poetry English 9

Last Week Last week we worked on defining and identifying various poetry/literary devices. You also did a great job memorizing “The Raven” so I have a treat for you! (Yay!) We also started reading “The Brain—” Today we’re going to review a little and then have a look at Emily Dickinson’s poetry.

Review: What makes a poet’s writing style unique? Word Choice Rhythm Content What was Dr. Seuss’s poetry like? Rhyme Consistent rhythm What was Poe’s poetry like? Gothic poetry Gloomy (single effect) Alliteration, rhyme, internal rhyme, etc.

Writing About Poetry What other words mean analyze? Discuss Evaluate What should you do first if the directions ask you to discuss the author’s use of alliteration as it relates to the speaker’s tone. Determine the speaker’s tone Then identify examples of alliteration. What should you do before you even begin looking for literary devices though? Paraphrase the poem!

The Brain What is a metaphor? A figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics. For example: He is the black sheep of the family. Obviously he is not a sheep. What does this mean instead?

The Brain Sound Devices: Assonance Rhyme Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds. Example: “Men sell the wedding bells.” Rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of lines in poems

The Brain Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem. We label these with letters. For this poem it will be very easy for you to identify the rhyme scheme.

The Brain But what do we need to do first?? Read the poem! And then? Read it again!

The Brain How does the speaker feel about brains? Positive or negative? One important step of analyzing poetry will always be to determine tone. A good way to begin is by deciding if there is a positive or negative tone and then go from there.

Line One: Metaphor. The Brain is not literally wider than the sky, right? The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside—

Line Two: Metaphor. Time to make our comparison! The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside—

Line Three:. They “contain” each other. You can imagine the sky. The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside—

Line Four: They do this quite easily. The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside—

Assonance: Long I sounds. Wider, sky, side, beside. Weird Capitalization: Brain, Sky, You. What could it mean? The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside—

Line One: More Metaphors Line One: More Metaphors! The brain isn’t literally deeper than the sea, right? Right. The Brain is deeper than the sea— For—hold them—Blue to Blue— The one the other will absorb— As Sponges—Buckets—do— Line Two: The ocean is blue, sure. But what about brains??

Line Three: I think we’re talking about depths of knowledge here Line Three: I think we’re talking about depths of knowledge here. What do you think? The Brain is deeper than the sea— For—hold them—Blue to Blue— The one the other will absorb— As Sponges—Buckets—do— Line Four: Simile time! The speaker compares the Brain and sea to Sponges and Buckets.

Line One: Interesting, now the Brain is almost something else. Hm. Why? Line Two: Why reference weight this time? This is where we want to think about connotations. The Brain is just the weight of God— For—Heft them—Pound for Pound— And they will differ—if they do— As Syllable from Sound— 

Line Three: The weight of the Brain will differ from the weight of God Line Three: The weight of the Brain will differ from the weight of God. Maybe. Line Four: What is the difference between a syllable and a sound? The Brain is just the weight of God— For—Heft them—Pound for Pound— And they will differ—if they do— As Syllable from Sound— 

Don’t Make Me Say It Again… Repetition is a great way to emphasize a point and to even show continuity throughout a poem. You probably noticed the repetition of side by side, Blue to Blue, and Pound for Pound. Repetition like this, where the grammatical structure is the same, is known as parallelism. You probably also noticed the repetition of The Brain is… in each stanza. This time, the repetition of the beginning of a sentence is known as anaphora.

The Rhyme Scheme The Ballad Meter follows the ABCB rhyme scheme, with the meter alternating. Do you remember how to count iambs? Iambs are an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. How many syllables are in the first line? How many in the second? So how many iambs do you have then if each iamb is two syllables? (Gosh, this sounds like math…) Ballad Meter, then, is a poem written in the ABCB rhyme scheme with alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.

Writing About Poetry Continuted A common way to structure your analysis might look like this: Through the use of [literary device] the author is able to emphasize [your observation]. For example, the line “blah, blah” demonstrates/illustrates/etc…. “blah, blah” = What [literary device] = How [Your Observation] = Why/Analysis