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Poetry StudiesSound ELACCL9-10RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone.)
First, what IS poetry? • Poetry is a form of literature, spoken or written, that emphasizes rhythm, other intricate patterns of sound and imagery, and the many possible ways that words can suggest meaning. • Whereas ordinary speech and writing, called prose, are organized in sentences and paragraphs, poetry in its simplest definition is organized in units called lines as well as in sentences, and often in stanzas, which are the paragraphs of poetry. • The oldest and most longstanding genres for classifying poetry are , a long narrative poem centered around a national hero, and , a short poem expressing intense emotion. (Think the Iliad or Dante’s Inferno)
Elements of Poetry • (see your handout as well…) • Sound devices are used by poets to add meaning or experience • Alliteration, assonance, repetition, etc…. • Figurative language is used by poets to create strong images and convey a meaning beyond the literal • Metaphor, simile, imagery, hyperbole, etc…
A few Forms of Poetry • Lyric Poetry: melodic verse that expresses the observation of a single speaker; unlike narrative poems, do NOT tell a complete story but rather build to a moment of insight • Narrative Poetry: a poem that tells a story. Ballads are one type of narrative poetry. • Free Verse:poems that are not written using strict meter or rhyme, but that still are recognizable as 'poetry' by virtue of complex patterns that readers can perceive to be part of a coherent whole. • Haiku: Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five moras (a unit of sound that determines syllable weight in some languages) , usually about some form of nature.
Alliteration Definition: The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words such as tongue twisters. Examples: • She sells seashells by the seashore • "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden) • "A moist young moon hung above the mist of a neighboring meadow." (Vladimir Nabokov, Conclusive Evidence) • "The daily diary of the American dream." (advertising slogan for The Wall Street Journal)
Alliteration Tasks • Name schools with alliterative names and mascots (example: Harrison Hoyas). • Describe a classmate in one alliterative sentence. • Write a newspaper headline using alliteration.
End Rhyme Definition: Similar sounds which occur at the end of two or more lines of verse. Example: “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?
End Rhyme Tasks • Make a list of outdoor things that rhyme. • List pairs of two-syllable rhyming words. • Describe our classroom using four lines with end rhyme.
Internal Rhyme As long as the wrong feels right it’s like I’m in flight
Internal Rhyme Definition: Similar sounds which occur between two or more words in the same line of verse (usually at the middle and end of the line); the rhyme comes in the middle of the line rather than the end. Example: "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door." 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;Only this, and nothing more."
Internal Rhyme Tasks • Write four lines that describe a ride on a bicycle. Use at least two internal rhymes. • Write six lines that all have a word inside them that rhymes with “monkey.” Only one of those lines can actually use the word “monkey.”
Consonance Definition: It is the repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse. Consonance is similar to alliteration except consonance does not limit the repeated sound to the initial letter of a word; the repetition generally occurs at the ends of syllables. Consonance is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonants of accented syllables or important words , especially at the ends of words. Examples: think blankpretty little turtles strong thing asks fussy questions “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. Hishouse is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.
Consonance Tasks • List six pairs of words that have the same consonant sound at the end. • Write five non-rhyming lines that use consonance. Use a different end sound in each line.
Assonance Mellow wedding bells
Assonance Definition: The repetition or a pattern of similar vowel sounds in the middle of words Examples: strike and grind hat and man "It beats as it sweeps as it cleans." (Advertising slogan for Hoover vacuum cleaners) Strips of tinfoil winking like people ("The Bee Meeting” by Sylvia Plath)
Assonance Tasks Write six sentences that include at least two, but no more than three, of the words below. However, the words must come from different columns. You may add 'ing', 'ed' or other endings to some of the words as appropriate. treat wheel peep seen dream feed thief seek feet feel sleep lean stream greed beneath week beat heel creep green scream lead chief weak cheat steal deep queen team need teeth speak heat meal leap jeans steam speed belief cheek meet real sheep mean cream freed underneath beak So, I'm looking for sentences such as: A thief came on creeping feet. I needed to speak to the chief.
Diction Diction Larry
diction Definition: the poet's choice of words. The poet chooses each word carefully so that both its meaning and sound contribute to the tone and feeling of the poem. The poet must consider a word's: denotation- its definition according to the dictionary connotation- the emotions, thoughts and ideas associated with and evoked by the word. Examples: Some words are neutral, but can have negative or positive connotations. For example, the word island is neutral. When it refers to a vacation on a Greek island, the word has positive connotations. When it describes being shipwrecked on an island, the word has negative connotations. Also, words associated with smell can be either positive or negative. For example, "scent" is positive, while "odor" is negative.
Diction tasks • For each of the following words, find a positive and negative counterpart: sound, light, blood, hair, homework, plant. • Decide whether the sentences below are positive or negative in connotation. • I swallowed the mass of mush on my plate. • I savored the combination of flavors on my plate. • For each of the following sentences, change the diction to either a positive or negative tone. • Mike wrote a letter. • The air in the room was warm. • Even though I liked the customer, I could not agree with her reason for exchange.
syntax Definition: The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence; the organization of words, phrases and clauses; the word order. If the order of the words is "wrong," the emotional, psychological, and/or spiritual impact of the words will be lost. After reading the example below you will "feel" the impact of the "right order." L L Examples: In traditional poetry syntax was often altered/reversed in order to facilitate a rhyme scheme such as in this poem by A.E. Housman. 'Among' is thrown to the end of the second line in order to rhyme with 'young'. Modern poets tend not to alter syntax in this way. When I would muse in boyhoodThe wild green woods among And nurse resolves and fancies Because the world was young…
Syntax tasks • Change the order of the following sentences to “regular” word order. • Rarely am I late for my classes. • Hardly a week goes by without a disaster happening in some part of the world. • Seldom have I read such a good book. • Little did we know about what was going on at that time. • Rich as you may be, you can't buy sincere friends. • Write two sentences in which the word order is different from “normal” speech patterns.
