Bellringer Answer the following questions:  What makes poetry different than prose?  How can you identify poetry?

Unit 2 Vocabulary

What is Poetry?  Poetry is writing that is imaginative and emotional. Poetry is written with words that are vivid, and every word in a poem is important. These words are arranged carefully so that they have a pleasing sound, as well as an effect on the reader.

Purposes of Poetry  to create an image  to evoke emotion  to tell a story (narrative poetry)

The Form of Poetry A Minor Bird I have wished a bird would fly away, And not sing by my house all day; Have clapped my hands at him from the door When it seemed as if I could bear no more. The fault must partly have been in me. The bird was not to blame for his key. And of course there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song. -Robert Frost

“A Minor Bird” Written in Prose How does it look different from the poem? I have wished a bird would fly away and not sing by my house all day. I have clapped my hands at him from the door when it seemed as if I could bear no more. The fault must partly have been in me. The bird was not to blame for his key. And of course there must be something wrong in wanting to silence any song.

The Form of Poetry Poems are written in lines and stanzas.  line—an arrangement of words in a poem  stanza—a group of lines (similar to a paragraph in prose writing)

How many lines and stanzas are in this poem? A Minor Bird I have wished a bird would fly away, And not sing by my house all day; Have clapped my hands at him from the door When it seemed as if I could bear no more. The fault must partly have been in me. The bird was not to blame for his key. And of course there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song. -Robert Frost

Imagery  language that appeals to the senses Example: Winter Moon How thin and sharp is the moon tonight! How thin and sharp and ghostly white Is the slim curved crook of the moon tonight! -Langston Hughes

Sound Devices in Poetry  alliteration—the repetition of consonant sounds Example: mystical moon  onomatopoeia—a word that imitates a sound Examples: boom, splat, honk, swish, howl

Figures of Speech (figurative language)  a phrase that is not literally true  Types of figures of speech:  simile  metaphor  personification  hyperbole  idiom

Simile  simile--a comparison between two unlike things, using like or as

Metaphor  metaphor--a comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be the other thing

Personification  Personification—figure of speech in which an inanimate object is treated like a living person or animal  Example: Awakening to the risen sun, the rested trees stretched their limbs heavenward.

Hyperbole  hyperbole—an exaggeration Examples:  These books weigh a ton.  I could sleep for a year.  The path went on forever.  I'm doing a million things right now.  I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.  I waited centuries for you.

Idiom  idiom—a commonly used expression that is not literally true Examples:  beat around the bushtoot your own horn  bent out of shape don’t see eye to eye  a piece of cake fly off the handle  down in the dumps hold your horses  get under my skingoing bananas  raining cats and dogs break a leg  shoot the breeze cat has your tongue  under the weather on pins and needles  drive me up the wallwater under the bridge