Elements of Poetry and Fiction

1. Elements of Poetry and Fiction Virginia Grasso Prof: Mariana Mussetta English Literature II Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa Universidad Tecnológica de Villa María 23/02/2013

2. “Poem: A peace of writing arranged in patterns of lines and of sounds which often RHYME, expressing thoughts, emotions, and experiences in words that excite your imagination”*. • “Poetry: The art of writing poems (beauty, grace, deep feelings)*. *(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 1084)

3. The poem • It gives pleasure. • It has unique value to the fully realized life. • It has spiritual value. • It says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language. • It creates new and significant experiences for the reader. • It is an aid and a mean of living. • It has extra dimensions than does ordinary language.

4. Allegory • The word “allegory” is from the Greek word «allegoria» which means “speaking otherwise”. • Allegory is a story in verse or prose with a double meaning a primary or surface meaning, and a secondary or under-the surface meaning. • Since it represents one thing in the guise of another.

5. Allegory • An abstraction in that of a concrete image, it can be read, understood and interpreted at twolevels literal level political and ethical level religious

6. Allegory • Allegories are effective in teaching, explaining or illustrating some abstract idea or a moral principle. • It is an essence a figurative representation of some abstract truth by the use of symbolic language (Eg: the fable and the parable can reflect the nature of human beings, they are figurative ways of telling stories about fictional characters and events).

7. Allegory • An allegory also appeals to the imagination more than a metaphor, which tends to have a more rational basis.

8. Allegory Example: Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to explore the world, so, one day she packed up her things and set out on a journey. She walked through the woods that surrounded her hut until she reached a road. Standing on the other side of the road was another traveler, a little boy. When asked, he suggested that she go north, for that was where the big towns and more interesting sights were. So she walked along the road northward until she reached a large town. She spent several days exploring the town and meeting all kinds of strange people. Finally she grew bored, and found a new road along which to travel. Standing at the edge of town was a young woman. When asked, she suggested that the little girl go east, for that was where the small cities and most interesting sights were. So the little girl walked eastward along the road until she came to a small city. She wandered through the city for a few weeks and saw all manner of new inventions. Finally she had seen everything, so she left and found a new road along which to travel. Waiting at an intersection was a man, who, when asked, suggested that the little girl go south, for that was where the big cities were. So the little girl walked along the road going south for quite some time, until she came to a large city. There she talked with people from different countries who spoke different languages and had entirely different cultures. She learned a lot during her stay, but finally she had had enough of the city, so she found another road along which to travel. Resting in a nearby park was an old woman, who, when asked if she could recommend any particular direction for the little girl to travel, exclaimed, “Oh, there is a lovely forest west of here. I love to wander through the trees and enjoy the peace and quiet.” So the little girl went west and after a while, found the very forest in which she lived. She skipped through the trees to her hut, glad to be home.

9. Alliteration • It occurs when the initial sounds of a word, beginning with a consonant or a vowel are repeated in close succession. Eg: The soft surge of the sea. • It accentuates the beauty of language in a given context and it unites words or concepts through a kind of repetition.

10. Alliteration Examples: • Athena and Apollo. • He hopped about happily. • Nate never knows. • People who pen poetry. • Sometimes snakes slithered past. • Lovely lady.

11. Assonance • If alliteration occurs at the beginning of a word and the rhyme at the end, assonance takes the middle territory. Assonance occurs when the vowel sound within a word matches the same sound in a nearby word, but the surrounding consonant sounds are different, Eg: “Tune” and “June” are rhymes “Tune” and “food” are assonant

12. Assonance • It serves to give a sense of continuity or fluidity to the verse. • It is effective when the rhyme is absent: It gives the poem more flexibility. • Like alliteration it is more ornamental.

13. Denotation It is when you mean what you say, literally. That is, the dictionary meaning or meanings of the word. Eg: greasy (like car engines, need to be greasy) home (means only the place where one lives)

14. Connotation • It is created when you mean something else, something that might be initially hidden. • It is based on implication, or shared emotional association with a word. • It is important in poetry because poets use them to further develop or complicate a poem’s meaning. • It is very important for it is one of the means by which he can concentrate or enrich his meaning.

15. Connotation examples: • Greasy is a completely innocent word. • Greasy contains negative associations for most people if they are talking about food or people. • Home suggests security, love, comfort, and family.

16. Diction It refers to the choice and the order of words. • It has been split into vocabulary and syntax. Vocabulary simple complex Syntax ordinary unusual

17. Diction • It is possible to use “plain” language in a complicated way (poetry). • It is equally possible to use complicated language in a simple way.

18. Diction • Diction is a web rather than a level: There is something deeper than a surface meaning to consider, so poetic diction is complex.

19. Diction examples: • A) She took an apple from under the tree. • First, let’s alter the order, or syntax: • From under the tree she took an apple. it brings the rhyme (she/tree) close together

20. Diction examples: 2) She, from under the tree, took an apple. It plays on our notion of suspense

21. Diction examples: 3) From under the tree, an apple she took. It sounds like it belongs in a ballad or some other form where the “took” at the end of the sentence either for emphasis or to set up rhyme (crook: steal)

22. Second, let’s alter the vocabulary: 1) She picked up a fruit from the ground, where it lay. 2) She pilfered an apple that had fallen from its tree. 3) The lovely woman stooped and grabbed the fallen apple. basic elements a woman an apple but different emphasis a tree

23. Diction exercises: • They watched a pretty red sunset. • Then, without warning, a knock come at the door. • I wash awash in memories, reliving the innocence of time past.

