Poetry

1
Poetry

• Terminology
• Forms
• How to Read Poetry

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What is poetry?

• Poetry is a type of literature in which words are
  chosen and arranged to create a certain effect.
• Poets use a variety of sound devices, imagery,
  and figurative language to express emotions and
  ideas.

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Terminology
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Alliteration

• The repetition of consonant sounds at the
  beginnings of words.
• Example
• The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, went
  envying her and me
• Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee

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Assonance

• The repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming
  words.
• Example
• My grandmothers are full of memories / Smelling
  of soap and onions and wet clay
• Margaret Walker, Lineage

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Ballad

• A poem that tells a story (a narrative poem) and
  is meant to be sung or recited.

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Blank Verse

• Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.
  That is, each line of blank verse has five pairs
  of syllables.
• Blank verse, the most versatile of poetic forms,
  imitates the natural rhythm of English speech.
• Blank verse was commonly used by Shakespeare.

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Couplet

• A rhymed pair of lines.

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Epic

• A long, narrative poem about the adventures of a
  hero whose actions reflect the ideals and values
  of a nation or race.

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Extended Metaphor

• A figure of speech that compares two essentially
  unlike things at some length and in several ways.
• It does not contain the word like or as.

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Figurative Language

• Language that communicates ideas beyond the
  ordinary, literal meanings of words.
• Types of figurative language include
  personification, hyperbole, simile, and metaphor.

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Form

• The way a poem is laid out on the page.
• The length and placement of the lines and the
  grouping of lines into stanzas.

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Free Verse

• Poetry that does not contain a regular pattern of
  rhyme and meter.
• The lines of free verse poetry often flow more
  naturally than do rhymed, metrical lines.

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Hyperbole

• A figure of speech in which the truth is
  exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect.

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Iambic Pentameter

• A metrical line of five feet, or units, each of
  which is made up of two syllables, the first
  unstressed and the second stressed.
• Iambic pentameter is the most common form of
  meter used in English poetry it is the meter
  used in blank verse and the sonnet.

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Imagery

• Descriptive words or phrases that recreate
  sensory experiences for the reader.
• Imagery usually appeals to one or more of the
  five senses sight, hearing, smell, taste, and
  touch.

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Lyric Poem

• A short poem in which a single speaker expresses
  personal thoughts and feelings.
• Most poems other than dramatic monologues or
  narrative poems are lyrics.

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Metaphor

• A figure of speech that makes a comparison
  between two things that are basically unlike but
  that have something in common.
• Metaphors do not use like or as.
• All the worlds a stage, and all the men and
  women merely players
• William Shakespeare, As You Like It

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Meter

• The regular pattern of accented and unaccented
  syllables in a line of poetry. The accented, or
  stressed, syllables are marked with , while the
  unaccented, or unstressed, syllables are marked
  with ?.

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Narrative Poem

• A poem that tells a story.
• They have characters, setting, plot, and point of
  view, all of which combine to develop a theme
  (just like a narrative story).

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Onomatopoeia

• The use of words such as pow, buzz, and crunch
  whose sounds suggest their meanings.

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Personification

• A figure of speech in which human qualities are
  attributed to an object, animal, or idea.

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Refrain

• The repetition of one or more lines in each
  stanza of a poem.

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Repetition

• A technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or
  line is repeated for effect or emphasis.

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Rhyme

• The occurrence of a similar or identical sound
  and the end of two or more words.
• There are different types of rhyme, such as
  internal rhyme, end rhyme, and slant rhyme.
  Well talk about these later.

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Rhyme Scheme

• The pattern of end rhyme in a poem.
• The pattern is charted by a single letter of the
  alphabet, beginning with the letter A. Lines
  that rhyme the same are given the same letter.

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Rhythm

• The pattern or flow of sound created by the
  arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables
  in a line of poetry.
• By definition, rhythm is similar to meter. The
  terms are very closely related.

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Simile

• A figure of speech that makes a comparison
  between two things using the word like or as.

