"Introduction to Poetry" 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 a rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

What does that mean anyway? Brainstorm and discuss what the poem meant.

K – W – L about Poetry What do you KNOW? What do you WANT to know? What did you LEARN?

Poetry Definition: Type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions & imagination. Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words. Poetry is a sense of the beautiful expressed in the fewest possible words. It is art. Like art it is very difficult to define because it is an expression of what the poet thinks and feels, and it may take any form the poet chooses for this expression. Poetry is considered the highest level of literature in most cultures around the world.

Imagery Imagery is an appeal to the senses. The poet describes something to help you to see, hear, touch, taste, or smell the topic of the poem. When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.   excerpt from “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud”

What is Figurative Language? Figurative language is based on imaginative comparisons. It is not literally true. EX: “My heart is broken.” 2 MAIN TYPES are 1. Similes 2. Metaphors

What are the differences between similes & metaphors? Similes are comparisons which use “like,” “as,” or “than.” Similes are the simplest form of figurative language. 2 items being compared remain separate. “ The moon shines like a fifty-cent piece.” Metaphors are comparisons where one thing becomes another. DOES NOT use “like,” “as,” or than. 2 items being compared are united. “You’re a pig!”

How are connotation & denotation different? Denotation is a word’s literal meaning. This meaning is found in the dictionary. EX: barracks: large, simple buildings providing temporary housing for people, often soldiers. Connotation is all of the emotions and associations connected to a word. EX: barracks: cold, ugly, lonely, homesick.

Do poems have themes? Like stories, poems have themes. A theme is an idea about life that an author wants you understand from reading his/ her work. EX: A theme of “Cyclops” in Homer’s Odyssey is a person’s need to overcome obstacles in his/ her life.

Tone Tone - the attitude an author takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character.

Important Terms: Tone in literature tells us how the author thinks about his or her subject. The author's style conveys the tone in literature. Tone is the author's attitude toward story and readers. Mood is the effect of the writer's words on the reader. Mood is how the writer’s words make the reader feel. Tone Words: Mood Words:

Whose poem is it? SPEAKER POET The poet is the author of the poem. SPEAKER The speaker is the narrator of the poem, not necessarily the poet Speaker impacts tone, the attitude expressed toward its subject or audience. The speaker’s tone & style of speaking create the speaker’s voice. All of these are the keys to determining a poem’s meaning.

Parallelism Parallelism refers to the repetition of sentence structure or word order to achieve a rhythmical effect. The overall effect is that sentence parts seem to rhyme. More importantly, the thoughts that these parts express are either repeated or contrasted.

Example of Parallelism The children love their teacher Each morning we sing The birds are in their nests and the teachers love their children. each morning we dance, and each morning we pray. and in their nests they sing.

Poetic Terms to Know Mood Tone Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Personification Alliteration Assonance Hyperbole Symbolism Imagery Connotation Denotation Diction Syntax Rhyme Allusion Repetition Parallelism

Poetic Term Assignment You will be given a term to define and find examples. When you are given that term, use the literature book and the internet to find 1) a definition of the term that you understand. Then, 2) find a picture/image that shows your term. Lastly, 3) write out an example of your term. Open Powerpoint and create a slide with your term as the slide title. Insert the definition, image, and written example. Once you are done, save it in the Livaudais folder on the student share drive. When the class powerpoint is complete, print it and put it in your poetry notebook.