A 5th grader's limerick homework

My 10 year old and I did a little bonding over doggerel poetry yesterday. He had to write a limerick. I didn't write the limerick that follows, I only provided guidance on how to do it.

Limericks are supposed to be, but do not technically have to be, funny. Here is the thought process that we followed:

1) Pick a generic topic. He chose Star Wars.

2) Pick some thing, situation, person, etc from the generic topic. He chose Han Solo.

3) List out words that rhyme with one of the topic words. He listed, among many, "no go, Bobo, go go, hobo, so so, dodo, no no, polo, bolo"

4) This is the critical step, because you should always end on the joke. Pick the rhyming word that will contain the potential punchline. We narrowed it down to "dodo" and "Bobo".

5) Write the last line of the limerick. I'll hold off on telling you this until we show the limerick.

6) Write a simple two line couplet that logically leads to the last line. This is probably the toughest part of the process. Try to pick words that are easy to rhyme and keep that quick staccato feel to the reading.

7) Write the second line of the limerick that links the opening line to the remainder of the poem. Use rhyming words listed in Step 3 to trigger the imagination.

8) The first line is fairly straightforward: "There once was a ..." Though the choice of noun is important. My son made the call on this one immediately.

9) Final edits occur now. The polishing step. We didn't worry too much about the number of feet on each line. He made minor tweaks for readability.

The key is Step 4. Choosing the right punchline rhyme. He almost went with Bobo and built the rhyme around a simian replacement for Chewbacca. Instead he went with the one that gave him the biggest belly laugh. Remember, this is 10 year old humor. He liked the fact that the bird in question was flightless.

A Limerick

by Gabe (my son's name)

There once was a smuggler named Solo

The Empire said smuggling's a no-no.

So they called him a crook

And the Falcon they took

Now he pilots the Millenium Dodo.