What is poetry?

A difficult thing to define Just like books, poems are very different from one another. Some poems rhyme, some don’t Some poems are long, some are short Some poems are about an object, some are about an action

All poems… …use very specific words. …use powerful words. Every word is intentional. No other word can replace the word that is used. …use powerful words. Power words are words that are used because they are emotionally charged with meaning. …are a condensed form of literature. No words can be eliminated and still remain as powerful.

The tricky thing about poetry You may appreciate a poem after reading it once, but to really understand what the poem is saying, you have to go back, analyze it and tear it apart. Poets are creative in how they say things. They use simile, metaphor, personification, imagery (and all the other dreaded literary terms) to get their message across in a creative way.

The tricky thing about poetry There is no right or wrong interpretation of a poem, as long as you can back it up with proof from the poem itself. Each of us will take different ideas and meanings out of the same poem.

4 easy steps to reading poetry 1. What does the poem say? Read the poem and, in your own words, explain what the poem is literarily saying. Don’t interpret. Simply state what the poet is talking about.

4 easy steps to reading poetry 2. How does the poet say it? Explain how the poet gets his/her message across to readers. What literary devices can you find? Does the poet use personification? Where? Is there a simile? Where?

4 easy steps to reading poetry 3. What does the poem mean? Go beyond the literal meaning now. Interpret. The poem might literally be about a flower blooming but the poet might be getting at something bigger- it might be about how people grow over time and as we get older, we open up like the flower. There is no wrong answer, as long as you can back it up with proof from the poem.

4 easy steps to reading poetry 4. Answer the “so what”? Explain how this poem relates to you. How does this poem remind you of something in your life? Does this poem make you think about something you can relate to? This answer will be different for each of you.

Still think poetry stinks? Do you like music? Songs are nothing more than poetry set to music. Some songs are more poetic than others. We will be looking at some of these in class.