Musical Devices In Poetry ? What makes poetry musical?

Rhyme Alliteration Consonance Assonance Onomatopoeia Refrain What makes poetry musical?  Rhyme Alliteration Consonance Assonance Onomatopoeia Refrain

Rhyme  The Repetition of accented vowel sounds and all succeeding sounds that appear close together

Rhyme Example Come with the rain, O loud Southwester! Bring the singer, bring the nester; Give the buried flower a dream; Make the settled snowbank steam -From To the Thawing Wind By Robert Frost

Approximate Rhyme (also called slant)     3 Types of Rhyme  End Rhyme Internal Rhyme Approximate Rhyme (also called slant)

End Rhyme The most common form of rhyme Places the rhyming sound at the end of a line of poetry The following lines of poetry by Langston Hughes are a good example: O, God of dust and rainbows, help us see That without dust the rainbow would not be

Internal Rhyme Repeats sounds within lines of poetry The following line from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is a good example: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary

Approximate Rhyme Very popular with more modern poets The final rhyming sounds are close, but not exactly the same Approximate rhyme is illustrated in these lines by Emily Dickinson All of evening softly lit As an astral hall “Father,” I observed to Heaven, “You are punctual

Rhyme Scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines. A rhyme scheme gives the scheme of the rhyme; a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem (the end words).

Rhyme Scheme Example Bid me to weep, and I will weep A While I have eyes to see; B And having none, and yet I will keep A A heart to weep for thee. B

Refrain One or more words, phrases, or lines that are repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. In a song, we often call it the chorus.

Literary Elements

Plot Also called storyline. the plan, scheme,  or main story of a literary or dramatic work,  as a play, novel, or short story.

Alliteration The repetition of consonant sounds in a group of words close together Alliteration comes at the beginning of words An easy way to remember alliteration: Alliteration uses all the letters, except the vowels.

Alliteration Example This example comes from Ted Hughes’s poem, The Lake: Snuffles at my feet for what I might drop or kick up Sucks and slobbers the stones, snorts through its lips

Consonance . It is the repetition of consonant sounds located other than at the beginnings of words Again, The Lake offers a good example: Snuffles at my feet for what I might drop or kick up Sucks and slobbers the stones, snorts through its lips 

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds close together What’s the difference? How are rhyme and assonance different?

What’s the difference? Rhyme is the repetition of accented vowel sounds AND the sounds that follow them Assonance is simply the repetition of vowel sounds

From the molten golden notes Assonance Edgar Allan Poe’s The Bells provides a good example: From the molten golden notes

Onomatopoeia The use of a word whose sound imitates or reinforces its meaning. In other words, it seeks to imitate the sound for which it stands. Examples in everyday language are words like whoosh, tick-tock, zoom, and purr. Popcorn is also onomatopoeia because its name imitates its action.

Refrain Example We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We  Sing sin. We Thin gin. We  Jazz June. We Die soon.

More Poetic Devices/Figurative Language

Tone feelings or meanings conveyed in the poem Not so much what is being said but how it is said Old Mother Hubbard Went to the Cupboard To give the poor Dog a bone When she came there The Cupboard was bare And so the poor Dog had none.

Stanza A grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme. Provides order and an expectation of closure

Simile A comparison between two unlike things using like or as. “My love is like a red rose.”

The doctor inspected the rash with Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things without using like or as. Something is something else. The doctor inspected the rash with a vulture's eye.

Personification Giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects. My shoes are killing me.

Overstatement or exaggeration Hyperbole Overstatement or exaggeration I will just die if I do not go to the party.

Symbol On object or idea that stands for something else. Common symbols for love are roses and hearts. A dove is a symbol for peace.

Imagery Words that appeal to the senses. Creates vivid mental pictures (sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound).

The voice in the poem (not always the poet). Speaker The voice in the poem (not always the poet). Provides focus.

A seeming contradiction in two Oxymoron A seeming contradiction in two words put together. Jumbo shrimp

Irony The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. Verbal irony Situational irony Dramatic

Verbal Irony A person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning. When a mother walks into a room and sees that her children, instead of doing their homework, are playing video games, she gives them a stern look and says "Once you're done with your very important work there, let's take some time out for recreation in the form of some chemistry problems."

Situational Irony Involves an incongruity between what is expected or intended and what actually occurs. Sometimes called irony of events. Focuses on the surprising and inevitable fragility of the human condition, in which the consequences of actions are often the opposite of what was expected.

Situational Irony Example "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy undertakes a long journey in order to find the means to get home, only to discover that she has been able to return home all along.

Dramatic Irony An effect produced by a narrative in which the audience knows more about present or future circumstances than a character in the story. Dramatic irony makes a story interesting and keeps the reader engrossed till the end.

Dramatic Irony Example Romeo and Juliet are secretly married but her parents insist that she should marry Paris. And when Juliet is grieving for Romeo, the others think that she is mourning her cousin Tybalt's death. The climax scene is loaded with dramatic irony. Juliet becomes unconscious after drinking the sleeping potion given by Friar Lawrence. Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, not knowing that she is merely unconscious. He consumes poison and kills himself. Meanwhile Juliet wakes up from slumber and asks Friar Lawrence where Romeo is. To which Lawrence replies he is unaware of Romeo's whereabouts when actually the audience knows that he was present when Romeo kills himself.

Situational vs. Dramatic Irony The key difference between situational irony and dramatic irony is the role of the audience. In dramatic irony, the tension is created by the difference between what the audience knows and what the character knows. In situational irony, the knowledge of the audience develops along with the character. Situational irony develops not from the contrast between their levels of knowledge (dramatic irony), but from the contrast between the assumptions both made to begin with and the situation that emerges.

Cliche Expressions that are used so frequently they become part of the lexicon. Can also appear as idioms and proverbs. Fad words that usually have a short life, but can become standard American English. Brown-noser He aced his exam

Idiom A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. Idioms can be literal and figurative.

Figurative and literal Idioms Example: Kicked the bucket Literal= He kicked the bucket with his foot Figurative meaning =He died

Diction choice of words especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness  vocal expression : enunciation pronunciation and enunciation of words in singing