POETRY

 A type of literature that expresses ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a specific form (usually using lines and stanzas)

Understanding a Poem 4 Making Meaning 4 Form 4 Sound 4 Figurative Language

Part 1: MAKING MEANING

The LITERAL Meaning 4 Sometimes the meaning is implied instead of explicitly expressed Read the poem. What is this poem about?

POINT OF VIEW IN POETRY POET/ AUTHOR 4 The poet is the author of the poem. SPEAKER 4 The speaker of the poem is the “narrator” of the poem. They CAN be the same, but often are NOT! What is the POV of the poem?

SHIFTS IN MEANING 4 Turn –Sometimes a poem starts out with one meaning, but changes near the end. This can also be called a turn. –The contrast created by a shift often shines light on the themes of the poem Identify the TURN in the poem?

DICTION 4 Word Choice = 4 Denotation: –The actual, dictionary definition of a word 4 Connotation: –The feelings and implied meanings of a word 4 Syntax is word order –Word order matters— sometimes for clarity (a solo guitar isn't the same as a guitar solo) and sometimes for effect ("a dying man" is roughly the same as "a man, dying," but the effect matters).

TONE 4 The attitude of the poet and/or speaker, the “mood” the poem creates. Entirely dependent on other elements in the poem. 4 Can be formal (stiff, challenging), 4 Can be colloquial (informal and conversational), 4 Could be in dialect, (non- standard, regional or slang language) What is the tone of the poem?

THEME 4 The theme of the poem is its purpose. 4 The idea, lesson, or vision the poet wants to express 4 Common themes in poetry: –Fear of …. dying, ageing, being alone… –Love and its complications –Cruelty, compassion –Growing up What is the theme of the poem?

Part 2: Poetry FORM

POETRY FORM 4 LINE - a group of words together on one line of the poem 4 STANZA - a group of lines arranged together A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day. Put brackets around the stanzas of the poem. How many are there?

KINDS OF STANZAS Couplet=a two line stanza Triplet (Tercet)=a three line stanza Quatrain=a four line stanza Quintet=a five line stanza ET CETERA….. (and no, you don’t have to memorize these!)

Elements of form 4 Layout – how a poem looks on the page 4 Length – measured in stanzas and lines 4 Genre – some forms are given specific names –For example: Haiku, Sonnet, Ode, etc. – Concrete poems are the most visual; their words take the shape of an object

RHYTHM 4 The beat created by the sounds of the words in a poem 4 Rhythm can be created by meter, rhyme, sound devices and repetition.

METER  A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.  Meter occurs when the stressed and unstressed syllables of the words in a poem are arranged in a repeating pattern.  When poets write in meter, they count out the number of stressed (strong) syllables and unstressed (weak) syllables for each line. They repeat the pattern throughout the poem. Take a deep breath…

METER cont. 4 FOOT - unit of meter. 4 TYPES OF FEET The types of feet are determined by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables. Iambic - unstressed, stressed Trochaic - stressed, unstressed Anapestic - unstressed, unstressed, stressed Dactylic - stressed, unstressed, unstressed No, you don’t have to memorize these either! It’s almost over...

FREE VERSE POETRY 4 Unlike metered poetry, free verse poetry does NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. 4 Does NOT have rhyme. 4 Free verse poetry is very conversational - sounds like someone talking with you. 4 A more modern type of poetry.... Exhale!

REPETITION & REFRAIN 4 REPETITION is when words, phrases, or entire lines of a poem are repeated usually to help make a point or create a mood. 4 Repetition Example: –Repeating one word (sometimes at the end of a line) –Repeating a line (usually the last line of a stanza) 4 REFRAIN is a sound, word, phrase or line repeated regularly in a poem. 4 Refrain Example: - “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”

END RHYME 4 A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line Hector the Collector Collected bits of string. Collected dolls with broken heads And rusty bells that would not ring.

INTERNAL RHYME 4 A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

NEAR RHYME 4 a.k.a imperfect rhyme, close rhyme 4 The words share EITHER the same vowel or consonant sound BUT NOT BOTH ROSE LOSE á Different vowel sounds (long “o” and “oo” sound) á Share the same consonant sound

RHYME SCHEME 4 A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme (usually end rhyme, but not always). 4 Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern. (See next slide for an example.)

SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME The Germ by Ogden Nash A mighty creature is the germ, Though smaller than the pachyderm. His customary dwelling place Is deep within the human race. His childish pride he often pleases By giving people strange diseases. Do you, my poppet, feel infirm? You probably contain a germ. aabbccaaaabbccaa

Part 3: SOUND EFFECTS

ONOMATOPOEIA 4 Words that imitate the sound they are naming BUZZ 4 OR sounds that imitate another sound “The silken, sad, uncertain, rustling of each purple curtain...”

ALLITERATION 4 Consonant sounds repeated at the beginnings of words If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

CONSONANCE 4 Similar to alliteration EXCEPT... 4 The repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the words “silken, sad, uncertain, rustling.. “

ASSONANCE 4 Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line or lines of poetry. (Often creates near rhyme.) LakeFateBaseFade (All share the long “a” sound.) Examples of ASSONANCE: “Slow the low gradual moan came in the snowing.” -John Masefield -“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.” - William Shakespeare

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

SIMILE 4 A comparison of two things using “like, as than,” or “resembles.” 4 “She is as beautiful as a sunrise.”

METAPHOR 4 A direct comparison of two unlike things 4 “All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.” - William Shakespeare

Oxymoron & Paradox 4 Oxymoron is a pairing of words or ideas that seem contradictory, like “jumbo shrimp,” “cold fire,” “heavy lightness” 4 Paradox is a statement that seems contradictory at first glance i.e. Jesus said “they have ears but hear not”

IRONY 4 A discrepancy between what is said and what is meant (verbal) 4 A discrepancy between expectations and actual events (situational)

Hyperbole & Litotes 4 Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration –Ex. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse! 4 Litotes is understatement - basically the opposite of hyperbole. Often it is ironic. –Ex. Calling a slow moving person “Speedy”

Idiom 4 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. 4 Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.

PERSONIFICATION 4 An animal Giving a nonhuman thing human characteristics. 4 Examples: –The bare branches grabbed me as I ran through the woods. –The collie seemed to smile as his owner rubbed his ears. –The popcorn jumped right out of the popping machine.

SYMBOLISM 4 When a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself also represents, or stands for, something else. = Innocence = America = Peace

Allusion 4 Allusion comes from the verb “allude” which means “to refer to” 4 An allusion is a reference to something famous. A tunnel walled and overlaid With dazzling crystal: we had read Of rare Aladdin’s wondrous cave, And to our own his name we gave. From “Snowbound” John Greenleaf Whittier

IMAGERY 4 Language that appeals to the senses. 4 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”

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.