Exploring Figurative Language in Poetry

1. NotesThe Elements of Poetry2013 J. Scott 2013

2. 1. Figurative Language • Writing that is NOT meant to be taken literally. • Clichés and Idioms are great examples of speaking figuratively • We will delve into the world of clichés and idioms during our study of poetry…maybe using illustrations???

3. 2. Cliché or an Idiom An overused phrase not to be taken literally. When it rains it pours!

4. 3. Simile Comparing two unlike things using the words like or as. Apollo drove his golden chariot across the sky like a huge gold coin.

5. 4. Metaphor Comparing two unlike things without using the words like or as. John was a bear when he awoke in the morning.

6. 5. Personification Giving human qualities to non-human things or objects. Mrs. Potts spoke and danced in Beauty and the Beast. The dog told me to let him outside. Personification is used greatly in animated movies and stories about animals.

7. 6. Allusion • A reference to a well-known person, place, historical event/person, literary work, or work of art. • Examples of allusion I violated the Noah rule: predicting rain doesn't count; building arks does."(Warren Buffett) “I was surprised his nose was not growing l like Pinocchio’s.

8. 7. Hyperbole Intentionally exaggerated figures of speech. • Examples: • “I’ve told you a million times” • “It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing jackets”

9. 8. Imagery Language that appeals to the five senses; sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. The aroma of freshly baked cookies came wafting from the kitchen to tantalize my taste buds.

10. 9. Rhyme The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them. The Lizard The lizard is a timid thing That cannot dance or fly or sing; He hunts for bugs beneath the floor And longs to be a dinosaur.

11. 10. Repetition The repeated use of words or sounds. • Can be alliterative. • Can be within lines or at the end of the line or throughout the poem. Example: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten loreWhile I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber doorOnly this and nothing more."

12. 11. Rhythm The musical quality produced by repetition of stressed and unstressedvowels or by the repetition of other sound patterns. Hiawatha's Departure from The Song of HiawathaBy: Henry Wadsworth LongfellowBy the shore of Gitchie Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, At the doorway of his wigwam, In the pleasant Summer morning, Hiawatha stood and waited.

13. 12. Alliteration The repetition of initialconsonant sounds. She sells seashells Down by the seashore. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

14. 13. • Humor in poems can arise from a number of sources: • Surprise • Exaggeration • Bringing together of unrelated things • Most funny poems have two things in common: • rhythm • rhyme

15. 14. • Using more spiritedlanguage makes humorous situations even more humorous. “The Porcupine” By Ogden Nash Any hound a porcupine nudges Cant’ be blamed for harboring grudges. I know one hound that laughed all winter At a porcupine that sat on a splinter.

16. If you take away the rhythm and rhyme, the humor vanishes. Any hound that touches a porcupine Can’t be blamed for holding a grudge I know one hound that laughed all winter long At a porcupine that sat on a piece of wood

17. 15. Rhyme Scheme The repetition of end rhymes/sounds. To find the pattern, look at the last wordin the line. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, AOver many a quaint and curious volume of forgottenlore– BWhile I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, C As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door – B'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door – BOnly this and nothing more." B

18. Let’s Try it! There was a little girl, A Who found a round, white pearl A She dropped it on the ground B When she was spinning round and round. B

19. Rhyme Scheme Continued… The last word in the first line is assigned the letter A • The last word in the second line, • if it rhymes with the first, receives an “A”, • if not, give it a B • The last word in the third line • would get an A or a B if it rhymes with the 1st or 2nd lines, • if not, it would get a C • The last word in the fourth line would get the letter of the line it rhymes with; if it rhymes with none, the poem is not a rhyming poem.

20. Rhyme Scheme continued In a four line stanza (group of lines) you would typically see the following patterns: AABB ABAB ABCB ABBA ABCC

21. 16. Connotation The feelings and emotions that have come to be associated with a word. It matters HOW you say it! These can be negative or positive

22. 17. Denotation The dictionary meaning of a word. Orange??? Look it up in the dictionary!

