1. A poem is a composition in verse
A poem is a composition in verse. It paints pictures by means of poetic devices such as figurative language, rhythm and rhyme.
Poetry Basics

2. Meaning of the word Poetry:
Poetry is a word of Greek origin. It comes from a verb with means “to make, to create”.
A Poem is “something made or created”.
The Poet is the creator and language is the material out of which s/he creates his/her work of art.

3. What is POETRY?
Poetry is the art of expressing your thoughts in rhythmic, descriptive language.
Poetry is meant to be read aloud.
People use poems to describe their emotions so that others can feel them, too.
Poems can rhyme, but they do not have to.

4. The Big Question How can poetry allow us to express and reflect on
This unit explores the Power of Poetry
Our Unit Question:
How can poetry allow us to express and reflect on
emotions, ideas, and issues?
Reading poetry: enriches our lives, and allows us to reflect on:
Emotions
Ideas
and Issues
Writing poetry: enables us to express powerful emotions and inspirational ideas
Many people question poetry’s value in a modern classroom
One response is that poetry, using a few words, can express universal truths that all people can appreciate

5. How do you feel about POETRY?
True or false: On average, youth today spend more time and money on poetry than any other literary work.
Music is Poetry!

6. Guidelines for reading Poetry:
In approaching a poem, you can ask the text some simple questions which should help you to understand it
What is the poem about?
Who is the voice speaking in the poem?
To whom is the poem addressed?
How is the poem written?
Why has the poem been written?
What emotion is being invoked?

7. Poets and Their Times Metaphysical Poets (John Donne)
Poets reflect the events and ideas of their times through poetry.
Understanding of a poet’s time may lead to an understanding of his ideas.
Knowledge of a poet’s background also gives us insight into his intention.
We refer to “schools of poets”:
Metaphysical Poets (John Donne)
Romantic Poets (Wordsworth)
War Poets (Rupert Brooke)

8. Analysis of Poetry Theme/Main Idea Form Diction (Word Choice)
Tone (Attitude)
Imagery (Figurative language)
Rhythm
Rhyme
Metre

9. 1. Theme/Main Idea
Analysis of Poetry
Each poem conveys the messages or intentions of the poet and these may be explicit (0bvious) or implicit (implied).

10. 2. Form Analysis of Poetry A poem is written in a particular form.
Poems are usually written in lines.
These lines can be grouped into stanzas (like paragraphs).
Enjambment or run-on lines occur in poetry where there is no punctuation at the end of a line. The poet’s thoughts remain unbroken.

11. Types of Poetry
This unit includes classic poems from many centuries, modern poems, poems from many cultures, and poems in a wide variety of formats.
The types of poems we will be studying include:
Lyric Poetry
Sonnet
Light Verse
Satirical Poetry
Didactic Poetry
Descriptive Poetry
Narrative Poetry

12. 3. Diction (Word Choice) Analysis of Poetry
The poet’s use of words creates atmosphere and sets the poem in its correct time and place.
Word choice influences rhythm and mood.
In a rhyming poem, appropriate word choice is crucial.
Jargon and slang may be used for effect.
The use of repetition is also an effective device.

13. 4. Tone (Attitude) Analysis of Poetry
The tone of the poem reveals the poet’s subjective views and attitude to the reader and to the subject.
Tone contributes to the mood or atmosphere of the poem.
Best descriptive words for tone:
Friendly
Sharp
Sarcastic
Ironic
Angry
Humorous
Condescending
(Imagine the poet’s TONE OF VOICE – “hear” the poet reading his/her poem out loud…)

14. 5. Imagery (Figurative Language)
Analysis of Poetry
Poetry is a combination of literal and figurative language.
Imagery conjures up word pictures – these affect us emotionally and intellectually.
Figurative language helps create these vivid pictures. Some examples:
metaphors
similes
personification
alliteration
assonance / consonance
onomatopoeia
juxtaposition
oxymoron
hyperbole / understatement

