1. Poetry Terms Part 1

2. An Introduction to Poetry
Definitely need to take notes in the “Poetry” section of your notebook.
“A poem is the shortest emotional distance between two points” - Robert Frost

3. Formal Analysis Poetry creates meaning from form
Interactions between the meaning of words and the effects of them arranged in metrical patterns
FORM and MEANING must be considered together for full understanding
Expresses the ineffable
Poetry is intimate, private, emotional – open to many interpretations
Historically, poetry has played an important role in illuminating cultural inequalities
Poetry = way of engaging world while providing personal meaning

4. Key Ideas You’ll need to know (jot these down)
Form enhances credibility (i.e. sonnet)
Rhyme Scheme/Form – influence diction, syntax and style
Tone is created through imagery and connotation

5. Style Style: Author’s distinctive way of writing Style includes:
Manner of language used to evoke mood
Refers to a time period in literary history OR to an individual writer
Style includes:
Diction, or word choice, which some believe most important subject of poetry
Tone/Figures of speech
Sentence length/structure

6. BIG IDEAS Diction Figures of Speech Imagery Tone/Mood Rhyme Meter Form
Syntax
Sound
Tone
Mood
Narrator
Setting
Theme
Denotation
Connotation
Formal/informal
(slang/
colloquial)
Language (abstract/
concrete)
Figures of speech
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Analogy
Extended metaphor
Overstatement (hyperbole)
Understatement
Paradox
Irony
Free verse
End rhyme
Internal rhyme
Eye/sight rhymes
Near rhyme
Quatrain
Couplets
Rhythm
Feet
Iambic
Iambic pentameter/tetrameter
Blank verse
Sonnet
Elegy
Lyric
Ode
Villanelle
Simple
Complex
Cumulative
Periodic
Inverted
Enjambment
Caesura
Alliteration
Assonance
onomatopoeia
Cadence

7. Theme & Tone

8. Tone Tone usually associated with attitude Irony VERY common
Communicated by writer’s diction
MOOD = overall feeling
Mood + Tone add richness and texture to words, deliberate by writer
TONE SHIFTS = Essential in analyzing poetry and purposeful by writer
Tone helps guide us to understanding of theme

9. Tone is created through Imagery
Used in poetry to create “pictures” evoked in a poem
Reader perceives “pictures” through senses
Tangible – NOT abstract – allows readers to connect with poet’s thoughts/ideas
Allows poet’s meaning to be strong, clear and sure

10. Tone is created through Figurative Language
Manipulates language to convey impressions in a new, innovative construction
Used to SUGGEST rather than give direct meaning
Allows poet AND reader opportunity for unique expression and understanding
Emotions, feelings and moods invoked through skillful use of figurative language (i.e. similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, etc.)
Figures of speech:
Images - picture created in your mind’s eye
Simile – comparison using “like” or “as”
Metaphor – implicit comparison, describing something as if it were something else
Personification – giving human qualities to inanimate objects
Hyperbole – overstatement/exaggeration
Symbol – something that stands for something else
Paradoxes -  a statement that contradicts itself and still seems true somehow

11. Tone is created through Speaker
Speaker = the character that is voicing the poem, may or may no be the poet themselves
In stories, novels, and plays we use the term “narrator” in poetry we use the term “speaker”
Common Tones: Serious, bitter, humorous, ironic, sympathetic, joyous, mocking, angry, amusing, shocked, playful
Diction = word choice
Denotation (literal meaning) v. Connotation (implied meaning)
Formal v. Informal diction (slang/colloquial)
Abstract v. Concrete language

12. Theme and Tone Theme Tone What a poem says
the message about love or death or whatever the topic is
How a poem makes the statement of theme.
the poem’s attitude or feelings toward the theme

13. Theme Theme = the statement about the topic
Theme may be expressed in several ways and can have several interpretations
Setting can help shape the theme

14. Common Themes in Poetry
Usually universal theme – connects to emotions and life
Coming of Age: Identity search; loss of innocence, growth through life
Life Cycle: Major events, i.e. birth, falling in love, growing old, death
The Quest: Undertaking journeys to achieve a goal
Outcast Motif: Individual is either isolated or excluded from society – can be voluntary or involuntary

15. Situation & Setting

16. Situation
Situation – refers to several questions that need to be answered for comprehension of the poem
1. Who is speaking?
2. To whom is the speaker speaking?
3. Is there an auditor in the poem, or simply an audience outside of it?
4. Is anyone else present or referred to in the poem?
5. What is happening?
6. Why is this event or communication occurring, or significant?

17. Setting Both time and place
1. Where does the action or communication take place?
2. When in the poem set
3. How much time passes during the poem?

18. You try:
You’re now receiving a poem that you’ve probably seen before, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”.
Read through the poem and try and identify/match the following vocabulary terms with the what’s in the poem and answer the questions.
This is your copy so you may write on the poem.
Whatever you do not finish needs to be taken home and finished for homework.