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Sonnet

• A lyric poem of 14 lines, commonly written in
  iambic pentameter.
• The sonnet may be classified as Petrarchan or
  Shakespearean.
• The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three
  quatrains (four-line units), and a final couplet
  (two-line unit) The typical rhyme scheme is ABAB
  CDCD EFEF GG.

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Sound Devices

• The use of words for their auditory effect to
  convey meaning and mood or to unify a work.
• Common sound devices are alliteration, assonance,
  consonance, onomatopoeia, repetition and rhyme.

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Stanza

• A grouping of two or more lines in a pattern that
  is repeated throughout a poem.
• A stanza is comparable to a paragraph in prose
  writing.
• Each stanza may have the same number of lines, or
  the number of lines may vary.

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Structure

• In poetry, structure refers to the arrangement of
  words and lines to produce a desired effect.
• A common structural unit in poetry is the stanza.

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Symbol

• A person, place, activity, or object that stands
  for something beyond itself.

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Understatement

• A technique of creating emphasis by saying less
  than is actually or literally true.
• Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, or
  exaggeration.

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Poetic Forms
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Common Poetic Forms

• Sonnet (Italian and English)
• Petrarchan
• Shakespearean
• Spenserian
• Ballad (English)
• Haiku (Japanese)
• Tanka (Japanese)
• Ode (Greek)
• Rubai (Arabian/Persian)

• Jintishi (a Chinese poetry form)
• Sestina (English)
• Villanelle (English)
• Rondeau (French)
• Ghazal (Arabian, Persian, Urdu and Bengal)
• Sijo (Korean)

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Common Poetic Forms

• Most of these forms have faded from popularity,
  and are not commonly used by modern poets.
• A majority of the poetry we will study is written
  in free-verse, which requires no rhyme scheme,
  meter, or specific form.
• Most older forms, such as the ones mentioned
  previously, have highly-structured forms and
  rhyme schemes.

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Did you know

• There are actually 51 recorded forms of poetry.
• Fortunately, were not studying them all!

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How to Read Poetry
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Understanding What Poetry Means

• Most people find poetry more difficult to
  understand than prose writing.
• This is most likely because the authors
  manipulate word order and language to create a
  desired effect, such as rhythm, meter, or rhyme.

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Understanding What Poetry Means

• Do not treat poetry as poetry. Treat it as
  prose.
• Do not interpret line-by-line. Instead, read
  sentence-by-sentence, or read until the poet
  inserts some form of end punctuation (a
  semi-colon, period, etc.)
• Interpret the poetry in chunks. Interpret the
  meaning of one stanza before moving on to the
  next. Interpret individual stanzas before trying
  to determine the meaning of an entire poem.

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Understanding the Form of Poetry

• Observe the arrangement of words. Often, this is
  done for a reason.
• Notice the length and arrangement of lines. Are
  the lines short, simple phrases, or do they
  resemble sentences? What visual effect does this
  have on you?
• Note whether the lines are grouped into stanzas.
  If they are, what idea, emotion, or information
  does each stanza convey?

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Understanding and Analyzing Sound in Poetry

• Read the poem aloud, listening to how it sounds.
• Notice any internal or end rhymes. Is there a
  rhyme scheme?
• Analyze the rhythm. How does it add to the
  effect of the poem?
• Look for other sound devices the poet uses, such
  as alliteration, assonance, or onomatopoeia.

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Understanding the Speaker

• Look for clues that reveal something about the
  speaker, or narrator.
• Connect the speakers feelings, ideas, and values
  to your own to form an impression of the speaker.

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Understanding Imagery and Figurative Language

• Visualize comparisons that are made, either by
  means of similes or metaphors.
• How do they contribute to the overall effect of
  the poem?
• Look for the use of personification. Notice if
  an animal or object is described as having human
  features, characteristics, or emotions.
• Often this can be spotted by words that are
  capitalized that normally shouldnt be.

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Understanding Imagery and Figurative Language

• Use a chart (like the one below) to keep track of
  imagery. Determine which of the senses (sight,
  touch, smell, taste, or hearing) the poet is
  appealing to, as well as the effects the imagery
  has on you.

Image Sense It Appeals To Its Effect on Me