24. Irony As a figure of speech • Verbal irony: saying the opposite of what one means. • It refers to a difference between the way something appears and what is actually true. • It is indirect. • It refuses to state something simply as the way it is.

25. Irony • It allows us to say something but to mean something else, whether we are being sarcastic, exaggerating, or understating. • Irony is more restrained than sarcasm. • Irony is easier to communicate in speech than in writing.

26. Irony example: • A child is playing violin and his aunt says, «he is obviously not ready for the youth orchestra» Is the aunt speaking ironically or not? Is he playing poorly? The tone is straight Is he playing perfectly? The tone is ironic It depends on the way the aunt pronounces

27. Sarcasm • It implies ridicule on the colloquial level. • Sarcasm is simply bitter or cutting speech, intended to wound the feelings. • Greek: to tear flesh. • It is cruel, and means to hurt.

28. Satire • It is a more formal term, usually applied to written literature rather than to speech (on the literary level). • It implies higher motive: it is ridicule (either bitter or gentle) of human folly or vice, with the purpose of bringing about reform or at least of keeping other people from falling into similar folly or vice.

29. Metaphor • It compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. • It asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. • It is evoked by the to be verb or not. • It makes abstract concrete unknown familiar

30. Metaphor • It enlivens by touching the reader’s imagination. • It gives connection in the unity between alien things. • It identifies one object or idea with another, in one or more aspects. • Is a figure of speech that involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things.

31. Metaphor • It seems comparisons between two seemingly dissimilar things. • It expands the sense. • It clarifies the meaning of something. • It is one of the chief elements that distinguishes poetry from less lofty forms of communication.

32. Metaphor examples: • The road was a ribbon of moonlight. • the ship ploughs the sea. • Julie is a gem. • Rain falls in teardrops from the sky.

33. Simile In simile the comparison is expressed by the use of some word or phrase such as: • Like • As • Than • Similar to • Resembles

34. Simile • It is comparison between two different things that resemble each other in at least one way. • In formal prose it is a device both art explanation • It compares an unfamiliar thing to some familiar thing object event known to the reader process

35. Simile examples: Compare a noun to a noun is introduced by like • I see men, but they look like trees, walking. When a verb or phrase is compared to a verbor phrase, as is used • They remained constantly attentive to their goal, as a sunflower always turns and stays focused on the sun.

36. Simile examples: But a simile can sometimes be implied, or as it is often called, submerged. In such cases no comparative word is needed. • “When I think of the English final exam, I think of dungeons and chains and racks and primal screams”.

37. Simile • The word like signifies a direct comparison between two things that are alike in a certain way. • Usually one of the elements of a simile is concrete and the other abstract.

38. Meter • It is a kind of rhythm we can tap our foot to mark the intervals. • In language that is metrical the accents are so arranged as to occur as intervals of time (equal or not) • Metrical language is called VERSE. Non-metrical language is PROSE.

39. Meter • It is a rhythm established by the poem. • It is dependent on the number of syllables in the line/foot/stanza the way those syllables are accented • It is often described as a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. • the rhythmic unit is often described as a foot.

40. Rhythm • The term rhythm refers to any wavelike recurrence of motion or sound. • In speech it is the natural rise and fall of language.

41. Rhyme • It is two words that sound alike. • The vowel sound of two words is the same, but the initial consonant sound is different. • It is the most recognizable convention of poetry. • It helps to unify the poem.

42. Rhyme Rhyme is the repetition of a stressed sound, usually the final syllable. • It repeats a sound that links one concept to another, helping to determine the structure of a poem. • Rhyme for its own sake is really just decorative. • It contributes to the poem’s meaning or unity.

43. Rhyme examples: • Internal rhyme: functions within a line of poetry. His aim was to blame the dame.

44. Parallelism • Parallelism is recurrent syntactical similarity. • Several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance. • It adds balance, rhythm, and clarity to the sentence.

45. Parallelism examples: • Parallel subject with parallel modifiers: Ferocious dragons breathing fire and wicked sorcerers casting their spells do their harm by night in the forest of Darkness.

46. Parallelism examples: • Parallel verbs and adverbs: I have always sought but seldom obtained a parking space near the door. Quickly and happily he walked around the corner to buy the book.

47. Parallelism examples: • Parallel verbs and direct objects: He liked to eat watermelon and to avoid grapefruit.

48. Parallelism examples: • Or just the objects: This Arab owns three pastel Cadillacs, two gold Rolls Royces, and ten assorted Mercedes.

49. Parallelism examples: • Or parallel prepositional phrases: He found it difficult to vote for an ideal truth but against his own self interest. The pilot walked down the aisle, through the door, and into the cockpit, singing “Up, Up, and Away”.

50. Antithesis • It establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure. • It creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas. Eg: To err is human; to forgive, divine. - A. Pope