1. Important Poetry Concepts

2. Speaker Definition: The person from whose point of view a poem is told
Speaker ≠ writer.
The writer writes the poem. The speaker is the voice telling the poem
Poems can have characters just as other literary works do. Not every poem, (or every essay or novel) is autobiographical in nature. Poems can be just as fictional as other works.

3. Who is the speaker? Is there more than one?
Do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham! Would you like them here or there? I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am! 
- “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss

4. The speaker changes here.
Do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham! Would you like them here or there? I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am! 
- “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss
Speaker 1
The speaker changes here.
Speaker 1 (“Sam-I-Am”)
Speaker 2

5. The author’s choice of words
Diction
The author’s choice of words

6. Meaning Words have two ways to communicate meaning: Denotation
the literal meaning of the word
Connotation
an association (emotional or otherwise) which the word evokes

7. Denotation
This is the strict definition or definitions that can be found in the dictionary.
Words are chosen for their denotative meaning to express ideas clearly and specifically.
Ex. House and home = place where one lives

8. Connotation
The emotional connections that influence the meaning of a word
Words can have a positive, negative, or neutral connotation.
The connotation of a word can vary by culture, region and time period.
Ex. House = neutral, Home = positive
For example, both "woman" and "broad" have the denotation "adult female" in North American society, but "broad" has somewhat negative connotations, while "woman" is neutral.

9. Consider positive neutral negative
There are over 2,000 homeless in the city.
neutral
There are over 2,000 people with no fixed address in the city.
negative
There are over 2,000 vagrants in the city.

10. Slang
Highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language.
Varies based on culture, region, or time period.
What slang terms do you use?

11. Consider
Dude
Cool
Sucks
Sweet
Lol
Bet
Yeet

12. Imagery • Sight • Hearing • Touch • Taste • Smell
Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.
• Sight
• Hearing
• Touch
• Taste
• Smell

13. How a poem is constructed: free verse, blank verse, sonnet, etc.
Form/Structure
How a poem is constructed: free verse, blank verse, sonnet, etc.

14. Poetry
Are they free verse, using no rhyme or meter? Are they blank verse, using meter but not rhyme? Are they sonnets, with 14 lines of iambic pentameter and a specific rhyme scheme? Are they villanelles, with 19 lines and a pattern of repeated lines? When you answer questions like those, you will describe the form (or forms) of your poems.

15. Tone
Tone is the author’s attitude towards the subject.
For example:

16. Author’s Attitude towards Hockey
“There’s This that I like About Hockey, My Lad” by John Kieran (continued) There’s this that I like about hockey, old chap; I think you’ll agree that I’m right; Although you may get an occasional rap, There’s always good fun in the fight. So toss in the puck, for the players are set; Sing ho! For the dash on the enemy net; And ho! For the smash as a challenge is met; And hey! For a glorious night!
There’s this that I like about hockey
old chap
good fun
enemy net
glorious night
Author’s Attitude towards Hockey
Author is speaking to

17. Tone
Would this poem have a different meaning for the reader if the tone was changed?
Yes

18. ALLITERATION
The repetition of the initial letter or sound in two or more words in a line.
To the lay-person, these are called “tongue-twisters”.
Example: How much dew would a dewdrop drop if a dewdrop did drop dew?

19. Let’s see what this looks like in a poem.
Alliteration
Alliteration
She Walks in Beauty I.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
Alliteration
These examples use the beginning sounds of words only twice in a line, but by definition, that’s all you need.

20. Examples: growl, hiss, pop, boom, crack, meow.
Onomatopoeia
Words that spell out sounds; words that sound like what they mean.
Examples: growl, hiss, pop, boom, crack, meow.

21. Let’s see what this looks like in a poem we are not so familiar with yet.
Noise Day
by Shel Silverstein
Let’s have one day for girls and boyses
When you can make the grandest noises.
Screech, scream, holler, and yell –
Buzz a buzzer, clang a bell,
Sneeze – hiccup – whistle – shout,
Laugh until your lungs wear out,
Toot a whistle, kick a can,
Bang a spoon against a pan,
Sing, yodel, bellow, hum,
Blow a horn, beat a drum,
Rattle a window, slam a door,
Scrape a rake across the floor
Onomatopoeia
Several other words not highlighted could also be considered as onomatopoeia. Can you find any?

22. Repetition Using the same key word or phrase throughout a poem.
This should be fairly self-explanatory,
but . . .
at risk of sounding like a broken record . . .

23. Time to spend;
time to mend.
Time to hate;
time to wait.
Time is the essence;
time is the key.
Time will tell us
what we will be.
Time is the enemy;
time is the proof.
Time will eventually
show us the truth.
Time is a mystery;
time is a measure.
Time for us is
valued treasure.
Time to cry . . .
Time to die.
Valued Treasure
by Chris R. Carey

24. So, which is the repeated key word or phrase?

25. Time to spend;
time to mend.
Time to hate;
time to wait.
Time is the essence;
time is the key.
Time will tell us
what we will be.
Time is the enemy;
time is the proof.
Time will eventually
show us the truth.
Time is a mystery;
time is a measure.
Time for us is
valued treasure.
Time to cry . . .
Time to die.
Valued Treasure
by Chris R. Carey

26. Refrain
The repetition of one or more phrases or lines at the end of a stanza.
It can also be an entire stanza that is repeated periodically throughout a poem, kind of like a chorus of a song.

27. Remember this Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Remember this

28. Look familiar? That is a refrain.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
. . .
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Look familiar?
That is a refrain.

29. Simile
A comparison between two usually unrelated things using the word “like” or “as”.
Examples:
Joe is as hungry as a bear.
In the morning, Kay is like an angry lion.

30. Let’s see what this looks like in a poem we have never seen before
Simile
Ars Poetica
By Archibald MacLeish
A poem should be palpable and mute as a globed fruit,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
Simile
Simile

31. Metaphor An implied comparison between two usually unrelated things.
Examples:
Lenny is a snake.
Ginny is a mouse when it comes to standing up for herself.
The difference between
a simile and a metaphor is
that a simile requires either
“like” or “as” to be included
in the comparison, and a
metaphor requires that
neither be used.

32. Hyperbole An exaggeration for the sake of emphasis. Examples:
I may sweat to death.
The blood bank needs a river of blood.

33. Personification
Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals.
Example:
The sun stretched its lazy
fingers over the valley.

34. Symbol
A word or image that signifies something other than what is literally represented.
Examples:
Dark or black images in poems are often used to symbolize death.
Light or white images are often used to symbolize life.

35. Imagery
Using words to create a picture in the reader’s mind.

36. Allusion A reference to another piece of literature or to history.
Example: “She hath Dian’s wit” (from Romeo and Juliet).
This is an allusion to Roman mythology and the
goddess Diana (Artemis).
The three most common types of allusion refer to
mythology, the Bible, and Shakespeare’s writings.