1. What is Poetry?
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2. What is the purpose of poetry?
Poetry is a way of putting thoughts and feelings into words in a condensed form.
It allows people to write about the unique way they see the world.
Poets write for many reasons:
to entertain their readers,
to teach readers about the world,
to talk about a specific feeling or thing.

3. Poetry is… designed to look different from other writing.
Enjambment
Poetry is usually written in lines.
Sometimes the line is a full sentence, but not always.
Not all lines of poetry end with punctuation.
Enjambment: a poetic sentence written on more than one line
Poetry often has stanzas.
Stanza: a group of lines in a poem.
"The Bee Is Not Afraid Of Me"
By Emily Dickinson
The bee is not afraid of me,
I know the butterfly; The pretty people in the woods Receive me cordially. The brooks laugh louder when I come, The breezes madder play. Wherefore, mine eyes, thy silver mists? Wherefore, O summer's day?
Stanza

4. Poetry is… used to create powerful images.
Gathering Leaves
By Robert Lee Frost
Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I fill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight, And since they grew duller From contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use. But a crop is a crop, And who's to say where The harvest shall stop?
Poetry uses imagery to give readers a clear picture of what the poet wants to say.
Imagery: words or phrases used to create a mental picture
Often, imagery also helps give the poem mood and a perspective.
Mood: the feeling of the writing
Perspective: the point of view the poet uses or how he feels about a certain topic.
Imagery:
mountains (of leaves)
Perspective:
a man raking leaves and marveling at their weight
Mood:
What feelings do you have while reading the poem?

5. Poetry is… writing with rhythmic form.
Some poems rhyme, like the beginning of “Gathering Leaves.”
Rhyming poems often follow a rhyme scheme.
Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhyming lines, usually written in letters.
Not all poems rhyme!
Reading poems aloud allows readers to hear the rhythm of the words, which is important to the poem, even if it doesn’t rhyme.
Gathering Leaves
By Robert Lee Frost
Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. …
Rhyme Scheme: A B

6. Elements of Poetry Poetry often uses figurative language.
Poems may include similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, and more.
Poetry often uses rhyme, but it doesn’t have to.
Rhyming poems often follow a rhyme scheme.
Poems have a rhythm even if they do not rhyme.
You can hear a poem’s rhythm by reading it aloud.

7. How to Read Poetry
Be sure to read the title and think about what it means.
Read the poem more than once.
Try reading the poem aloud to hear its rhythm.
Remember to pause at punctuation marks and at the end of stanzas.

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