Grade 9 English Language Arts Poetry Grade 9 English Language Arts

Ballad A narrative song or poem that tells a popular story Usually about love or courage Example: Shawn Mendes “Stitches” How is “Stiches” representative of a ballad? It is a song about love that tells the tale of how a young boy has his heart broken by a girl and dealing with the feelings. He states that he is feeling hurt but will get over it.

Ballad Line: Words that appear horizontally in the same line on a page. In poetry lines are numbered. Example: I thought that I'd been hurt before But no one's ever left me quite this sore Your words cut deeper than a knife Now I need someone to breathe me back to life Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on

Ballad Stanza: A group of lines that appear together (like paragraphs) I thought that I'd been hurt before But no one's ever left me quite this sore Your words cut deeper than a knife Now I need someone to breathe me back to life Got a feeling that I'm going under But I know that I'll make it out alive If I quit calling you my lover Move on

Ballad Refrain: A Line or group of lines that is repeated in a poem. Also known as a chorus The refrain adds emphasis to an idea that the poet is trying to make. In stitches the refrain adds emphasis to the point that even though the narrator is hurting after a failed relationship he will get over it and be ok.

Ballad Simile: Comparing two unlike things using like or as. Two things that are different in most qualities but are similar in one/some. “Just like a moth drawn to a flame” Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things without using the words like or as “And if I’m without your kisses Ill be needing stitches”

Ballad Rhythm: Pattern of accented and unaccented, stressed or unstressed syllables in a written piece of work

Cliché: an idea or expression that has become tired from overuse, its clarity having worn off; e.g., the bottom line is… “Just like a moth drawn to a flame”

Free Verse poems characterized by their nonconformity to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza These poems allow the poet complete artistic control to express themselves. They don’t need to rhyme, have defined rhythm, stanza size, syllable counts or any other defined method. Walt Whitman: “O Captain, My Captain”

Dominant Image: The central thought or object that stands out in a piece of work. In O Captain My Captain the dominant image is that of the Captain laying on the deck of his ship cold and dead. Extended Metaphor: A metaphor that is drawn from events in history. The captain is Abraham Lincoln. The fearful trip is the Civil War. The ship is the United States. The prize is the preservation of the union

Repetition: the deliberate use of the same word, words, or events to create an effect The repetition of "heart" in line 5 emphasizes the poet's grief at the death of his captain. "Fallen cold and dead" is repeated at the end of each stanza to emphasize the poet's deep loss

Alliteration: The repetition of the beginning sounds in groups of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable; e.g., descending dew drops; luscious lemons  “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”  “She sells sea-shells down by the sea-shore”

Couplet Two lines of verse with similar end-rhymes So, till the judgement that yourself arise You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes

Dominant impression or image: The central thought or object that stands out in a work

Figurative Language Language that uses figures of speech, such as simile, metaphor, personification, and alliteration; used extensively to create imagery

Imagery Language that creates pictures in a reader’s mind to bring life to the experiences and feelings described in a poem; words that appeal to the reader’s senses and enables us to see (visual), hear (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), and touch (tactile) what the writer is describing

Juxtapose/ Juxtaposition To place close together or side by side, especially for comparison and contrast “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Literal Meaning Language that means exactly what it says

Literary Devices Techniques or words used to create a particular effect; include allusion, flashback, foreshadowing, imagery, symbolism, metaphor, simile, sound devices, etc

Onomatopoeia The sound of a word resemble its meaning, e.g., buzz, hiss, etc.

Oxymoron A figure of speech in which contradictory words are placed together for the purpose of expressing deep feelings, or to emphasize a point; e.g., cold fire, feather of lead, honourable villain, silent speech

Parallelism/Parallel Structure The deliberate repetition of the same or a similar grammatical structure, often used for effect in emotional or dramatic passages; e.g., I came, I saw, I conquered.

Poetic Device Terms used to describe features of poetic writing (e.g., alliteration, simile, meter, etc.)