Poetry

1. Poetry p. 191-195

2. Poetry Definition: • A type of literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in a compact, imaginative, and musical way. • Pleasing to the eyes • Sings to the ears • Tickles the taste buds

3. Poetry Characteristics: • Squeezes meaning into a short number of lines and words • Lines end in a specific place to make a special effect • Stanzas

4. What is Prose? • Prose • Short stories, novels, newspapers, any type of essay • Longer, looser works or paragraphs • Everything poetry is not!

5. Basic Elements of Poetry • Sound • Figurative Language • Form • Imagery • Speaker (List these as elements instead of examples.)

6. Sound Definition: • Words are used to create appealing sounds. Characteristics: • Four Techniques: • Rhyme • Rhythm • Repetition • Onomatopoeia

7. Figurative Language Definition: • Poet uses language that stretches words beyond their usual meaning Characteristics: • Language is non-literal

8. Figurative Language Examples: • Alliteration • Simile • Metaphor • Onomatopoeia • Personification • Symbolism

9. Form Definition: • The way a poem looks on a page; the way a poem is written or organized. Characteristics: • Poems are written in lines or shapes • Stanzas-lines grouped together • Run-on lines ( , ; : ) • End-stopped lines ( . ? ! )

10. Form Examples: • Free Verse • No pattern or structure • Sounds like conversation • Specific Forms • Limerick, Diamonte, Shape, etc.

11. Speaker Definition: • The voice that relates the story or ideas of the poem Examples: • Poet • Character or Voice Characteristics: • Poet is not always the speaker • Speaker could be a ghost, a tree, etc.

12. Meaning Definition: • The central idea or emotion behind the poem Characteristics: • Restate the poem in your own words, • Paraphrase; ask yourself is the poem about a person? Place? Thing? Feeling? Idea? • What emotion do you feel when you read the poem? • Who is the speaker? Example: “Sister for Sale” by Shel Silverstein

13. Rhyme Definition: • The repetition of the same or similar sounds in words that appear near each other in a poem. Characteristics: • End Rhyme: rhyme that comes at the end of lines • Rhyme Scheme: pattern of rhyme(s)

14. Rhyme Scheme Example: • Lowercase letters describe the scheme. • A limerick is aabba. The first two lines rhyme, the second two lines rhyme, and the first two rhyme with the last.

15. Rhythm Definition: • The pattern of beats made by stressed or unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem Characteristics: • Meter: regular stressed and unstressed beats • Meter allows you to hear or feel the “beat” of the poem

16. Refrain Definition: • A line or group of lines repeated at regular intervals Characteristics: • Appears in some songs and poems Example: “The Cremation of Sam McGee”

17. Repetition Definition: • The repeated use of sounds, words, phrases, or lines Characteristics: • Emphasizes important items and helps unify a poem or other work of literature

18. Imagery Definition: • Image or mental picture that is created with words which appeal to one or more of the senses Characteristics: • sight, sound, taste, touch, smell are affected as you read

19. Tone Definition: • Writer’s attitude toward his or her subject matter. Characteristics: • The feeling the author projects from the words chosen. Examples: angry, humorous, factual (Mood is the feeling the reader gets from the work. Ex. eerie, suspenseful, joyful)

20. Traditional Definition: Any poem that follows the strict structure and rules of traditional form Characteristics: Usually begin each line with a capital letter. Written in basic lines and stanzas unless it is a specific form (ex. Haiku)

21. Modern Poetry Definition: Poems that do not have to follow a specific, traditional structure Characteristics: Comes in many forms Capital letters to begin lines are not required No set structure or form followed

22. Narrative Poetry Definition: Narrative poetry is a specific form that tells a story Characteristics: Setting, characters & plot

23. Concrete Poetry Definition: Poetry that uses typography or placement of letters and words to create an image. Characteristics: Shapes are suggested or revealed

24. Reading Poetry Strategies • Preview the poem and read it aloud a few times. • Visualize the images. • Clarify the words and phrases. • Evaluate the poem’s theme. • Let your understanding grow.