syncwine, you must use certain parts of speech.

Scheme for constructing a syncwine is this:

  • first line – syncwine theme, most often one word, a noun (sometimes the topic can be two-word phrases, abbreviations, first and last names);
  • second line – two adjectives, characterizing the topic;
  • third line – three verbs(actions of an object, person or concept designated as a topic);
  • fourth line – four words, a complete sentence describing the author’s personal attitude to the topic;
  • fifth line – one word, summing up the syncwine as a whole (conclusion, summary).

Deviations from this rigid scheme are possible: for example, the number of words in the fourth line can vary from four to five, including or not including prepositions; Instead of “lonely” adjectives or verbs, phrases with dependent nouns are used, and so on. Usually, the teacher who gives the task to compose a syncwine decides how strictly his students should adhere to the form.

How to work with the syncwine theme: first and second line

Let's look at the process of inventing and writing a syncwine using the topic “book” as an example. This word is the first line of the future poem. But a book can be completely different, so how can you characterize it? Therefore, we need to specify the topic, and the second line will help us with this.

The second line is two adjectives. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a book? For example, it could be:

  • paper or electronic;
  • sumptuously bound and richly illustrated;
  • interesting, exciting;
  • boring, difficult to understand, with a bunch of formulas and diagrams;
  • old, with yellowed pages and ink marks in the margins made by grandmother and so on.

The list can be endless. And here we must keep in mind that there cannot be a “correct answer” here - everyone has their own associations. Of all the options, choose the one that is most interesting to you personally. This could be an image of a specific book (for example, your favorite children's books with bright pictures) or something more abstract (for example, “books of Russian classics”).

Now write down two characteristics specifically for “your” book. For example:

  • exciting, fantastic;
  • boring, moralizing;
  • bright, interesting;
  • old, yellowed.

Thus, you already have two lines - and you already have an absolutely accurate idea of ​​the “character” of the book you are talking about.

How to come up with the third line of syncwine

The third line is three verbs. Here, too, difficulties may arise: it would seem, what can a book “do” by itself? To be published, to be sold, to be read, to stand on the shelf... But here you can describe both the impact that the book has on the reader and the goals the author set for himself. A “boring and preachy” novel, for example, might enlighten, moralize, tire, put to sleep and so on. “Bright and interesting” book for preschoolers – entertains, interests, teaches reading. Exciting fantasy story - captivates, excites, awakens the imagination.

When choosing verbs, the main thing is not to deviate from the image that you outlined in the second line and try to avoid words with the same root. For example, if you described a book as fascinating, and in the third line you wrote that it “fascinates,” you will feel like you are “marking time.” In this case, it is better to replace one of the words with a similar meaning.

Let’s formulate the fourth line: attitude to the topic

The fourth line of the syncwine describes a “personal attitude” to the topic. This causes particular difficulties for schoolchildren who are accustomed to the fact that attitudes must be formulated directly and unambiguously (for example, “I have a good attitude towards books” or “I think books are useful for raising the cultural level”). In fact, the fourth line does not imply evaluativeness and is formulated much more freely.

In essence, here you need to briefly outline what is most important for you in the topic. This may be relevant to you personally and your life (for example, “ Began reading at age four" or " I have a huge library", or " I can't stand reading"), but this is optional. For example, if you think the main disadvantage of books is that they use a lot of paper to produce, for the production of which forests are cut down, you don’t have to write “I” and “condemn.” Just write that " paper books – tree graves" or " book production is destroying forests”, and your attitude to the topic will be quite clear.

If it is difficult for you to immediately formulate a short sentence, first express your thought in writing, without thinking about the number of words, and then think about how you can shorten the resulting sentence. As a result, instead of " I love science fiction novels so much that I often can’t stop reading them until the morning"It might turn out, for example, like this:

  • I can read until the morning;
  • I often read all night long;
  • I saw a book - I said goodbye to sleep.

How to sum it up: the fifth line of syncwine

The task of the fifth line is to briefly, in one word, summarize all the creative work of writing a syncwine. Before you do this, rewrite the previous four lines - almost a finished poem - and re-read what you got.

For example, you thought about the variety of books, and you came up with the following:

Book.

