POETRY

							Poetry
Terms
Poetry
          Is best defined as
           literature written in
           verse form
          Can express ideas
           and feelings
          Can tell a story
Point of View in Poetry
Like all literature, poetry has a point of view.
There are two ideas to consider when looking
at the point of view of a poem:
1. The poet is the author of the poem.
2. The speaker is the “narrator” of the poem,
the person or thing who actually “says” it.
The poet may or may not be the speaker of the
poem.
Poetic Structures
 FORM - the shape or       A word is dead
  appearance of the         When it is said,
  poem
                              Some say.
 LINE - a group of
  words together on one      I say it just
  line of the poem          Begins to live
                              That day.
 STANZA - a group of
  lines arranged together
Kinds of Stanzas
Couplet            =   a two line stanza
Triplet (Tercet)   =   a three line stanza
Quatrain           =   a four line stanza
Quintet            =   a five line stanza
Sestet (Sextet)    =   a six line stanza
Septet             =   a seven line stanza
Octave             =   an eight line stanza
Refrain
 A sound, word, phrase   “Quoth the raven,
  or line repeated         „Nevermore.‟”
  regularly in a poem.
Sound
Effects
Meter
 A repeating pattern of
  stressed and
  unstressed syllables.
Rhyme
 Repeated sounds at the             LAMP
  ends of words                     STAMP
  (A word always
  rhymes with itself.)
                            Share the short “a”
                             vowel sound
                            Share the combined
                             “mp” consonant sound
End Rhyme
 Rhyming words at the end of different lines
EX:
 Hector the Collector
 Collected bits of string.
 Collected dolls with broken heads
 And rusty bells that would not ring.
Internal Rhyme
 A word inside a line rhymes with another
 word on the same line.
EX:
              From “The Raven”
                 by Edgar Allan Poe

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I
    pondered weak and weary.”
Rhyme Scheme
 A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyming sounds
  in a poem (usually end rhyme, but not always).

 Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds
  to be able to visually “see” the pattern.
Rhyme Scheme, cont.
                    The Germ
                 by Ogden Nash

A mighty creature is the germ,      a
Though smaller than the pachyderm.      a
His customary dwelling place            b
Is deep within the human race.      b
His childish pride he often pleases     c
By giving people strange diseases.      c
Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?     a
You probably contain a germ.        a
Alliteration
 Consonant sounds repeated at the
  beginnings of words

EX: If Peter Piper picked a peck of
 pickled peppers, how many pickled
 peppers did Peter Piper pick?
Assonance
 Repeated vowel sounds in a line or lines of poetry

EX:
“Slow the low gradual moan came in the
  snowing.
                     - John Masefield
“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet
  sleep.”
                     - William Shakespeare
Onomatopoeia
 The use of words that imitate sounds.
  These words are often in italics.
 We often see examples of onomatopoeia in
  comic strips and comic books.
Forms of
 Poetry
Traditional Poetry
 Traditional poetry is very structured. It is often
  divided into stanzas.
 It often has a meter and a rhyme scheme.
 Traditional poetry is an older form of poetry that
  has been in use for centuries.
Free Verse
 Poetry with no meter or rhyme scheme
 Free verse poetry is very conversational - it
  sounds like someone talking to you.
 A modern type of poetry.
Concrete Poetry
                                           Poetry
 In concrete poems, the                   Is like
  shape of the poem is                    Flames,
                                        Which are
  significant                       Swift and elusive
                                   Dodging realization
 Sometimes, words are          Sparks, like words on the
  placed to create a          Paper, leap and dance in the
                              Flickering firelight. The fiery
  silhouette of the poem’s   Tongues, formless and shifting
                             Shapes, tease the imagination.
  topic.                          Yet for those who see,
                                  Through their mind‟s
                                      Eye, they burn
                                       Up the page.
Concrete Poetry, cont.
               Words may be
                arranged to create a
                picture that relates to
                the content of the
                poem.
               In some poems, the
                placement of the
                words is important to
                the meaning of the
                poem.
Lyric Poetry
 Poetry that expresses thoughts or feelings
 May be used to describe a scene
 Often shorter than narrative poems
 Usually written in first-person point of
  view
 Do not tell a story and is often musical
 (Many of the poems we read will be lyric.)
Narrative Poetry
 Poems that tell a story
 Generally longer than the lyric styles of poetry
  because the poet needs to establish characters
  and a plot.
 EX: “The Highwayman”
Figurative
Language
Simile
 A comparison of two things using “like” or
 “as”
EX: “She is as beautiful as a sunrise.”
Metaphor
A comparison of two different things without
 using “like” or “as”

EX: “All the world’s a stage, and we are merely
 players.”
                         - William Shakespeare

                  An extended metaphor goes
                  several lines or possibly the
                  entire length of a work.
Hyperbole
 An extreme exaggeration
EX:
            “I Ate a Ton of Sugar”
                   by Alice Gilbert
I ate a ton of sugar.
It made me very sweet.
It also made me very round—
now I can‟t find my feet.

(“Mama jokes” are also examples of hyperbole.)
Personification
 Figurative language that gives human qualities to
  nonhuman subjects.

                  “Well Spotted”
                  by Marian Swinger
„I‟ve spots all over me,‟ she said.
„I‟m positively peppered.‟
„Don‟t worry, dear,‟ her mum replied.
„It‟s normal in a…

      leopard.‟
Other Poetic
  Devices
Imagery
 Language that appeals to the senses.
 Most images are visual, but they can also
  appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste,
  or smell.

       then with cracked hands that ached
       from labor in the weekday weather .
       ..
             from “Those Winter Sundays”