Jan. 9 th & 10 th

1. Jan. 9th & 10th Poetry is fun for everyone.

2. Quick Write #2 • As much as I adore all of you… I am sick and tired of seeing the incorrect usage of their, there, and they’re. • Their indicates possession. If it isn’t something that can be possessed, then it’s wrong. • Their cat was annoying. • They’re literally means they are. If you cannot replace the word in the sentence with the words they are then it does not work. • They’re the silliest students in class. • There indicates location, or ideas. • There isn’t enough time. / Your car? It’s over there. • Now, write four sentences. Three using each word just once, and correctly, and one sentence using all three correctly. #thestruggle #grammarisimportant #getitrightforonce PS: there will be a quiz over this and future grammar lessons soon *menacing sounds*

3. Poetic Devices

4. Types of Poetry • Blank verse: Iambic pentameter – think Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet • Free verse: Free verse is a form of poetry that does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Think Langston Hughes, Slam, etc. • Narrative: Poetry that tells a series of events using poetic devices such as rhythm, rhyme, compact language, and attention to sound. It usually follows the same plot diagram as story-telling. • Ballad: A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music and usually with a refrain. • Concrete: Poem based on the spacing of words. The pattern of the letters illustrates the meaning of the poem. It does not have to rhyme and can be of any length.

5. Stanza • Group of lines that creates a basic unit of form in poetry • Couplet – 2 consecutive, often rhymed lines of poetry • Quatrain – stanza of 4 lines • Sestet – stanza of 6 lines • Octave – stanza of 8 lines

6. Rhythm • Rhythm is the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language. • April Rain Song Let the rain kiss youLet the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid dropsLet the rain sing you a lullabyThe rain makes still pools on the sidewalkThe rain makes running pools in the gutterThe rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at nightAnd I love the rain. - Langston Hughes

7. Meter • Poetic meter is the measure of a line of poetry. • From Romeo and Juliet: “Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.”

8. Rhyme • End: rhyming of words at the end of a line • “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep” -Robert Frost • Internal: rhyming of words within a single line • “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary” -Edgar Allan Poe • Slant: sounds of words are similar but not identical • “Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all” -Emily Dickinson • Eye: words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently • Slaughter / Laughter • Bough / Rough • Good / Food

9. Theme • The central message of a work of literature, often expressed as a general statement about life • Theme is not the same as subject! The subject, usually expressed in 1 word, is what the writing is about (ex. love). The theme is what the author is saying about that subject (ex. love conquers all). • Ex. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) • Coexistence of good and evil • Existence of social inequalities

10. Mood & Tone • Mood: the feeling the reader gets from a piece of literature • Ex. Mysterious Frightening Sorrowful Romantic • Tone: the author’s attitude toward his/her subject matter • Ex. Formal/informal Humorous Sarcastic Nostalgic

11. Irony • The contrast between appearance and reality, or between what is expected and what actually happens. • Verbal – the meaning of a statement is the opposite of what is said • Example: Sarcasm • Dramatic – the audience knows something character(s) on stage don’t know • The deaths of Romeo & Juliet • Situational – the actual outcome of a situation is not what is expected • Trexler analyzes his own psychiatrist in E.B. White’s “The Second Tree from the Corner”

12. Alliteration • Repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words • Ex. Greedy Grandma Grace greedily grabbed gum from her grandson, Gary.

13. Allusion • A figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, person, or something that happened. This can be real or imaginary and may refer to anything, including paintings, opera, folk lore, mythical figures, or religious manuscripts. The reference can be direct or may be inferred, and can broaden the reader’s understanding. Nothing Gold Can StayRobert Frost Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

14. Assonance & Consonance • Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds within words • Ex: From nose to toes, the body began to sag. Sleeping, weeping ships of Crete. • Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds within or at the ends of words • Ex: “…while the rain descends so, must I lay my head on the cold, drenched ground?” (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre)

15. Enjambment • The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation. • Example: William Carlos Williams “Between Walls” the back wings       of the       hospital where       nothing       will grow lie       cinders       in which shine       the broken       pieces of a green       bottle 

16. Onomatopoeia • A figure of speech in which the sound of a word imitates its sense (for example, “choo-choo,” “hiss,” or “buzz”). Gathering Leaves (by Robert Frost) Spades take up leavesNo better than spoonsAnd bags full of leavesAre light as balloons. I make a great noiseOf rustling all dayLike rabbit and deerRunning away.

17. Let’s bring it together • Look over the four poems we read last class, and your new Poetic Devices Handout (which you will never, ever lose, right?!). • Try to find as many of these devices being used in those poems. Work as a group, turn in one sheet of paper, and have fun with it. 