Elements of Poetry Speaker and tone Setting and context Figurative language Sights and sounds
Speaker and Tone Speaker Tone Character who narrates Voice assumed by the writer Way the writer uses language to reflect personality and attitude Tone Emotional attitude Creates mood and emotion Examples: ironic, playful, sarcastic, sincere
Speaker and Tone To assess: -read aloud -notice words that stand out -consider speaker as character -compare and contrast with poems of similar themes
Setting and context Setting - time and place AND what creates sense of time and place Context – like setting but more as environment of the time To assess: Look at sensory details and mood Visualize background information Clarify questions/answers to historical and cultural background
Figurative Language Meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally Examples: Simile/metaphor/analogy Personification Symbolism Hyperbole
Sight and sound Sight – imagery – descriptive language creating vivid pictures, appealing to the senses Sound rhythm / meter – patterns of beats – regular or irregular Rhyme / rhyme scheme Assonance (repetition of vowel sounds) Consonance (repetition of consonant sounds) Alliteration – usually beginning of words Onomatopoeia Repetition
Things to think about as you not only analyze but also create/shape poems Dramatic Situation Who is speaking? To whom is he speaking? What is the situation? What is the speaker’s tone? Imagery Theme
But don’t forget about… Diction (word choice of words, and the force, accuracy, and distinction with which they are used ) Connotation (suggested meaning of words / associations) Denotation (dictionary definition) Abstract (can only be understood intellectually) Concrete (words describing physical objects) Figurative Language Metaphor (implied or direct comparisons) Simile (comparisons using like or as) Personification
And… Rhetorical Language Syntax (arrangement) Irony Hyperbole Allusion Pun (play on words) Paradox (contradiction) Oxymoron (self contradiction) Syntax (arrangement) Length “Unusual” elements