Elements of Poetry

Elements of Poetry 7th Grade - Text Page 540

What is poetry?

“Our instinct for poetry may be more useful than a thousand definitions.”

We recognize it when we hear it. • We hear it songs or on the street. • It’s a use of language that differs from dry, simply useful communication. • It has a beat or a roll, a melody and a texture. • It’s full of expressions that move us, positively or negatively.

One of the elements that makes poetry poetry is figurative language.

Figurative Language • Writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally. • The many types of figurative language are known as figures of speech. • This includes metaphors, similes and personification. • Language shaped by imagination.

Literal vs. Figurative Language • Note what happens when figurative language is taken literally • https://youtu.be/v6mfDJ02VCY

Figurative Language • Imagery • Descriptive detail that appeals to the senses

Figurative Language • Simile • A figure of speech that uses the words like, as, than, or resembles to compare things that have little or nothing in common.

Figurative Language • Metaphor • A comparison between unlike things in which some reasonable connection is instantly revealed. A metaphor is a more forceful version of a simile because like or as is dropped. • “I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.” • “I have just boarded a plane, without a pilot And violets are blue, roses are red Daisies are yellow, the flowers are dead.”

“All Star” • Find the figurative language. • Write down all Metaphors and Similes http://youtu.be/5xxQs34UMx4

Personification • Attributing human qualities to nonhuman things or to an abstract idea. The seasons played around his knees Like Children round a sire Grandfather of the days is he Of dawn, the Ancestor - Emily Dickinson

symbol A person, place, thing or event that stands for both itself and something beyond itself.

Like the flag.

Like a peace sign.

Tone • The attitude of the writer or speaker to the audience, a subject, or a character • Amused, angry, cheerful, horror, clear, formal, gloomy, Humorous, Pessimistic, ironic, pompous, light, matter-of-fact, resigned, optimistic, sad, serious, suspicious, witty, pensive (thinking about something).

Mood • The feeling that it gives • Frightening, frustrated, gloomy, happy, joyful, melancholy, mysterious, romantic, sentimental, suspenseful, sorrowful, intense • Melancholy – a feeling of thoughtful (pensive) sadness.

Analysis • First: What is the LITERAL meaning? The story. • Second: Structural- Imagery, Figurative language, line structure, sound devices. • Third: Tone and theme. What is the poet telling us? Message? What is their attitude or tone?

Poetry can address individuality. • Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGZfPfU6yXo

Allusion • A reference to something historical, literary or biblical. • Background knowledge is necessary to understand an allusion. • 1. Your backyard is a Garden of Eden. (Biblical allusion) • 2. You're a regular Einstein. (allusion to a historical figure) • 5. When your parents learn about your new plan to raise money, it's going to sink like the Titanic. (allusion to a historical event)

Poetry speaks of love. • Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • https://youtu.be/RnGjrudmClQ

Sounds of Poetry • Sound devices - elements such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and onomatopoeia that give poetry a musical quality. • Rhyme – words with the same ending sound. • One thing many people notice first about a poem is whether the lines rhyme. • This is one way in which the author creates the "music" of a poem. • Not all poems have lines that rhyme, but many do.

The “music” of the poem • Rhyme Scheme- The pattern of rhyming in a poem • The way to define the rhyme scheme is by marking each end-rhyme with a letter of the alphabet, starting with a. Unmatched lines get a letter, too. Let's use the following limerick as an example. • A mouse in her room woke Miss Douda • Who was frightened and screamed very loud. a • Then a happy thought hit her b • To scare off the critter b • She just sat up in bed and meowed. a • -Author unknown • Complete rhyme scheme for “All Star”

The “music” of the poem • Rhythm - is much like the "beat" in a song. (To really get a sense of the rhythm, try reading the poem aloud.) It is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllable. • Meter- a recurring patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. • Repetition – Repeating words to unify a poem or reinforce the meaning or theme.

Slam • POW • Use your analysis sheet • http://youtu.be/AkSObnpCimA • “Play On” • http://youtu.be/3u8dz50GbVk

The “music” of the poem • Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables. • Klein could be clever or clueless, kind or cold, curmudgeonly or compassionate- all in the same day; you never knew which Klein you would get.

The “music” of the poem • Assonance - the repetition of vowel sounds within words or syllables. • Though the moon was a radiant bloom in the speckled vase of night, Carrie couldn't shake her gloom, try as she might. • Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like what they signify. • Smack, moo, clank, and buzz are examples of onomatopoeia.

Structure of Poetry • Poems have lines (rows of words), not sentences. • Poems don’t follow rules of capitalization and punctuation. • Poems have stanzas, not paragraphs. • Stanzas are groups of lines set apart by spaces. • Lines and stanzas may be broken up in unusual places to get the reader’s attention or create an

Language of the Discipline • Poetic purpose - the intention (reason for) of a poem. Why did the poet write it? • An ode, an elegy, and an epic are written to achieve different poetic purposes.

Poetry speaks • What is the poet saying? • Imagery - Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Powerful/best line • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • http://youtu.be/JgORGvC1dTg “Push” • http://youtu.be/HYaOuQJUI84 “Favorite Color”

Language of the Discipline • Poetic form is the structure of a poem- The way the poem’s words and lines are laid out on the page. Its pattern of lines, stanzas, and rhyme. • Poems can be structured or traditional (fixed rules) • Free Verse- no fixed rules • A haiku, a sonnet, and a concrete poem have different poetic forms.

Poetry can address war • For Whom the Bell TollsJohn Donne • From "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions" (1623), XVII: Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris - "Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me: Thou must die." • If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another's danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.

Poetry can inspire: • Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • http://youtu.be/WpYeekQkAdc • http://youtu.be/FozhZHuAcCs - “Invictus”

Poetry can address war • What is the poet saying? • Imagery - Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Powerful/best line • Identify one simile or metaphor. • Personification • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2AG2L2HMA

Poetry can address genocide • Rwanda - http://youtu.be/4dd8rX5Dy_Q • http://youtu.be/Q2sQSoA3BTg - Slam • Use your analysis sheet

Poetry and addiction: • Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • http://youtu.be/sKHtq4XPf6k • http://youtu.be/ajudmht-MmQ

Poetry speaks of death: • Identify one image that paints a picture in your mind. • Identify one simile. • Identify one metaphor. • Use your analysis sheet • http://youtu.be/Aw8W6hYGZ0E

Language of the Discipline: Types of Poetry • light verse - funny or playful poetry • narrative poetry -poetry that tells a story • ballad -a traditional song that tells a story, often about love, tragedy, or heroic deeds • epic -a long narrative poem that tells of the deeds of a legendary hero of history or tradition • elegy -a poem of sorrow

Language of the Discipline: Types of Poetry • limerick -a five-lined poem that is usually humorous, with the last line often delivering a "punch line," It typically has a rhyme scheme of aabba. • lyric poetry -poetry that is short and musical and that deals with personal issues • pattern poetry -poems written so that the words form a certain pattern; types of pattern poetry include limerick, cinquain, haiku, diamante, tanka, and concrete poems • haiku -a form of Japanese pattern poetry, usually consisting of three lines in which the syllables alternate in a pattern of 5-7-5

Language of the Discipline: Types of Poetry • sonnet -a poem of 14 lines, usually with 10 syllables each and with various complicated rhyme schemes • blank verse -poetry with unrhymed lines but with a set syllable pattern, or beat • free verse -poetry that is free from fixed patterns of rhyme or beat • prose poetry -poetic language presented in unlined form

Comparisons in poetry - review • Figurative language uses simile, metaphor, or personification to say things in ways that are not meant to be taken literally. • A simile compares two things using like or as. • Life is like a box of chocolates; you're never sure what you're gonna get. • A metaphor compares two things by saying (or suggesting) that one thing is another. • Music is Daniela's lifeblood; she must have a daily infusion of rock, pop, rap, and salsa. • Hyperbole is just a big word for "exaggeration." • As the Tilt-a-Whirl started spinning, Jackie held on tighter than a tick on a dog's ear. • Personification gives human qualities to a nonhuman thing. ~ • Personification gives human qualities to a nonhuman thing. • Toby knew he couldn't put off his homework much longer. His geometry book seemed to stare at him, whisper to him, call out his name.

Figurative Language • Question: What Are Mixed Metaphors? • Answer: As defined in our glossary, a mixed metaphor is a succession of incongruous or ludicrous comparisons. When two or more metaphors (or cliches) are jumbled together, often illogically, we say that these comparisons are "mixed." • In Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner offers this classic example of a mixed metaphor from a speech by Boyle Roche in the Irish Parliament: • "Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat. I see him floating in the air. But mark me, sir, I will nip him in the bud." This sort of mixed metaphor may occur when a speaker is so familiar with the figurative sense of a phrase ("smell a rat," "nip in the bud") that he fails to recognize the absurdity that results from a literal reading. • Now and then a writer may deliberately introduce mixed metaphors as a way of exploring an idea. • http://grammar.about.com/od/qaaboutrhetoric/f/QAmixmetaphor.htm

Elements of Poetry