Poetry

1
Poetry

• Honors 9 Lecture Notes
• Unit 5

2
History of Poetry

• Poetry as an art form that predates literacy.
• In prehistoric and ancient societies, poetry was
  used as a way to record cultural events or tell
  stories. Poetry is amongst the earliest records
  of most cultures
• Some of the earliest poetry is believed to have
  been orally recited or sung.
• Many ancient works, from the Vedas (17001200 BC)
  to the Odyssey (800675 BC), appear to have been
  composed in poetic form to aid memorization and
  oral transmission
• The oldest surviving poem
• Epic of Gilgamesh, from the 3rd millennium BC in
  Sumer (in Mesopotamia, now Iraq), which was
  written in cuneiform script on clay tablets and,
  later, papyrus.
• The effect of poetry
• The words of a poet can inspire people or cause
  them to see something in a different way.

3
The Early Categories of Poetry

• Early attempts to define poetry, such as
  Aristotle's Poetics, focused on three genres of
  poetry
• epic, comic, and tragic
• Aristotle's work was highly influential
  throughout the Middle East during the Islamic
  Golden Age, then through Europe during the
  Renaissance.
• Later, poetry was described to have three major
  genres
• epic, lyric, and dramatic
• with dramatic holding the subcategories tragic
  and comedy (concentrated on features such as
  repetition and rhyme, differentiating poetry from
  prose)
• From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes
  been more loosely defined as a fundamental
  creative act using language.

4
Prose vs. Poetry

• Early
• During early modern Western tradition, poets
  sought to distinguish poetry from prose by using
  the understanding that prose was written in a
  linear narrative form and used logical
  explication, while poetry was more abstract and
  beautiful.
• Later
• Following the development of writing, poetry has
  since developed into increasingly structured
  forms.
• However, much poetry since the late 20th century
  has moved away from traditional forms towards the
  more vaguely defined free verse and prose poem
  formats.

5
Elements of Poetry

• Poetry's use of stylistic elements often leaves a
  poem open to multiple interpretations. In
  addition, stylistic elements add layers of
  meanings, forming connections for the reader.
• Some common elements
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Imagery
• Symbolism
• Irony
• Ambiguity
• Personification
• Meter Rhyme
• Alliteration
• Assonance
• Onomatopoeia

6
Three Lessons to This Unit

• Lesson One Imagery
• Catalog Poem
• Haiku
• Sonnet
• Lyric Poem
• Lesson Two Figures of Speech
• Monologue
• Lesson Three The Sounds of Poetry
• Ballad
• Free Verse
• You will be responsible for a large list of
  literary elements that extends beyond these notes
  for this unit. You will be introduced to them
  individually as we start different lessons and
  types of poems. Keep track of definitions and
  examples in your notes!