POETRY Rhythm, Rhyme & Repetition

1. POETRYRhythm, Rhyme & Repetition Be Prepared to Take Notes

2. Why do poems have rhythm? • Natural speaking has rhythms; therefore it’s impossible to avoid rhythm • Rhythm makes things more pleasing and interesting to the ear • Rhythm can provide emphasis • Rhythm can effect the tone, or mood Think about music. What does it do to people?

3. Fundamentals of Rhythm in Poetry… • New Vocabulary: meter, foot • Meter of a poem is its rhythmical pattern. This pattern is determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line. T h e o u t l o o k w a s n ’t b r i l l i a n t f o r t h e M u d v i l l e N i n e t h a t d a y • (T h e o u t)( l o o k w a s )( n ’t b r i l l )( i a n t f o r ) (t h e M u d )(v i l l e N i n e) ( t h a t d a y ) • A foot is a unit of meter (shown by the parentheses); it usually has one stressed and one or more unstressed syllables.

4. Meter and Foot Continued • / - marks a stressed syllable • ˘ - marks an unstressed syllable (T h e o u t)( l o o k w a s )( n ’t b r i l l )( i a n t f o r) (t h e M u d )(v i l l e N i n e) ( t h a t d a y ) / / / / / / /

5. Why do poems have rhyme? There is no easy answer to this, because while a lot of poems have and use rhyme, many others do not. The easy answer: it makes it sound good. Fitting with poetry’s roots in the oral tradition, it helps the audience remember what is being said. Simply put, rhyme aids memory. Some argue that we evolved the ability because rhyming demonstrates verbal intelligence, making a person a more highly valued mate. There are lots of answers to this, depending on how the rhyme is used: humour, playfulness, etc.

6. Fundamentals of Rhyme in Poetry… • New Vocabulary: end rhyme, internal rhyme, partial rhyme • End rhyme occurs when the last words of different words sound alike (one or more syllables) ex: Tiger,Tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, • Internal rhyme occurs when the words that sound alike occur in a place other than the end of the line. ex: I went to town to buy a gown. I took the car and it wasn’t far.

7. More fundamentals of rhyme • Partial rhyme – the words sound alike, but are not a perfect match of end sound ex: What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry • Multisyllabic / internal rhyme (it sounds complicated, but you’re already familiar with it if you listen to rap music.) - ex: Hey yo, I know you never heard this before But I'd rather lose a fight than miss the war And I ain't wishing competition or fishin' for it I'm just living in the system, conditions are poor - from “Inner Ninja”

8. Marking Rhyme – Rhyme Scheme • When figuring out the rhyme scheme of a poem, the end rhyme is marked using letters. The first sound is represented or designated as a, the second is designated as b, and so on. When the first sound is repeated, it is designated as a also. TIGER, tiger, burning bright AIn the forests of the night, AWhat immortal hand or eye BCould frame thy fearful symmetry? B (partial rhyme)In what distant deeps or skies ABurnt the fire of thine eyes? AOn what wings dare he aspire? BWhat the hand dare seize the fire? B

9. Why do poems have repetition? • Many poems have repetition for the same reason songs have choruses – it adds emphasis to the main point or message of the piece. • Just like rhyme, it helps people remember • In songs, choruses are often where the listener joins in and sings along, which encourages people to become more attached to what they’re listening to. • Emphasis, emphasis, emphasis – sometimes it’s your job as a reader to figure it out, what the writer is emphasizing.

10. Today • I will group you up with people near you to read “Casey at the Bat” • You will make 3 passes through your section of the poem • Pass one: mark the meter of your assigned section • Pass two: mark the rhyme scheme of your assigned section • Pass three: underline, identify, and write a jot note to explain any example of figurative language - Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification,