Literary Techniques in Poetry
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Transcript Literary Techniques in Poetry
Word Choice, Word Order, and Tone
Diction (4) – an author’s choice of words
Poetic Diction – use of elevated language instead of
ordinary language
Formal Diction – dignified impersonal, and
elevated use of language.
In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity
And the Pride of Life that planned her, still couches she
Middle Diction - words spoken by most
educated people
In this sample, Poet Richard Wilbur is telling his
lover what she might be doing instead of being with
him (“A Late Aubade”)
You could be sitting now in a carrel
Turning some liver-spotted page,
Or Rising in an elevator-cage
Towards Ladies’ Apparel
Informal Diction – words used are very informal.
May contain colloquialism, dialect, or jargon
Colloquialism – words or phrases used in every day
speech, unconstrained by formal conventions
Dialect – words spoken by a definable group or people
from a particular geographic region, economic group,
or social class
Jargon – words and language defined by a trade or
profession
Example: Philip Larkin “Study of Reading Habits”
Denotation(14) – literal meanings of a word
Connotation(14) – associations and
implications that go beyond a word’s literal
meaning.
US Flag
Cross
Evergreen
Platypus
Soybean
Denotation
Connotation
Colored Cloth
Two Pieces of Wood
Nature
Semi Aquatic Mammal
Healthy Bean
Freedom
Sacrifice
Holiday
Secret Agent
Death Nugget
Death of a Ball Turret Gunner – Randall Jarrell
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
"A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a
B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns
and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked
with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from
below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside down in
his little sphere. The fighters which attacked him were
armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a
steam hose."
Persona – the speaker created by the poet
“Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”
“A Study of Reading Habits”
Syntax – ordering of words (and grammar) into
meaningful verbal patterns
“Hazel tells LaVern”
“l(a”
Tone – the writer’s attitude towards the subject,
the mood created by all of the elements of the
poem
“A Study of Reading Habits”
Dramatic Monologue – a type of poem where a
character – the speaker – addresses a silent
audience in a way as to unintentionally reveal
some aspect of his or her temperament or
personality
“Hazel Tells LaVern”
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Christmas, 1987
The apparition of a salsa band
Gleaming in the Liberty Loan
Pawnshop window:
Golden trumpet
Silver trombone
Congas, maracas, tambourine,
All with price tags dangling
Like the city morgue ticket
On a dead man’s toe.