Introduction to Poetry Mrs. Shantazio

Class Opener What are metaphors and how are they used in literature? What is your definition of poetry? ( Write one paragraph on each ) Homework Define the following terms for homework: Alliteration - Iamb Anapest -Meter Apostrophe - Metonymy Ballad - Sonnet Blank Verse - Stanza Caesura - Synecdoche Couplet - Triplet Dactyl - Trochee E legy - Trope End-Stopped Enjambment Foot Free Verse

What is a metaphor? A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things in which the writer says that these things are the same (on a figurative level) A metaphor does not use the words “like” or “as” to draw its comparison

What is a Metaphor Rather, it is better to say that a metaphor conflates rather than compares two objects. Ex: To say that someone is “green” means that they are new at something A new recruit is green, rather than being like green.

What was that? To conflate means to combine or fuse in order to make one.

What is Poetry? Poetry is just the evidence of life.  If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.  ~Leonard Cohen Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.  ~Kahlil Gibran Ink runs from the corners of my mouth There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry. ~Mark Strand, "Eating Poetry," Reasons for Moving, 1968 Poetry is what gets lost in translation.  ~Robert Frost Imaginary gardens with real toads in them.  ~Marianne Moore's definition of poetry, "Poetry," Collected Poems, 1951 Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.  Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.  Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.  ~Carl Sandburg, Poetry Considered

What is Poetry? Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.  ~Percy Shelley, A Defence of Poetry, 1821 Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.  ~Plato, Ion Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.  ~W.B. Yeats

Why study Poetry? To be alive is to be full of emotion and passion and opinions and beauty and anger and hope and dreams and fears. To be human is to have the desire to express one's self in any form we can find. Poems are expressions of what is inside each of us.

How do we analyze Poetry? Read and understand the Title. Figure out who the speaker is. Think about all of the literary techniques, and elements such as characterization, metaphor, simile, and alliteration among others,  that might help you better understand what the author is trying to say. Keep important literary concepts in mind. Think about the imagery in the poem; try to draw a picture in your head of what the poem is describing. Even though it might be difficult, try to make the poem relative to you. This will help you relate to the theme or topic of the poem and help you get a better grasp of what you are reading. Always keep in mind, the action that is taking place as well as the mood of the poem (dark, gloom, happy, joyful). Go back to the title and try to think of what in the poem gave the title its meaning. Lastly, read the poem as often as you have to until you are confident that you have fully understood the concept of the poem.