1. ENGLISH THROUGH LITERATURE
Unit 2
The Heart of the Matter
Produced by Bruce Michael

2. Introduction. Approaching Themes. Poetic Forms and Imagery
Introduction Approaching Themes Poetic Forms and Imagery Poetic devices Poetic Themes Themes in Drama Themes in Stories

3. Approaching Themes
A theme can be thought of as a statement of belief, or, the thoughts of a writer concerning something he/she feels strongly about, or feels the need to express (by explanation) more clearly.
Themes can be expressed in four ways:
Direct statements by the author
Dramatic statements made by characters
Characters who stand for ideas/ideals
The work itself as it represents ideas (pp54-55)

4. Identifying Poetic Forms: How Poets Communicate
There are certain language features that are evident in poetry. These can be broadly grouped under the following headings:
A) Imagery
B) Poetic Genres
C) Verse Patterns
D) Mood/Tone/Atmosphere

5. Imagery There are three types of imagery:
Symbolic, Literal and Figurative
The important feature of Imagery students (of this course of study) need to aware of are:
Literal imagery makes appeals to the senses (sight, sound, taste, smell and touch) by means of poetic forms like Alliteration (repetition of words beginning with the same sound)

6. Imagery Figurative language includes: Metaphor Simile Personification
Rhyme
Onomatopoeia (where the words appear to make the sounds they represent).
In your text A Gateway To Literature Rhyme and Onomatopoeia are dealt with on pages You should read this section carefully.

7. Figurative Imagery: Poetic Types
Figurative Imagery: All writing – novels, plays, poetry – becomes more alive and interesting when the images created move beyond the literal and become figurative.
In the English language it is normal, in everyday speech, to use figurative language/imagery. For example the expressions “it’s cold as ice” or “the traffic was moving along at a snail’s pace” are examples of the use of figurative imagery. There is no actual ‘ice’ or ‘snail’ present in each of these situations, but a comparison is being made using familiar things (‘ice’ and a ‘snail’) to describe the unfamiliar.

8. Simile
A poet uses a Simile to create an image that something is like something else. Usually a Simile is easily recognized because the poet uses the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare one thing with another.
the old man moved like a shadow
a face like a moonbeam
Another example might be:
Out of the darkness
like a tiger he sprang

9. Metaphor
Like a Simile a Metaphor makes a comparison. However the comparison is between two things that do not have the same characteristics. The major difference with a metaphor (unlike a simile where two things are ‘like’ each other, the metaphor implies one thing ‘is’ another).
His nerves were steel and his blood oil
Obviously the comparison is figurative, not literal, because humans are not made of metal nor is their blood oil. ‘She is an angel’ is a metaphor, but ‘she is a kind person’ is not because it is possible for a person to be kind but (it would appear) it is not possible for her to be an ‘angel’ because an ‘angel’ is something supernatural (beyond the natural).

10. Personification
Poets frequently make their descriptions more vivid by giving inanimate objects a life-like quality:
The mountains trembled And the oceans roared

11. Review:
Poetic Devices