23. 18. Mood The feeling created by the author in the a literary work

24. 19. Tone The attitude a writer takes toward an audience, a subject, or a character.

25. 20. Stanza A group of lines in a poem that forms a unit. Typically a poem has four lined stanzas called a quatrain. However, a stanza can have many lines.

26. 21. Refrain • A regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem. Like a chorus in a song. Almost Heaven, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older than the tress; Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze. REFRAIN Country roads, take me home to the place, I belong; West Virginia, mountain, Momma; take me home, country roads.

27. 22. End Stopped Line The line ends with a definite pause. Look for a period or a comma, some type of punctuation.

28. 23. Run on Line The meaningcontinueson the next line. There is no punctuation at the end of a run on line.

29. 24. Onomatopoeia Words that imitate sounds.

30. Types of Poems Haiku Limerick Concrete Free Verse Rhyming Alliterative Acrostic Cinquain Non-Rhyming

31. 1. Haiku From Japan. Has only threelines. Is usually about some form in nature. Line 1 – 5 syllables Line 2 – 7 syllables Line 3 – 5 syllables

32. Haiku Thesunwasshining (5) 1 2 3 4 5 The freshmountainairwasclean. (7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itwasaniceday. (5) 1 2 4 4 5

33. 2. Limerick • A humorous five lined verse that has a regular rhyme and end patterns. • Must have an AABBA rhyme scheme • Must have the following patternof beats • Line 1 has 3beats, A • Line 2 has 3 beats, A • Line 3 has 2 beats, B • Line 4 has 2 beats, B • Line 5 has 3 beats, A

34. Limericks There once was a man with no hair. He gave everyone quite a scare. He got some Rogaine, Grew out a mane, And now he resembles a bear.

35. Limerick About a Bee I wish that my room had a floor, I don’t care so much for a door. But this walking around Without touching the ground Is getting to be quite a bore.

36. Another Limerick There once was a very small mouse Who lived in a very small house, The ocean’s spray Washed it away, All that was left was her blouse!

37. Limerick Continued There once was a man in a boat, Who wore a red leather coat, He started to sneeze, Threw out his knee. In the water he started to float.

38. You will create a limerick similar to this one… There once was a man from Beijing. All his life he hoped to be King. So he put on a crown, Which quickly fell down. That silly old man from Beijing.

39. Fill in the blanks to create your own Limerick. There once was a girl from _____. All the while she hoped ________. So she ____________________, And ________________________, That _________ from ___________.

40. Miss Scott’s Limerick There once was a man from Japan. He hoped for really dark tan. So he lay on the beach, And ate a ripe peach, That came from a Georgia van.

41. 3. Ballad • Tells a story with a musical emphasis. • Emphasizes strong rhythms • Emphasizes repetition of key phrases and rhythms.

42. 4. Free Verse • Poetry that is “Free” of a regularmeterand rhyme. • It does not rhyme • It doesnot have a regular rhythmic pattern.

43. 5. Rhyming Poem • A poem with a regular end rhyming pattern.

44. 6. Alliterative Poem • Using alliteration, the repetition of initialconsonant sounds, you will write two alliterative poems.

45. 7. Couplet • Two lines of poetry that rhyme. • For example I want a big red dish, For my purple fish.

46. 8. Non-Rhyming • Or freeverse • There should be NO rhyme scheme!

47. 9. Cinquain • Another Japanese form of poetry. • Has a specific pattern. • Line 1 has 1 word which is the title • Line 2 has 2 adjectives that describe the title • Line 3 Has 3words that express action about the title • Line 4 has 2 words that express feeling about the title • Line 5 has 1 word that is a synonym for the title.

48. 10. Concrete Poem • A poem that takes the shape of it’s subject. • You will write two original concrete poems

49. 11. Narrative Poem • A poem told in verse. “Paul Revere’s Ride” (two stanzas) By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;Hardly a man is now alive. Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the British marchBy land or sea from the town to-night,Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry archOf the North Church tower as a signal light,--

50. 12. Lyric Poem • Highly musical verse that expresses the observationsand feelings of a single speaker.