Transcript Slide 1

Unit 3: Poetry
Speaker and Tone
What is poetry?
• Poetry is a genre, or type of literature, that uses
imaginative and musical language to
communicate experiences, thoughts, or
emotions.
What are the purposes of
poetry?
• To entertain readers
• To enlighten readers by sharing the human
experience
• To help readers gain insight into themselves
and others
• To help readers experience joy, inspiration,
comfort, gratitude, redemption, or strength
• To unite readers in a common understanding
Structures and
Forms of Poetry
• When composing a poem, a poet explores
various poetic structures and forms to express
his or her ideas.
• Some poets conform to formal conventions of
poetry, such as the use of stanzas, meter, and
rhyme schemes.
• Others choose to write freely without the
constraints of established text structures or line
patterns.
Structures and
Forms of Poetry
• No matter what format a poet chooses, it is
important for readers to recognize the
structures and forms of poetry.
– This helps them to understand the author’s
intention and appreciate the interplay of words.
Stanzas in Poetry
• The text organization of poetry distinguishes it
from prose.
• Stories and essays are divided into paragraphs,
but poems are often divided into stanzas, or
groups of lines.
• Like a paragraph in prose, each stanza in a
poem
– may vary in length
– typically conveys a unit of thought
Purposes of
Stanzas in Poetry
• Stanzas serve many purposes in poetry. For
example, stanzas may
– provide a framework or structure for a poem
– create a visual effect for readers
– set the rhythm of a poem by following a certain
organizational pattern
– establish a flow or movement through the poem’s
ideas
– provide clues as to the author’s purpose
Types of Stanzas
• There are several
types of stanzas that
a poet can use when
creating a poem.
• The type of stanza
is determined by
the number of lines.
• Common stanza
structures are listed
in the box.
couplet
tercet/triplet
quatrain
quintet/quintain
sestet
septet
octave
two lines
three lines
four lines
five lines
six lines
seven lines
eight lines
Stanza Breaks
• The blank spaces between stanzas are called
stanza breaks.
• Typically, a stanza break is a pause that
indicates the completion of the previous
thought and the beginning of a new one.
Enjambment
• However, when a poet decides to jump over
the stanza break and continue a thought into
the next stanza, it is known as enjambment.
• Enjambment can also be used between lines of
poetry, when a thought started in one line
flows over into the next line.
Speaker of a Poem
• The speaker of a poem is the character who
speaks in, or narrates, the poem.
• In other words, the speaker is the voice
assumed by the writer.
• The speaker and the writer of the poem are not
necessarily the same person.
Speaker of a Poem
• To identify the speaker of a poem, ask yourself
the following questions:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Who is speaking?
How do I know?
How would I describe the speaker?
To whom is he or she speaking?
What is the speaker’s perspective in the poem?
What bias does the speaker show?
What attitude does the speaker express?
Tone of a Poem
• The speaker’s voice sets the tone of a poem.
• Tone is the emotional attitude toward the
reader or toward the subject
implied by a poem.
• Closely related to tone is
mood, or the emotion
created in the reader by a
poem.
Tone of a Poem
• Some examples of tones that a poem can
assume are listed in the box below.
playful
sarcastic
melancholy
ironic
hopeful
determined
mournful
calm
solemn
harsh
bitter
light-hearted
skeptical
wistful
angry
peaceful
frustrated
worried
envious
concerned
matter-of-fact
amused
boastful
scared
Tone of a Poem
• Writers can establish tone through their use of
– voice
– irony
– diction
Voice of a Poem
• Voice is the way a writer uses language to
reflect his or her unique personality and
attitude toward a topic, form, and audience.
Voice of a Poem
• In this excerpt from “Remember,” the speaker
conveys a sense of earnestness and urgency.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
—from “Remember,”
by Joy Harjo
The Use of Irony
• In dramatic irony, something is known by
readers but unknown to the characters.
• In verbal irony, the speaker says one thing but
means something quite different.
– Verbal irony is the most common type of irony
used in poetry.
• In irony of situation, an event occurs that
violates the expectations of the characters or
readers.
Irony of Situation
• In “Holidays,” the speaker uses irony of
situation.
• The poem is about the speaker’s vacation.
• However, throughout the course of the poem it
becomes clear that the speaker does not really
want to be on vacation.
• This violates the expectations of the reader.
• Look the excerpt from this poem on the next
slide.
Irony of Situation
• Where in this excerpt does the speaker use
irony of situation?
A song is going through my mind. It goes, “There was a man from British
Guiana, Who used to play a piana. His foot slipped, His trousers
ripped…” I see, I see. Yes. Now. Suddenly I am tired. I am yawning.
Perhaps I will take a nap. Perhaps I will take a long nap. Perhaps I will
take a nice long nap. Perhaps, while taking my nap, I will have a dream, a
dream in which I am not sitting on the porch facing the mountains.
—from “Holidays,”
by Jamaica Kincaid
Diction in a Poem
• Writers can also establish tone through their
diction, or their choice of words.
• Poets must choose their words carefully to
evoke certain emotions in their readers.
• To create these emotional
associations, writers look at the
denotations and connotations of
words.
Denotation and
Connotation in Diction
• The denotation of a word is its dictionary
meaning—without any emotional associations.
• The connotation of a word is the set of ideas or
emotional associations it suggests.
Assessing Tone
• Discovering the tone of a poem is more than
knowing what the poem is about.
• To discover the tone, readers must go beyond
what the poem is about and pay close attention
to the words the poem uses.
• There are several methods
that can help you discover
tone.
Assessing Tone
• Try using the following strategies to determine
the tone of a poem:
– Read aloud.
• Sometimes, hearing the words will help reveal how the
speaker feels about the subject.
– Notice words that stand out.
• Pay attention to words that follow a pattern or evoke a
specific emotion.
Assessing Tone
• Try using the following strategies to determine
the tone of a poem:
– Consider the speaker.
• Think about the speaker as a character rather than a
neutral observer. What bias might the speaker have?
What information might he or she be holding back?
– Compare and contrast.
• Compare the poem you are reading to another poem
with a similar theme or subject.
SUMMARY:
Speaker and Tone
• To assess speaker and tone in a poem:
– learn about the poet
– learn about the historical and cultural context of
the poem
– read the poem aloud
– identify the speaker and audience of the poem
– be aware of the poem’s word patterns and diction
– compare and contrast poems with similar themes
or subjects to analyze the tone of each poem