Poetry and figurative language

Types of Poems: A NARRATIVE POEM tells a story. An EPIC POEM is a type of long narrative poem that has a HERO and often FANTASTICAL CREATURES. A LYRIC POEM expresses THOUGHTS and FEELINGS. A CONCRETE POEM forms a shape on the page.

Poems have LINES and STANZAS (paragraphs in a poem). Let them be as flowers, 2 always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt. I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed, 5 clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.

Rhyme scheme The pattern of rhyming words in a poem. (ABAB, AABB, etc.) *Remember- not ALL poems rhyme! (Free verse)

Figurative Language FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is when you don’t say exactly what you mean. The opposite of figurative language is LITERAL language. LITERAL language is when you say EXACTLY what you MEAN. Literal: I’m exhausted. Figurative: I’m dead.

IMAGERY is the words writers use to create MENTAL pictures. White sheep, white sheep, On a blue hill, When the wind stops You all stand still. That poem seems like it is straightforward, but when you know the poem is titled, “Clouds,” you can see how it is using imagery.

Simile and Metaphor A SIMILE is a figure of speech that COMPARES unlike things by using the words LIKE or AS. A METAPHOR COMPARES two unlike things WITHOUT using LIKE or AS. He’s stubborn as a mule. ___________ He’s a mule. ___________

SYMbols A SYMBOL is something that stands for or suggests something else beyond itself.

Sensory language is language that appeals to your 5 senses: SENSORY DETAILS Sensory language is language that appeals to your 5 senses: Sight Hearing Taste Touch Smell