Poetry Terms and TPCASTT

T -- Title

Ponder the title before reading the poem

Look at the title and attempt to predict what the poem will be about. If no title is provided, use the first line of the poem.

Using the sample in front of you, let’s do this step now.

P -- Paraphrase

Translate the poem into your own words

Make sure you understand the literal plot of the poem.

Write notes in the margin beside each major section of the poem so you can review these later

speaker/pe

rsona•the

perspective from which a literary work is written or told

P -- Paraphrase

When you paraphrase, it’s important to not only consider the persona/speaker, but also the audience, and the basic conflict.

Try doing a line by line paraphrase of the sample poem you have.

C -- Connotation

Contemplate the poem for meaning beyond the literal level

Look for any and all poetic devices and try to see how those devices contribute to the meaning, the effect or both of the poem

Analyze your sample poem now as we discuss specific devices . Circle these devices and make margin notes about their meanings.

Figurative Language Devices

The figurative language devices contribute to the imagery in poetry

and other genres.

simile•comparing

two objects using like or as

metapho

r•speaking of one things as if it were something else

•“She’s a brick house.”

personification•giving nonhuman objects

human characteristicsMaybe if guys were like the magic carpet they would have to spit their game so hard to get a girl.

hyperbole•an obvious exaggeration for

the sake of emphasis, not to be take literally

“I was hopping mad!”

Sound DevicesThe sound devices contribute to the

musical/lyrical qualities of poetry

alliteration•the repetition of a

consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in a line of verse

She sells sea shells by the seashore…

onomatopoeia

•the use of a word to represent or imitate nature sounds, i.e. buzz, crunch, tinkle

A -- Attitude

Observe both the speaker’s attitude and the poet’s attitude (this may or may not be clear)

This, of course, is TONE.

Remember that these attitudes will probably shift or be mixed in the poem. Label all you see, especially if you see a shift.

tone•The attitude a

writer takes toward a reader, the subject or a character

What might the tone be in a game after a few shot’s like this? When you’ve been losing to your friend for the past two hours?

TONE=DIDLS

D=Diction

I=Imagery

D=Details

L=Language

S=Syntax or sentence structure

diction•the author’s

word choice in a literary work

imagery

•Imagery involves one or more of your five senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight). An author uses a word or phrase to stimulate your memory of those senses

Like When you watch the food network channel, when you’re hungry…

Details•Details involves not only what you’re told, but also what you’re not told

•What does the poet choose to tell you and what does he choose to leave out?

LANGUAGE: Literal Meaning

vs. Figurative Meanings•Literal meanings refer to the actual meanings of words or images; realism.

•Figurative meanings refer to something more than the literal meanings (subtext) of words or images; imagination.

Literal Meaning vs. Figurative Meanings

Which one are they talking about?

She’s a “brick house.”

DenotationDictionary definition of a word

Connotation

•The understood meaning of word, including the emotional associations attached to the word- (ex. Hot- like attractive)

syntax•the

pattern or arrangement of words in a statement

Even big corporations like Target use this poetic device!

S – Structure and Shift

Identify the structure of the poem (how it is divided, etc.)

Note shifts in speakers or attitudes. Look for transition words to indicate these shifts.

Are there any shifts in the poem before you?

rhyme

•the repetition of sounds at the ends of words; words containing the same vowel sounds in the accented syllable

rhyme

scheme

• pattern of rhyming words, usually denoted with letters

internal rhyme

•rhyming words that fall within a line of poetry

Look at the following excerpt from “The Raven”

end rhyme

•rhyming words that are repeated at the end of lines

slant rhyme•A partial or imperfect

rhyme, often using assonance or consonance only. Also called half rhyme, near rhyme, oblique rhyme and off rhyme.

see example on next slide

Slant rhymes do not have to be spelled in different ways. Examples: how, row / lovely, funny.

stanzas•Poems are usually written in segments much like the paragraphs of a story or essay. These segments in poems are called stanzas, a group of lines, usually four or more, arranged in a fixed pattern.

stanza forms• a. couplet-two lines of verse that

rhyme (aa)• b. triplet or tercet-a three-line

stanza or three lines of verse within a larger unit that usually rhyme (aaa)

stanza forms, continued

•c. quatrain-a four-line stanza•d. quintet (cinquain)-a five-line

stanza•e. sestet-a six-line stanza•f. septet or hepastitch-a seven-line

stanza•g. octave-an eight line stanza

forms of poetryPoems come in a variety of types

or forms. We will study some of the traditional forms of poetry

as well as some that are outside the scope of tradition.

rhymed verse

•verse with end rhyme and usually a regular meter (beat)

unrhymed verse

• verse with end rhyme and usually a regular meter (beat)

fixed pattern or fixed form or closed form a kind of template or formula that

poetry can be formed in

haiku•a traditional

Japanese three-line poem containing five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five again in the third.

ballad•a simple

narrative poem in four-line stanzas, usually meant to be sung and usually rhyming abab

sonnet•a fourteen-line poem, usually in

iambic pentameter, that follows one of a number of different rhyme schemes

epic•a long story, often told in verse,

involving heroes and gods and providing a portrait of an entire culture, as well as the legends, beliefs, values, laws, arts, and ways of life of a people.

lyric•a highly musical verse that expresses

the emotions of a speaker

narrative•a verse that tells a story

free verse•lines of verse that do not have a

regular meter and that do not rhyme

meter•the pattern of stressed and

unstressed syllables established in a line of poetry.

meter, continuedThe stressed syllable is called the accented or long syllable and is marked with an accent mark ‘ when scanned. The unstressed syllable is also called the unaccented or short syllable and is marked with a u shaped mark when scanned.

Blank VerseA type of poetry with a definite meter

(rhythm) but no rhyme scheme

SHIFTSRarely does a poet begin and end the same way. Identify places in the poem where shifts occur in the speaker or the tone, etc.

Shifts can be indicated by certain words (but, yet, however, still, etc.), changes in diction, changes in tone, changes in structure, etc.

T – Title (again)

Re-examine the title. Try to see how the title fits with the work as a whole.

This time, you are interpreting the title, not just predicting or looking at it literally.

T -- ThemeDetermine what the poet is saying

THIS IS NOT THE MORAL OF THE POEM

Identify the theme by recognizing the human experience, motivation, or condition of the poem.

“___________,” a poem by ________is about __________ and reveals that _____________________________________________________.

One work may have several possible themes

theme•Themes often

explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly