The big idea

The limerick has been around for a long time. Some form of this poem goes back nearly four hundred years. The form we'll be writing, however, goes back to the late 1800's. PLEASE NOTE: we will only be writing clean limericks in class.

Before you begin

Have a clear idea in your head about what you want to say. If you don't, you'll let the rhyming take over, and you'll wind up saying something that you didn't mean to say, simply because it was easier to make it rhyme. That sounds okay, but it really isn't. You should always say what you MEAN to say.

How to do it

Your limerick will be five lines long and will follow these rules:

1. lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with each other, and, when you read them, have a rhythm that goes ta-DUM ta-DUM ta-DUM
2. lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other, and, when you read them, have a rhythm that goes ta-DUM ta-DUM
3. they try to be funny

. . . .

An example:

"There Was a Young Boy in Fifth Grade"

There was a young boy in fifth grade

Who always was rude to the aide.

He called her a jerk

And tried not to work,

And so in detention he stayed.