eng 260 guide to reading and writing about literature presentation 5: poetry eng 260—literature of...

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ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

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Page 1: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING

ABOUT LITERATURE

Presentation 5: Poetry

ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Page 2: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 2

This presentation will discuss

• what poetry is• elements of poetry • how to read a poem• writing about poetry

Page 3: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 3

What is poetry?

In contrast to prose, which is the normal use of language for communication in both fiction and non-fiction, poetry is a special use of language.

more . . .

Page 4: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 4

Poetic language is– concise but rich– usually not literal (relies heavily on

connotation, i.e. meanings associated with a word beyond its literal one)

– meant to appeal to senses and emotions– dependent on sound, both of individual

words and whole phrases

more . . .

Page 5: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 5

All poems have a “speaker” (or “persona” or “voice”); unlike other forms of imaginative literature (fiction and drama), the speaker is usually identified with the author (poet) but they are not necessarily the same.

more . . .

Page 6: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 6

Most poems are quite short, but some, called “narrative” poems, can be rather long and have several characters and a plot, just like drama (in fact, some plays are written in poetry or “verse”). Very long narrative poems are called “epic” poems.

Song lyrics can also be considered poetry.

Page 7: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 7

The elements of poetry

• basic unit: the line (may or may not be a complete sentence and have punctuation at the end

• stanza-a group of lines separated by a space (usually grouped for a reason, e.g. rhyme, unit of thought)

• couplet-two consecutive lines of a poem that rhyme and/or have the same meter

• quatrain-a stanza or whole poem of four linesmore . . .

Page 8: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 8

Features of poetry:– rhyme: lines ending in identical or

similar syllables (external rhyme) or containing identical/similar syllables (internal rhyme)• consecutive lines may rhyme, or the

pattern may be different (e.g. abab)• poems without rhyme are called “free

verse”

more . . .

Page 9: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 9

– rhythm (or prosody): measured by meter • basic unit of meter: the foot (a

combination of stressed and unstressed syllables)

• click here to view names for different rhythmic patterns in poetry

more . . .

Page 10: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 10

– sound• alliteration (repetition of consonants, especially at the

beginning of words)• assonance (repetition of vowel

sounds)• onomatopeia (words sounding like

natural sounds)

more . . .

Page 11: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 11

– syntax (arrangement of words)• syntax in poetry is often very free;

words are often out of their normal order

– other literary devices mentioned in Presentation 1

• click here to view ones often encountered in poetry

more . . .

Page 12: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 12

– other characteristics of poetry

• personification (ascribing human properties

to an inanimate object)• hyperbole (exaggeration) and

understatement• irony

Page 13: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 13

How to read a poem

• read it a few times first for literal meaning and general impressions

• then read it several more times and closely for deeper meaning, larger themes

more . . .

Page 14: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 14

• analyze each line and stanza; look for various poetic elements as described above and think how they add to the overall meaning of the poem

more . . .

Page 15: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 15

• try to read the poem out loud or listen to it read for you; remember that poetry is meant primarily to be heard, so pay particular attention to the sound of the poem

Page 16: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 16

Writing about poetry

• poems can be written about by themselves, i.e. you can do an explication (close analysis) of a poem or a comparative analysis of two or more poems– apply your interpretation of the poem and

its elements

more . . .

Page 17: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 17

• you can also compare poetry when writing about other forms of literature (the analysis of poetry here will usually be less intense)

Page 18: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 18

conventions: • put titles of poems in quotation

marks (some long narrative or epic poem titles go in italics)

• when quoting two whole lines or from two lines of a poem, separate the lines with a forward slash ( / ), with a space on each side

more . . .

Page 19: ENG 260 GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Presentation 5: Poetry ENG 260—Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

Literature of Sports, Fall 2002

ENG 260 Guide to Reading and Writing about Literature

Presentation 5, Slide 19

• when quoting more than two lines, keep the lines separate and set them off with indentation (and don’t use quotation marks)

• give the line number of each line quoted (e.g. “(2)”, “(3-5)”