Fiction, popular science.

Enlightens, entertains, helps.

So different, everyone has their own.

The result of this statement about the endless variety of books can be the word “library” (a place where many different publications are collected) or “diversity”.

In order to isolate this “unifying word”, you can try to formulate the main idea of ​​the resulting poem - and, most likely, it will contain the “main word”. Or, if you are used to writing “conclusions” from essays, first formulate the conclusion in your usual form, and then highlight the main word. For example, instead of " thus we see that books are an important part of culture”, write simply – “culture”.

Another common option for the ending of a syncwine is an appeal to one’s own feelings and emotions. For example:

Book.

Fat, boring.

We study, analyze, cram.

Classic is a nightmare for every schoolchild.

Yearning.

Book.

Fantastic, fascinating.

Delights, captivates, deprives you of sleep.

I want to live in a world of magic.

Dream.

How to learn to quickly write syncwines on any topic

Compiling syncwines is a very exciting activity, but only if the form is well mastered. And the first experiments in this genre are usually difficult - in order to formulate five short lines, you have to seriously strain.

However, after you have come up with three or four syncwines and mastered the algorithm for writing them, things usually go very easily - and new poems on any topic are invented in two or three minutes.

Therefore, in order to quickly compose syncwines, it is better to practice the form on relatively simple and well-known material. For training, you can try to take, for example, your family, home, one of your relatives and friends, or a pet.

Having dealt with the first syncwine, you can work on a more complex topic: for example, write a poem dedicated to any of the emotional states (love, boredom, joy), time of day or time of year (morning, summer, October), your hobby, hometown, etc. Further.

After you write several such “test” works and learn to “package” your knowledge, ideas and emotions into a given form, you will be able to easily and quickly come up with syncwines on any topic.

Your child at school was given a homework assignment to compose a syncwine, but you don’t know what it is? We invite you to understand together what syncwine is, what it is used for and how it is compiled? What is its benefit for schoolchildren and teachers? After which we will be able to independently write a short poem on any topic we like.

What is syncwine

A small poem, consisting of only 5 lines, without a clear rhyme, means the word cinquain. The term was first used by the American poet Adelaide Crapsey 100 years ago. While studying Japanese literature, she was so inspired by their haiku that she decided to create a new poetic form that consists of 5 lines, each containing a certain number of syllables. According to her theory, a traditional syncwine should consist of only 22 syllables: 2 of which are in the first line, 4 in the second, 6 in the third, 8 in the fourth and 2 in the fifth.

For the first time, this type of literature began to be put into practice in American schools. This is the so-called didactic syncane. It differs from other types of syncwines in that it does not require an accurate count of the syllables used in each line. It is based on the semantic load of each individual line.


Didactic, or as it is also called, classical syncwine, is built on the following principle:

  • The first line consists of just one word. This can be a noun or a pronoun. It should indicate the theme of the work.
  • Second line. Used to describe the properties of the main theme. These can be 2 participles or adjectives.
  • The third one tells about the actions of the topic. To do this, use 3 gerunds or verbs.
  • The fourth is the longest and consists of 4 words. Here the author needs to express his personal opinion regarding the topic of the verse.
  • Fifth - consists of only 1 word, which can refer to any part of speech. This is a kind of summary of the text that reveals the essence of the topic.

This unrhymed short poem can touch on any topic. Another feature of didactic syncwine is that the author is allowed to deviate from the basic rules. For example, to write the main idea or summary, it is allowed to use a phrase or an entire phrase of several (3-5) words. You can use a compound predicate to describe an action.


How to write syncwine

Many schoolchildren liked this activity. After all, to write such a verse they do not need to have talent or special skills. It’s enough just to master the form of syncwine and, as they say, “feel it from the inside.”

Writing Instructions

  1. The first line will be "Soap".
  2. What is soap in a nutshell? Choose any two adjectives that first came to your mind. This may be a general concept (scented, foamy, etc.) or the author will come up with an image of the soap that he personally uses (fruit, liquid, etc.). Let’s say you get “yellow, fragrant.”
  3. Here you need to select 3 actions. The child needs to be explained that what is meant is not the specific action that an object is capable of, but also how others can influence it. For example, soap can not only foam in your hands or smell, it can cause tears if it gets into your eyes, slip out and fall on the floor. In addition, you can wash yourself with it. For example, you chose the following 3 verbs: “cleans, smells, bubbles.”
  4. Now the author has to express his opinion on the subject. This does not only refer to the feelings and emotions that you may experience when thinking about this subject. Perhaps these are associations, something from personal life related to the subject, etc. For example, you remember how, as a child, your mother forced you to wash your hands before dinner or you fell on it when you slipped. Or perhaps you brew it yourself at home. Now all that remains is to squeeze all these memories into 3-5 words. For example: “washes hands before eating,” etc.
  5. The summary should consist of 1, maximum 2 words. To do this, once again carefully read what you managed to write and describe the image that appeared before you in one word. If this did not work out, answer the question - why was this item invented? What is its role in our lives? What property of an object can be considered the main one? Also, please note that the summary must be connected to the previous line. Therefore, if you wrote about hand washing, it would be advisable to conclude by talking about cleanliness or hygiene.

The resulting result

Now read your result:

Soap.

Yellow, fragrant.

Cleans, smells, bubbles.

Washes hands before eating.

Purity.

Thus, after practicing on something simple, you can move on to more serious things. Examples can be anything, just choose a topic from what surrounds us.


Now it’s clear how to do a syncwine in literature, history or any other school subject. For children, this can become a kind of “creative break”. And the teacher will be able, based on the poem compiled by the student, to determine the degree of his understanding of a particular topic.

Video instruction

Cinquain is a special poem that consists of 5 lines. The time of its origin is considered to be the twentieth century, and its place is America. The main factor that influenced the formation of such verse is Japanese poetic creativity, the popularity of which at that time was very wide. It is not surprising that they learned about syncwine both in Russia and throughout the world. It turned out that this is a fairly effective method that promotes the development of figurative speech. It is known that such five-line poems were also composed on didactic topics.

The “pioneer” in the field of composing the classic cinquain was the poetess Adelaide Crapsey, who was also the inventor of this bizarre verse. As already mentioned, the basis for its creation were Japanese motifs. In 1914, Adelaide's syncwines were included in a collection of poems published after her death.

To compose a verse of this modification, you do not need to have any special skills. This is, first of all, free creativity, and in order to write a syncwine, you need to find the most basic elements of this information, and then draw a brief conclusion in a clear, concise form. Today, the practice of syncwines is widespread in the school curriculum. They are a good way to summarize the material studied in a literature lesson. As for other disciplines, this is an excellent exercise that replaces banal final assignments for generalizing and systematizing program material.

It is very simple to compose a syncwine for both a student and an adult, and, by the way, this feature makes it the shortest and most effective path to the overall development of a child, which contributes to the rapid formation of analytical abilities. The introduction of this type of work into school practice is also due to the fact that it takes much less time, but gives much more results. Thus, the material is absorbed faster and better, which is not possible with regular school essays.

Another advantage of syncwine over standard exercises is that it has a more strict framework, which allows you to express ideas clearly, concisely and concisely. And in order for the explanation to meet all these criteria, the student uses the entire arsenal of intellectual and creative abilities, ingenuity and, of course, imagination.

How to make Sinkwine

Sinquains, in turn, are classified into 2 subspecies:

  • traditional, which also has several modifications:
    • back;
    • mirror;
    • cinquain butterfly and others.
  • didactic.

The traditional one is based on the syllabic principle. It consists in the fact that the number of syllables in 5 lines of syncwine should be equal to 22.
The didactic syncwine is based on a semantic principle. Its diagram looks something like this:

  • 1st line – the theme of the syncwine, expressed in 1 word (the name of the object, which will be discussed further);
  • Line 2 - 2 words that characterize the object;
  • Line 3 – 3 words describing the actions performed by the object;
  • Line 4 – 4 words that make up a phrase, the semantics of which should reflect the author’s attitude towards the object;
  • 5 - 1 word, a kind of summary-characteristic of the described object.

Examples of Synquains

Here is an example of a didactic syncwine:

Sun
Winter, unfaithful
Hiding, hunting, shooting
And only Man does not see
Sight.