Transcript Introduction to Poetry

Introduction to Poetry
General Information
Poems should be read aloud with punctuation…(a
comma means a slight pause, a period means the
end of a thought).
Poetry is different from prose because it is broken
into stanzas instead of paragraphs, and uses fewer
words, usually to emphasize a feeling or mood.
Poetry uses figurative language…it is considered
“art with words.”
Common Literary devices used in
poetry
alliteration
The repetition of beginning consonant
sounds to emphasize an image or feeling
Example: “There will come soft rains and
the smell of ground, and swallows calling
with their shimmering sound.”
“There Will Come Soft Rains” ~Sara Teasdale
Concrete Poem
A poem that is written in
the form of its subject
matter.
Example: a poem about
the rain could be written
in the shape of a raindrop,
or a poem about love
could be written in the
shape of a heart.
Free Verse
Poetry written without a regular rhyme scheme,
meter, or form.
Example:
Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head
with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
“April Rain Song” ~Langston Hughes
hyperbole
Exaggeration
Example: They touched the sky with their
long arms.
Personification
A figure of speech in which something
nonhuman is given human characteristics.
Example:
Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no
one there. - Proverb
Trees were dancing with the wind.
Irony
A mode of expression, through words
(verbal irony) or events (irony of situation),
conveying a reality different from and
usually opposite to appearance or
expectation.
In verbal irony, the writer's meaning or even
his attitude may be different from what he
says. An example of situational irony would
occur if a professional pickpocket had his
own pocket picked just as he was in the act
of picking someone else's pocket.
An example of dramatic irony (where the
audience has knowledge that gives
additional meaning to a character's words)
would be when King Oedipus, who has
unknowingly killed his father, says that he
will banish his father's killer when he finds
him.
Irony is the most common and most
efficient technique of the satirist, because it
is an instrument of truth, provides wit and
humor, and is usually at least obliquely
critical, in that it deflates, scorns, or attacks
Symbol - Something that on the surface is
its literal self but which also has another
meaning or even several meanings.
An example is the dove and olive branch
are a symbol of peace.
Imagery
Language that appeals to the five senses –
touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.
Example: Skimming on an asphalt sea I
swerve, I curve, I sway; I speed to shirring
sound an inch above the ground..
“The Sidewalk Racer” ~ Lillian Morrison
Lyric Poem
A short poem that directly expresses the poets thought and
emotions in a musical way. (song lyrics)
Example:
Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll
Let the stories be told
They can say what they want
Let the photos be old
Let them show what they want
“Good Times Roll” ~ The Cars
Metaphor
A direct comparison, not using like or as
Example: I am a tulip
Simile
A comparison of two unlike things using the
words “like” or “as”
Example: The willow’s music is like a
soprano,
Delicate and thin.
“Willow and Ginkgo“ ~ Eve Merriam
Mood
The feeling created in the reader by a poem or story. (The
writers tone affects the mood of the piece.)
Example: Once upon a midnight dreary, while
I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious volume of
forgotten lore –
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came
a tapping…
“The Raven” ~Edgar Allen Poe
Onomatopoeia
An onomatopoeia is a group of words that imitates
the sound it is describing.
Example: Hear the sledges with the bellsSilver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
From “The Bells” ~Edgar Allen Poe
Narrative Poem
A poem that tells a story
Example: I went to the dances at
Chandlerville,
And played snap-out at Winchester,
One time we changed partners,
Driving home in the moonlight of middle June,
“Lucinda Matlock” ~Edgar Lee Masters
End Rhyme
An end rhyme in which the last word at the end of
each verse is the word that rhymes.
Example: Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
“Dreams” ~Langston Hughes
Internal Rhyme
An internal rhyme is a rhyme inside of the sentence.
Example:
Glowing labyrinth under gnarled tropical tree;
Share the jubilee under the vast canopy.
Amidst the crystal river mist,
Among indigo forests kissed,
Poetry rhythms ripple far above the azure sea.
Speak beyond emerald freedom;
Soothe pain; weave peace;
Linger long into the evening.
And whisper life, infinitely.
“River of Verse” ~Michael Angell (8th grader)
Stanza
Groups of lines in poetry (like paragraphs in a story or book) two
stanzas of poetry…
Example: Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For his Civility –
From “Because I could not Stop for Death” ~Emily Dickinson
Tone & Voice
Tone is the attitude a writer takes toward
the audience, subject, or a character.
Examples: serious, silly, informative, bias
Voice is the perspective that is taken on by
a poet
Let’s Review!
Which of the following is an example
of a simile?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The car was a flaming bullet
The car was like a flaming bullet
The car was on fire.
The red-hot car was speeding.
Which of the following would be an
example of onomatopoeia?
A. Pigs ate pickles in the pigsty.
B. SNAP went the rubber band.
C. The girl was as smart as a whip.
Which of the following is an example
of imagery?
A. “…I rise to make four prayers of
thanksgiving for this fine clear day; for
this good brown earth…”
B. “I am of the earth, she is my mother”
C. “Come, let us roam the night together”
Which of the following is an example
of alliteration?
A. “how the water lilies fill with rain”
B. “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not
take the garbage out”
C. “Rubbery blubbery macaroni”
A poem that tells a story is a
A.
B.
C.
D.
Lyric poem
Free verse
Concrete poem
Narrative poem
Which is an example of a metaphor?
A. “the wood as the sea smooth's glass”
B. “setting goldenrod upright above you”
C. “Abuelito…who is dough and feathers”
If a poem uses end rhyme, the rhyming
words are…
A. At the beginning of the lines
B. At the end of the lines
C. Within each line
What is the most likely mood of the
poem entitled, “Sarah Sylvia Cynthia
Stout Would Not Take
the Garbage Out?”
A. Serious
B. Silly
C. Dramatic
If a poem is written in free verse,
which of the following would be
found in it?
A.
B.
C.
D.
End rhyme
Internal rhyme
Irony
None of the above
A stanza is to poetry as ______ is to a
short story?
A. Paragraph
B. Sentence
C. Word
“The fog comes on little cat feet” is an
example of…
A.
B.
C.
D.
Simile
Personification
Symbolism
Onomatopoeia