Poetry – Figurative Language and Structure

1. Poetry – Figurative Language and Structure An Introductory Lesson

2. What is Poetry? • Major type of literature in which sound is as important as meaning. • Poetry uses sound devices to give the work a musical quality. • Poetry uses images to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.

3. Lesson Objectives • Use structural features to distinguish among types of poems such as haiku, form/shape poetry, cinquain, etc. • Identify and explain the meaning of words, lines, and stanzas

4. Types of Figurative Language • Hyperbole • Onomatopoeia • Personification • Simile • Alliteration • Metaphor

5. Hyperbole Definition Big exaggeration, usually with humor Example I ate a mile-high ice cream cone.

6. Onomatopoeia Definition Example Naming a thing or an action by imitating the sound associated with it. Buzz, hiss, roar, woof

7. Personification Definition Giving inanimate objects - human qualities. Example The old house screeched in pain as we entered and the old stairs groaned in pain as we climbed to the second story.

8. Simile Definition Example A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using the words like or as The sun is like a yellow ball of fire.

9. Metaphor Example Definition The desert is a burning carpet. Comparing two things without using like or as.

10. Alliteration Definition Example The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more words or syllables. The wild and wooly walrus waits and wonders when we walk by.

11. A poem has… • A line or verse is a single line of poetry. • A stanza is two or more lines of poetry. • Website: www.poetry4kids.com • How many stanzas does the poem have? • How many lines?

12. My Robot Does My Homework My robot does my homework. He helps me every night. The trouble is he doesn't get too many answers right. He'd probably do better at homework but, you see, I built him, so he only knows the things he learned from me. --Kenn Nesbitt

13. Cinquain • A cinquain is based on syllable or word count. • The more current form of cinquain moves by line from one word to two words to three words to four words and concludes with a single word.

14. Cinquain Puppy ornery, naughty growling, jumping, chewing a playful bundle of trouble Boxer Penguin black, white waddling, swimming, leaping a tuxedo in the cold water Emperor

15. Haiku • A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry which has three lines focused on a single element. • It often follows the pattern of 5-syllables 7-syllables 5-syllables

16. Haiku Two white butterflies Fluttering over green grass: One goes east, one west Sleepy bumble bees Buzzing about plum blossoms In the setting sun

17. Narrative Poem • A narrative poem tells a story in verse. • The speaker of the poem is not always the poet. • The speaker is the creation of the poet and voices the words of the poem. • The speaker has a personality and attitude that is discernable to a reader. • Pay attention to the attitude of the speaker and connecting them to the words of the poem assists a reader with comprehension.

18. The Toy Eater Follow along with the poem and listen for: • The story • Character • Setting • Beginning • Middle • End • Problem • Solution ?

19. Concrete or Shape Poem • A shape poem has the form of its subject. For example a poem about a tree is shaped like a tree.

21. References • http://www.shelsilverstein.com/play.asp • www.poetry4kids.org • http://www.johngrandits.com/concrete-poem/index.php • I borrowed liberally from other PowerPoint presentations that I found on the Internet.