Elements of Poetry

What is Poetry?

◼ Expression of emotion or ideas in an arrangement of words most often rhythmically

◼ Using imagery and senses to express the way we feel about a subject

◼ Doesn’t have to rhyme

Elements

◼ Stanza

◼ Simile

◼ Onomatopoeia

◼ Metaphor

◼ Idiom

◼ Hyperbole

◼ Theme

◼ Assonance

◼ Alliteration

◼ Personification

◼ Imagery

◼ Rhyme

◼ Rhythm

Stanza❑ In poetry, a stanza is a division of lines having a

certain length, meter (beat), or rhyming scheme.

❑ Stanzas in poetry are similar to paragraphs in prose, other types of writing. Each stanza will have its owncentral idea.

❑ Unlike paragraphs, stanzas are not indented. Stanzas are separated by a blank line or gap

between the last line of one stanza and the first line of the next.

Simile

◼ Compares one thing to another using “like” or “as”

Examples:

The milk tasted like pickles.

It was as dry as a bone.

Life is like a box of chocolates.

Back to Elements

Onomatopoeia

◼ Using words that sound like their meaning

Examples:

buzz splat crash whoosh

moo pow chug whew

beep bam bang chirp

splash wham vroom

Buzz went the bees.

“Moo,” said the cow.

Back to Elements

Metaphor

◼ A comparison between two things which does not use like or as.

◼ May sound false at first, but is a clever way to make a point.

Examples:

My love is a rose.

You are my sunshine.

America is a melting pot.

Back to Elements

Idiom

◼ A language familiar to a group of people.

◼ The dialect of people or a region.

Examples:

That was easy as pie.

Boy, my brain was cookin’.

Ya’ll comin’ to da party tonight?

Back to Elements

Hyperbole

◼ A large exaggeration, usually used with humor.

Examples:

Her feet were so big she could go water skiing without the skies.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Back to Elements

Assonance

◼ A repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants.

Examples:

Tilting at windmills.

The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.

Back to Elements

Alliteration

◼ Starting three or more words with the same sound.

Examples:

A skunk sat on a stump.

Wendy worries about her weird wart.

She sells seashells by the seashore.

Back to Elements

Personification

◼ Assigning the qualities of a person to something that isn’t human.

Examples:

The leaves danced in the wind.

Opportunity knocked on the door.

At precisely 6:30 a.m. my alarm clock sprang to life.

Back to Elements

Imagery

◼ The reader can picture the scene in his mind.

◼ Usually appeals to the 5 senses.

Examples:

I wandered lonely as a cloud.

A host of golden daffodils.

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Beside the lake, beneath the trees.

Back to Elements

Rhyme

◼ The repetition of like sounds within different words, either end sound (external rhyme),middle or beginning (internal rhyme).

◼ Words having a sound similar to others.

Examples:

bat hat cat fat

lake snake fake rake

remain refrain regain

trim brim prim

Back to Elements

Rhythm◼ The rhythm or flow of words within each

stanza.

◼ Music, speech, or movements which are characterized by equal or regularly alternating beats.

Examples:

Chicka-chicka boom chicka boom chicka boom, boom, boom

Da-da-da-dummmm, da-da-da-dummmm

Back to Elements

Theme◼ The message, point of view, and

idea of the poem.

Examples:◼ Spending time with nature is good for the

soul.

◼ Education is essential for all kinds ofgrowth.

◼ Love is eternal.

Theme must be expressed in sentence form.

Back to Elements

Bibliography◼ Basic Elements of Poetry

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/basic-elements-of-poetry.html

◼ Literary Terms http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

◼ Online dictionary

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

◼ Microsoft Clip Art

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

◼ Georgia Performance Standards – 5th grade