POETRYMs. Stout

Honors English I

Poetry Defined:A type of literature that expresses

ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form (usually using lines and stanzas)

Point of View (in poetry)

• Poet = Author• Speaker = Narrator

• NEVER assume the poet and the speaker are the same person. HOWEVER, sometimes the poet and the speaker are the same person.

Poetic Form• Form = appearance of the words on the

paper

• Line = a group of words together on one line of the poem

• Stanza = a group of lines arranged together (a verse)

A word is deadWhen it is said,

Some say.

I say it justBegins to live

That day.

STANZA

LINE

LINE

LINE

Rhythm• The beat created by the sounds

of the words in a poem

• Can be created by meter, rhyme, alliteration, and refrain

Rhyme• When words sound alike because they share

the same ending vowel and consonant sounds

• EX:LAMP STAMP

Share the short “a” vowel soundShare the combined “mp” consonant sound

End Rhyme• A word at the end of one line that

rhymes with a word at the end of another line

• EX:Hector the Collector

Collected bits of string.Collected dolls with broken heads

And rusty bells that would not ring.

Internal Rhyme• A word inside a line rhymes with

another word on the same line.

• EX:From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.

Near Rhyme• a.k.a. imperfect rhyme, close rhyme

• The words share EITHER the same vowel OR the consonant sound, BUT NOT BOTH

• EX: Rose Lose

Different vowel sounds, but share the same “z” consonant end sound

Rhyme Scheme• The pattern of end rhyme in a poem

• Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern (aabb, abab…)

Sample Rhyme Scheme“The Germ” by Odgen Nash

A mighty creature is the germ,Though smaller than the pachyderm.

His customary dwelling placeIs deep within the human race.

His childish pride he often pleasesBe giving people strange diseases.

Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?You probably contain a germ.

AABBCCAA

Different Types of Poetry

Free Verse Poetry• No repeating sounds or patterns; no

rhyme

• More conversational (sounds like someone talking to you)

• Modern form of poetry

Shakespearean Sonnet• A fourteen line

poem with a specific rhyme scheme.

• The poem is written in three quatrains (4 lines) and ends with a couplet (2 lines).

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of

May,And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his

shade,When in eternal lines to time though grow’stSo long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Narrative Poems• A poem that tells a story.

• Generally longer in length because the poet needs to establish characters and a plot.

Examples include: “The Raven”, “The Highwayman”, “Casey at the Bat”, and “The Walrus and the Carpenter”

Concrete Poems• In concrete

poems, the words are arranged to create a picture that relates to the content of the poem.

PoetryIs like

Flames,Which are

Swift and elusiveDodging realization

Sparks, like words on thePaper, leap and dance in

theFlickering firelight. The

fieryTongues, formless and

shiftingShapes, tease the

imagination.Yet for those who see,Through their mind’s

Eye, they burnUp the page.

Others…• Limerick: humorous, mean spirited (aabba)• Found: various random words arranged

together• Haiku: Japanese, 3 lines (5-7-5 syllables)• Acrostic: Sara Stout (Line 1=S…, Line 2=a…,

line 3=r…)

• Ballad: usually short stanzas; emotional/tragic

Figurative Language and Poetic Devices

Alliteration• Consonant sounds repeated at the beginning of words

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Simile• A comparison of two things using like or as

She is as beautiful as a sunrise.Her hair is like silk.Love is like oxygen: you get too much, it gets

you high; not enough and you are going to die.

They ran like bullets from a gun.

Metaphor• A direct comparison of two unlike things

“All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.”-William Shakespeare

Television is the drug of the nation.Love is a flower.Everyday is a winding road.

Extended Metaphor•A metaphor that goes several lines, or even the entire length of the work.

The Rose that Grew From Concrete -Tupac

Onomatopoeia• Words that are spelled the way they sound

• EX:

BUZZ

The clinking of the forks and knives…

Hyperbole•Extreme exaggeration often used for emphasis

I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

She ate so many donuts, we had to roll her home.

I’ve asked you a thousand times to take out the trash!

Idiom• An expression where the literal

meaning of the words is not the meaning of the expression. It means something other than what it actually says

It’s raining cats and dogs.You should keep an eye out for that.I’m just pulling your leg.

Personification•Giving human-like qualities to an object or animal

From “Ninki” by Shirley Jackson“Ninki was by this time irritated beyond belief by the general air of incompetence exhibited in the kitchen, and she went into the living room and got Shax, who is extraordinarily lazy and never catches his own chipmunks, but who is, at least, a cat, and preferable, Ninki saw clearly, to a man with a gun.”

The warm, chocolately cookie called my name as I entered the kitchen.The circle of mud grinned up at him.

Refrain• A sound, word, phrase, or line repeated regularly in a poem.

• EX:“Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”

from “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Assonance• Repetition of VOWEL sounds

Lake FateBase Fade(All share the long “a” sound)

“Slow the low gradual moan came in the snowing.”

-John Masefield“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.”

-William Shakespeare

Consonance• Similar to alliteration, EXCEPT…

• the repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the words

“silken, sad, uncertain, rustling…”

Symbolism• When a person, place, thing, or event

that has meaning in itself also represents, or stands for, something else.

Allusion• Allusion comes from the verb “allude” which

means “to refer to”

• Reference to a well-known piece of literature, art, music, building, movie, etc.

When movies/books mention something from history, mythology, famous events, famous people, etc.

She smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

Imagery• Language that appeals to the senses

• Most images are visual, but they can also appeal to the senses of sound, touch, taste, or smell

“then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather…” – from “Those Winter Sundays”

Rolling green hills

SOAP the Poem

Understanding Poetry

S•Who is speaking?

•What is the subject of the poem?

O•What is the occasion for the poem? (time, place, dramatic situation)

A•Who is the addressee? (to whom or what is the speaker speaking?)

•What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject? (tone)

P•What is the purpose? (What does the poem suggest? To what issue does it speak?)

S.O.A.P.S. – Who is the Speaker? What is the Subject?

O. – What is the Occasion for the poem (time, place, dramatic situation)?

A. – Who is the Addressee (to whom is the speaker speaking)? What is the speaker’s Attitude toward the subject (tone)?

P. – What is the Purpose (what does the poem suggest, to what issue does it speak)?