Elements of Poetry:

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• Elements of Poetry
• Figurative Language

8th Grade English/Language Arts Poetry Unit
Ms. Blume
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We are beginning our study of poetry in 8th
grade, but remember that figurative language is
also used in other types of writing and speaking
as well, such as narrative and expository.
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A little poem to begin..
by
( It uses lots of figurative language!)
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• Introduction to Poetry
• by Billy Collins
• I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the
  lightlike a color slide
• or press an ear against its hive.
• I say drop a mouse into a poemand watch him
  probe his way out,
• or walk inside the poem's roomand feel the walls
  for a light switch.
• I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a
  poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.
• But all they want to dois tie the poem to a
  chair with ropeand torture a confession out of
  it.
• They begin beating it with a hoseto find out
  what it really means.

But, what does it really mean??
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Whew!.... We should all feel relieved.
nuance (noun) a subtle quality, distinction, or
variation in meaning or feeling
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Get ready to take Cornell Notes.
Your Name Todays Date Blume ELA8 Period
Title is POETRY FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Write definitions, explanations, and some
examples here.
Write words to be defined and types of figurative
language here.
For these notes, you do not need to use a summary
space, as you see here.
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First, lets understand the difference between
and
Literal Language
Figurative Language
Begin taking notes. ?
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Literal Language
Literal means exact or not exaggerated.
Literal language is language that means exactly
what is said. Most of the time, we use literal
language.
Basketball practice begins at 330 PM. They
decided to go to the movies Saturday night. The
newspaper was delivered daily.
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Figurative Language
The opposite of literal language is figurative
language. Figurative language is language that
means more than what it says on the surface. It
usually gives us a feeling about its subject.
For example, one poet writes about the song of
the truck. She does not mean that a truck can
actually sing! Rather, she is speaking
figuratively. She is referring to road noises as
music. By using the word song, and suggesting
music, she brings joyful feelings to mind.
Poets use figurative language almost as
frequently as literal language. When you read
poetry, you must be conscious of the difference.
Otherwise, a poem may make not sense at all!
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Figurative Language is

• Figurative language is not intended to be
  interpreted in a literal sense. Using figurative
  language gives us new ways of looking at the
  world, by appealing to our imagination.
• It often makes a comparison between different
  things. Figurative language can compare things
  that are different in enough ways so that their
  similarities, when pointed out, are interesting,
  unique and/or surprising.

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Types of Figurative Language
These are many special ways of putting words and
phrases together to give strong, sharp, clear
impressions. By creating lively, rich word
pictures, readers can see the images and
understand the feelings being written about.
Using a variety of figures of speech, a writer
can express themselves in the most colorful,
imaginative, descriptive ways possible. Here are
a few
Imagery
Idiom
Metaphor
Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole
Personification
Symbolism
Simile
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Metaphor
Describes a person, place, thing, feeling, idea,
or action by comparing it to something else
without using like or as.
Ricardo is a walking encyclopedia. Teddy is a
pig. This room is an oven! or This room is a
refrigerator! Her eyes were sparkling
sapphires. marshmallow clouds hands of iron icy
stare angelic smile inky blackness
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Metaphor example
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"Language is a road map of a culture. It tells
you where its people come from and where they are
going."(Rita Mae Brown)
Metaphors aren't merely the candy sprinkles on
the doughnut of language.
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Simile
Describes a person, place, thing, feeling,
idea,or action by comparing it with something
else and USES like or as.
The sun is like a yellow ball of fire in the
sky. Her eyes were like sparkling sapphires.
its fleece was white as snow. Fell as softly as
feathers. throbbed like beating drums closed
like a steel trap arrived as silently as
drifting snow felt free as a butterfly
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Simile example
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Take a moment to write these down, filling in
words to make your own similes.
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Hyperbole
Big exaggeration often with humor.
Mile high ice-cream cones. Im so hungry I could
eat a horse. Yikes!! My backpack
weighs a ton! Ive told you a thousand
times.! Im dead tired The cafeteria food is
definitely left over from the dinosaur age.
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Personification
Giving human qualities to something that is NOT
human.
Mother Earth Father Time Jack Frost The dawn
spread her fingertips of rose The sun looked
over the mountains rim The chocolate bar was
calling his name! the wind swept by counting
its money and throwing it away, In a wind-gaunt
orchard where the limbs forked out and listened
or never listened at all --- from Wind Song
by Carl Sandburg
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Personification examples
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Personification examples
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Personification example
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Personification example
Author Unknown
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Personification example
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Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is also considered a poetic sound
device.
Words that sound like their meaning --- the
sound they describe.
buzz hiss roar meow woof rumble howl snap
zip zap blip whack crack crash flutter
flap squeak whirr.. pow plop crunch splash
jingle rattle clickety-clack bam!
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Onomatopoeia example
The rusty spigot sputters, utters a
splutter, spatters a smattering of drops, gashes
wider slash splatters scatters spurts finally
stops sputtering and plash! gushes rushes
splashes clear water dashes.
The Rusty Spigot by Eve Merriam
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Onomatopoeia exampleand Personification too.
Cynthia in the Snow by Gwendolyn Brooks It
SUSHES.It hushesThe loudness in the road.It
flitter-twitters,And laughs away from me. It
laughs a lovely whiteness,And whitely whirs
away,To be,Some otherwhere,Still white as milk
or shirts.So beautiful it hurts.
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Imagery

• Pictures that poets create with words that
  appeal to our five senses (sight, hearing, touch,
  smell, taste), as well as our feelings.

cozy blanket glowing sunset tangy lemon angelic
voices scented garden
simple examples
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Imagery continued
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Imagery continued
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Symbolism
Something concrete ( actual real) that stands
for something abstract ( a quality or idea that
doesnt refer to an actual person or thing). A
symbol can be a person, place, thing, or action.
It can stand for an idea, belief, feeling, or
attitude. A symbol keeps its own meaning while
also standing for something else.
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• By using symbolism an author can express the
  theme(s) of a story on a physical level. A simple
  example might be when a storm happens at a
  critical point, when there is conflict or high
  emotions. The storm might symbolize these
  conflicts or emotions. Similarly a transition
  from day to night, or spring to winter, could
  symbolize a move from goodness to evil, or hope
  to despair. A river in a scene could represent
  the flow of life, from birth to death. Flowers
  can symbolize youth or beauty.
• Not everything in a story is necessarily
  symbolic. A garden landscape is just a garden ...
  until it is contrasted with a bustling city, at
  which point the garden could symbolize
  tranquility, peace, or escape.

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• Let's look at some actual examples of
  symbolism used in literature and other media,
  with which you might be familiar.
• In the novel Animal Farm, the entire story is a
  symbol for the evils of communism, with the main
  animal characters representing key figures in the
  Russian revolution. The novel can be read
  entirely as a children's story, but when you
  realize what the various elements and characters
  in the story symbolize, the novel takes on a
  whole new meaning. That's why this particular
  work has become such a classic. This kind of
  story is called an allegory.
• In The Lord of the Flies, Ralph with his conch
  shell represents order and democracy, while Jack
  symbolizes savagery and anarchy. The island
  itself symbolizes the world in which we live, and
  the actions of the characters are symbolic of the
  way different people conduct their lives. The
  beast represents the darker side of human nature.
  
• The movie series Star Wars has been described as
  symbolic of faith and religion in our world
  overcoming evil.
• The song I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack is
  full of symbolism. The song isn't really about
  dancing at all ... dancing is a symbol for
  getting the most out of life. When she sings '"I
  hope you never fear those mountains in the
  distance", the mountains symbolize our fears
  about the future, or obstacles in life we must
  overcome.
• The play MacBeth by William Shakespeare uses
  blood, both real and imagined, as a symbol of
  guilt, both of MacBeth and Lady MacBeth. Another
  symbol used in the play is a raven, which usually
  represents ill fortune (think of Poes The Raven
  too!).
• The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling could be
  seen as containing a lot of symbolism, although
  there are as many interpretations as there are
  creatures in the books! (The author isn't
  saying). One clear example is a commonly used
  one the use of a snake to represent evil. It is
  no coincidence that the symbol of Slytherin House
  is a serpent.

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and....!
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Idiom
Still waters run deep.
Don't go against the grain.
Easy as pie.
Piece of cake.
An expression that means something different from
what it says. Idioms are culturally based. The
British and the Americans speak the same language
but may not understand each others idioms. The
use of idioms is widespread in writing and
speaking, and to truly understand Standard
American English, it helps to know many idioms.
I think he's gone bananas!
Don't bury your head in the sand!
Hang in there.
Go fly a kite!
A needle in the haystack.
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