15. 6. Rhythm Analysis of Poetry
Rhythm sets the pace and should match the meaning.
Slow rhythm = sombre meaning.
Quick pace = happy mood.
When reading a poem aloud, FEEL the change of pace and how it affects the mood of the poem.
Pace (tempo) and pause affect rhythm.
Many literary elements create rhythm including:
alliteration
assonance
consonance
meter
repetition
rhyme

16. 7. Rhyme Rhyme depends on sound, not sight. Rhyme schemes differ.
Analysis of Poetry
7. Rhyme
Aabb =
pair rhyme
Abab = alternate/cross rhyme
Aabb = enclosed rhyme
Abca =
free verse
Rhyme depends on sound, not sight.
Rhyme schemes differ.
Couplet: Two consecutive rhyming lines.
Quatrain: Four-lined stanza.

17. Rhyme Scheme The ends of lines repeat the same sounds.
Mary had a little jam, she spread it on a waffle. And if she hadn't eaten ten she wouldn't feel so _____.
A B C B
The snow came down And covered the town The snow came down last night The snow came down And covered the town And left it snowy _____.
A A B A A B

18. Shakespeare’s SONNET 138
When my love swears that she is made of truth a I do believe her though I know she lies, b That she might think me some untutor’d youth a Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. b Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, c Although she knows my days are past the best, d Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: c On both sides thus is simple truth suppress’d. d But wherefore says she not she is unjust? e And wherefore say not I that I am old? f O, love’s best habit is in seeming trust, e And age in love loves not to have years told: f Therefore, I lie with her and she with me g And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be. g

19. Kinds of Rhyme Exact: eye/sky/pie; sing/ding/ring
Near or Half: sing/dung/rang
Eye: tough/through/dough
Internal: "Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December"
Masculine: are rhymes that are a single stressed syllable at the very END of a line in poetry.
/ /
rang/sang
Feminine: are a rarer rhyme type in English. It is a rhyme matching two or more syllables in which the final syllable(s) are unstressed.
/  / 
ringing/singing

20. Rhyme Patterns
Onomatopoeia – words that sound like what they represent
Buzz
Hiss
Roar
Woof
Tick-tock
Alliteration –repetition of sounds
Initial: The wild and woolly walrus waits and wonders when we’ll walk by. Internal: baobab; purple potpourri Final: “Knox in box. Fox in socks. Knox on fox in socks in box. “ – Dr. Suess
Assonance – same vowel sounds
Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese
Three free throws.
Repeated words
…and Sky was chasing chasing chasing with his feet going every which way and his tail wag-wag-wagging

21. 5 groups = 5 feet (or pentameter)
Analysis of Poetry
8. Meter
Metre is the number of stresses, beats or feet in a line of poetry.
Shakespeare used the iambic (rising rhythm of two syllables) pentameter (five feet) to write his sonnets.
5 groups = 5 feet (or pentameter)
Stressed (/) Unstressed (u)

22. Meter Iamb  / Trochee /  Anapest   / Dactyl /   Spondee / /
Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables
The basic unit of meter is a foot.
Most common feet in English poetry:
Iamb  /
Trochee / 
Anapest   /
Dactyl /  
Spondee / /

23. Metrical Lines One foot monometer Two feet dimeter Three feet trimeter
Four feet tetrameter
Five feet pentameter (iambic pentameter)
Six feet hexameter (dactylic hexameter)
Seven feet heptameter
Eight feet octameter

24. Stanzas 2 line stanzas: couplets 3 line stanzas:
tercets
triplets: aaa bbb ccc ddd
terza rima: aba bcb cdc ded
4 line stanzas: quatrains
5 line stanzas: quintets
6 line stanzas: sestets
7 line stanzas: septets
8 line stanzas: octaves

25. Poetry - Concluding Thoughts
A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language. (W.H. Auden)
To have great poets, there must be great audiences. (Walt Whitman)
Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. (Plato)