Poetry

What is Poetry? How would you define poetry? What makes poetry different from prose?

Poetry Terms What are some terms that you should know in relation to poetry?

Poetry Terms—How many do you know? Stanza Line Meter Rhythm Rhyme Simile Metaphor Alliteration Assonance Consonance Onomatopoeia Personification Metonymy Synecdoche Hyperbole Couplet Quatrain Refrain Sonnet Limmerick Haiku

Example poem Read the poem to yourself first. Then we will read it aloud What do you think is the point the poem is trying to make? Do you think it is effective?

Rhythm One major thing that differentiates poetry from prose is that poetry MUST have some sort of rhythm. The rhythm does not have to be consistent, but the words must have some sort of beat. Sometimes its simple, sometimes its complex, but it is not there by accident.

Listen to This March of the Light Brigade Love song of J Alfred Prufrock How do these poems SOUND? Can you hear a rhythm in their words?

Stressed vs. Unstressed Syllables When words have more than one syllable, one of them is pronounced more strongly than the others. Consider the sound of the underlined word in each passage. Darth Vader decided to crush the rebel soldier. Luke Skywalker will rebel against his father's wishes.

Example: Rebel You say: Darth Vader decided to crush the re-BULL soldier. Luke Skywalker will RE-bell against his father's wishes. The emphasis is on different syllables; that’s what makes the words distinctive from each other. Single syllable words can be either stressed or unstressed.

Example My mother ate an apple and my father ate a pear. Which syllables are stressed, which of them are not?

Example my MOTH-er ATE an AP-ple AND my FATH-er ATE a PEAR.

Example My cat is nice. My cat is fat. My cat is cute. I like my cat.

Practice on your own My mother said I should go to the store Identify the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Practice my MOTH-er SAID i should GO to the STORE The rhythm doesn’t stay the same throughout the line. How could we fix it so that it does?

Answer My mother sent me to the store My mother had said I should go to the store. (my MOTH-er had SAID i should GO to the STORE)

Meter “Iamb” is the name of the meter lub-DUB as in the word convince. Notice that each syllable must be marked. “Trochee” is the name of the meter DUB-lub as in the word borrow. Other types of meter have their own names, too: “Anapest” is the name of the meter lub-lub-DUB as in the world contradict. “Dactyl” is the name of the meter DUB-lub-lub as in the word accurate. “Spondee” is the name of the meter DUB-DUB as in the word seaweed. There are lots of other names for different meters, but that’s enough for now. If a poem mostly has iambs, it is called “iambic.” Have you learned that Shakespeare wrote most of his plays and poems in iambic pentameter? The next slide will tell you what that term means.

Handout practice Go through each of these lines and identify the stressed and unstressed syllables.

Practice Go back to the Charge of the Light Brigade Each table will be given a stanza. Mark each syllable as Stressed (/) or unstressed (u)

Limericks In the future, the worst kind of crime, Will be working the streets as a mime, If you paint your face white, They'll arrest you on sight, An example of justice sublime. Can you identify the patterns?