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Basics of Poetry

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Title: Basics of Poetry


1
Basicsof Poetry
  • Introduction to Poetry, Literary Terms, How to
    Read a Poem, and Helpful Websites

2
Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the
light like a color slide or press an ear
against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a
poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk
inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a
light switch. I want them to water ski across
the surface of a poem waving at the author's
name on the shore. But all they want to do is
tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a
confession out of it. They begin beating it
with a hose to find out what it really means.
3
Literary Terms
  • Allegory - sometimes called an extended metaphor,
    is the representation of abstract ideas by
    characters or events in narrative, dramatic, or
    pictorial form.
  • Alliteration - Alliteration is the succession of
    similar consonant sounds. They are not recognized
    by spelling, but rather by sounds.
  • Allusion - Referencing a person place or thing,
    usually indirectly, that is believed to be known
    by the reader. Sometimes these references are
    footnoted or glossed.
  • Analogy - The use of words of phrases that share
    meaning but are dissimilar.
  • Anaphora - A word or expression used repeatedly
    at the beginning of successive phrases. This is
    usually used for poetic or rhetorical effect.
  • Antithesis - Placing a pair of words, phrases,
    clauses, or sentences side by side in contrast
    and opposition.
  • Apostrophe - the addressing of an absent or
    imaginary person
  • Assonance - The succession of similar vowel
    sounds that are not recognized by spelling,
    rather by sound. Do not confuse this with
    alliteration which is the repetition of
    consonants.

4
Literary Terms
  • Ballad - A form of verse to be sung or recited
    and characterized by its presentation of a
    dramatic or exciting EPISODE in simple narrative
    form.
  • Blank Verse - Simply defined as unrhymed verse or
    unrhymed iambic pentameter.
  • Close Rhyme - A rhyme of two close words.
  • Conceit - An ingenious, logically complicated
    image, or an elaborate metaphor.
  • Consonance - The close repetition of the same end
    consonants of stressed syllables with differing
    vowel sounds.
  • Couplet - Two lines of VERSE with similar
    END-RHYMES. Formally, the couplet is a two-line
    STANZA with both grammatical structure and idea
    complete within itself.
  • Diction - choice of words esp. with regard to
    correctness, clearness, or effectiveness
  • Dirge - A poem of grave meditation, or lament.
    The dirge is a song of lamentation that is apt to
    be less meditative than the elegy.
  • Dramatic Poem - A composition of verse that
    portrays the story of life or character,
    involving conflict and emotions.

5
Literary Terms
  • End Rhyme A rhyme occurring in the terminating
    word or syllable of one line of poetry with that
    of another line, as opposed to internal rhyme.
  • Epic - An Epic is a long narrative poem
    celebrating the adventures and achievements of a
    hero...epics deal with the traditions, mythical
    or historical, of a nation.
  • Epigram - Epigrams are short satirical poems
    ending with either a humorous retort or a
    stinging punch-line.
  • Extended Metaphor - A metaphor which is drawn-out
    beyond the usual word or phrase to extend
    throughout a stanza or an entire poem, usually by
    using multiple comparisons between the unlike
    objects or ideas.
  • Foot A rhythmic or metrical unit the division
    in verse of a group of syllables, one of which is
    long or accented.
  • Free Verse - Poetry that is based on the
    irregular rhythmic CADENCE or the recurrence,
    with variations, of phrases, images, and
    syntactical patterns rather than the conventional
    use of METER. RHYME may or may not be present in
    free verse, but when it is, it is used with great
    freedom.

6
Literary Terms
  • Haiku - A form of Japanese poetry which states in
    three lines of five, seven, and five syllables a
    clear picture designed to arouse a distinct
    emotion and suggest a specific spiritual insight.
  • Homonym - One of two or more words that have the
    same sound and often the same spelling but differ
    in meaning.
  • Hyperbole - A figure of speech in which
    exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect
  • Iambic - A metrical foot consisting of an
    unaccented syllable (noted by "x") and an
    accented or stressed one.
  • Imagery Elements in literature used to evoke
    mental images of the visual sense, and sometimes
    of sensation and emotion as well.
  • Internal Rhyme a rhyme occurring in mid-line
  • Line - A formal structural division of a poem,
    consisting of one or more feet arranged as a
    separate rhythmical entity.
  • Meter A measure of rhythmic quantity organized
    into groups of syllables at regular intervals in
    a line of poetry
  • Metaphor - Used to suggest a relationship between
    an object or idea

7
Literary Terms
  • Ode - An elaborately composed verse that is
    enthusiastic in tone. It often has varying iambic
    line lengths with no fixed system of rhyme
    schemes. It often addresses a praised person or
    object.
  • Onomatopoeia - Words used in place of where a
    reader should hear sounds.
  • Oxymoron - The joining of two words that seem to
    be contradictory (opposites), but offer a unique
    effect.
  • Pattern Poetry Poetry written with words,
    letters, and lines to produce a visual image to
    help convey the idea or topic of the poem
  • Personification - A form of metaphor where an
    inanimate object, animal, or idea is given
    human-like characteristics
  • Pun - A play on words that sound similar for a
    humorous effect.
  • Repetition - Repetition of a sound, syllable,
    word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern
    is a basic unifying device in all poetry. It may
    reinforce, supplement, or even substitute for
    meter, the other chief controlling factor in the
    arrangement of words into poetry.

8
Literary Terms
  • Rhetorical Question A question asked for
    effect, but not demanding an answer
  • Rhyme - A recurrence of similar ending sounds at
    the ends of a poetic line/verse
  • Rhythm - The rise and fall of stress (stressed
    and unstressed syllables) a metrical pattern or
    flow of sound in verse
  • Sonnet - A lyric poem of fourteen lines,
    following one or another of several set
    rhyme-schemes.
  • Sight Rhyme - A rhyme consisting of words with
    similar spellings but different sounds. Also
    called eye rhyme.
  • Simile - A comparison between two unlike things
    using like or as, etc.
  • Stanza - One of the divisions of a poem, composed
    of two or more lines of verse usually
    characterized by a common pattern of meter,
    rhyme, or number of lines.
  • Style - The poet's individual creative process,
    through figurative language, sounds, and rhythmic
    patterns
  • Symbol - An image or icon that represents
    something else by association.
  • Theme The central idea, topic, or subject of
    artistic representation.
  • Tone - the pitch of a word often used to express
    differences of meaning a particular pitch or
    change of pitch constituting an element in the
    intonation of a phrase or sentence high low
    mid low-rising) falling , style or
    manner of expression in speaking or writing

9
How to Read a Poem
  • Read on until theres a punctuation mark.
  • A poems line breaks indicate thought groupings,
    but dont brake at the end of each line.
  • If youre baffled, find the subject and verb.
  • Sometimes, when passages are difficult to
    understand, you can clarify the meaning by
    finding the subject, verb, and complement of each
    sentence. Try to paraphrase.
  • Look for figures of speechand think about them.
  • Figurative langue is part of what makes poetry,
    poetry.

10
Still Reading that Poem
  • Listen to the sounds.
  • Always read a poem aloud to yourself. Poets
    choose evocative words for their sound as well as
    their meaning.
  • One reading isnt enough.
  • Respond to a poem on first meeting it, and then
    talk about the poem with other readers before you
    read it carefully again. On your second reading,
    youll notice new details and develop new
    insights and when you read it for the third
    time, the poem will feel comfortably yours.
  • Perform the poem.
  • When you give a poem a dramatic reading for an
    audience, you can emphasize the mood and feelings
    the words and images evoke. Then the poem really
    comes alive.

11
Helpful Websites
  • http//www.writing.upenn.edu/afilreis/88/poetic-t
    erms.html
  • Click on these terms for an excellent definition
    of these poetic terms, some from the Oxford
    English Dictionary. Includes types of poetry as
    well as terms.
  • http//www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/handbook/a.h
    tml
  • This A-Z "poetry handbook" is really an
    extensive, online glossary of the terminology
    used to describe and discuss the structure and
    content of poetry.
  • http//faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/a_glossary_of_te
    rms.htm
  • An exhaustive list of literary terms and
    techniques with explanations that often include
    examples. The terms are presented in the order in
    which the author's students would be exposed to
    them in a semester of English literature, so you
    would need to scroll or do a "Find" for a
    specific term.
  • http//rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display_rpo/poetter
    m.cfm
  • The terms and definitions might seem different,
    as this is a British site, but they are all
    easily understood, and it's a fairly extensive
    list. Scroll down to view the long list of terms
    to choose from.

12
More Helpful Websites
  • http//www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/k
    s4/poetry/buzzwords.html
  • Discover the definitions for the buzz words in
    poetry through this site.
  • http//www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html
  • Calling itself "unique," Bob's is easy to use,
    with cross-links throughout, phonetic
    pronunciation guides when necessary, and many
    examples and quotations. Click on the letter and
    scroll for the word.
  • http//www.english.emory.edu/classes/Handbook/Hand
    book.html
  • This site, designed to help students who are
    writing about poetry, defines many significant
    terms related to poetry, including figurative
    language, poetic genres, and the mechanics of
    rhythm and meter. Examples are also provided in
    addition to the definitions.
  • http//andromeda.rutgers.edu/jlynch/Terms/
  • This glossary defines many common literary terms.
  • http//www.gale.com/free_resources/glossary/index.
    htm
  • An extensive glossary of literary terms provided
    in alphabetical format with hyperlink cross
    references from a major library publisher.
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