INTRODUCTION TO POETRY Learning Targets: I can determine the meaning of literary devices, and figurative language. I can analyze how the structure of the text can contribute to its meaning.
POETRY STUDY On your note sheet, write about your experience with poetry: do you read it? Have you read any for school/for fun? Do you like it? What scares you about it? Have you written poetry before?
Introduction to Poetry By Billy Collins I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means. With the risk of being ironic, what is Billy Collins saying about poetry in his poem?
Your Mission: Write a poem (try for 6 lines) Topic: something that bothers you It can be the way someone talks (don’t use names please!) Something you notice in the classroom, at school, the outside world Pick a pet peeve and write about it!
3 Main Elements of Poetry Structure Sound Patterns Meaning
Structure of Poetry Stanzas Count the lines: Def: series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty space Equivalent of a paragraph in an essay Count the lines: couplet (2 lines) tercet (3 lines) quatrain (4 lines) cinquain (5 lines) sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain) septet (7 lines) octave (8 lines)
Structure of Poetry Form A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme scheme, and/or metrical pattern It can STILL be poetry! 3 Most Common Types of Poems (according to form) Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who expresses strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are lyric poems. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles the plot line of a story [the exposition, conflict and characters, rising action, climax and the resolution]. Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the speaker. It uses elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more "outward-focused" than lyric poetry, which is more personal and introspective.
Structure of Poetry Ode: a lyric poem of med. Length, serious in subject and very elaborate Elegy: lyric poem that mourns the dead (not a eulogy); no set pattern, but usually remembers the dead person, and resolves the grief by calling out to the dead person at the end Sonnet: lyric poem consists of 14 lines and written in iambic pentameter (heartbeat rhythm), two kinds (Italian and Shakespearian) Ballad: narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung, usually in quatrains or cinquains, tells the tale of an ordinary person. Epic: narrative poem in elevated style, recounts the deeds of a legendary or historical hero
Other Types Haiku: unrhymed verse form having 3 lines and usually 5,7,5 syllables in each line. Considered a lyric poem. Limerick: has a very structured poem, usually humorous and composed of 5 lines. Usually in an AABBA pattern.
Sound Patterns Rhyme Repetition of similar sounds Most common is an end rhyme Usually considered with A and B Internal rhyme is in the middle of the line and is not common
Sound Patterns Meter: the systematic regularity of rhythm, identified by examining the type of “foot” and number of “feet” Feet: number of rhythmical units, syllables (2-3) The Number of Feet: The second part of meter is the number of feet contained in a line. one foot=monometer two feet=dimeter three feet=trimeter four feet=tetrameter five feet=pentameter six feet=hexameter Iambic meter: a weak syllable followed by strong syllable (heart beat) __ = a stressed (or strong, or LOUD) syllable U = an unstressed (or weak, or quiet) syllable
Meaning Not all poetry is easy to understand, sometimes it takes a while. Think about these things: Concrete vs. abstract Denotation and Connotation Figurative devices and language
Concrete vs. Abstract Something that is concrete is usually something literal. It means exactly as it says Abstract usually means something figurative. Think back to our figurative language and how we use it to make a point
Connotation v. Denotation Denotation is the actual definition of a word/phrase Connotation is the societal or emotional connection made to a word/phrase
Figurative Language and Devices Authors will use figurative language to further the author’s point The author will use descriptive language to give the reader an image of what they are saying. Think of it like painting, but with words.