1. Literary Devices in Poetry

2. Day 1

3. Diction the writer’s, speaker’s, or narrator’s choice of words
Ex: If the speaker of a poem is a child, the author would chose words a child would use, such as “mommy” or “potty”

4. Denotation
The most specific or direct meaning of a word: the “dictionary” definition/meaning of a word
Ex: the word cool means: moderately cold; neither warm nor cold
No hidden meanings in the words

5. Connotation
The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning; slang meanings; all stereotypes & feelings associated
Ex: cool can also mean: great; fine; excellent
Words may have hidden or double meanings

6. Denotation vs. Connotation
House vs. Home
Girl vs. Woman

7. Dialect
way of speaking for a group of people
Ex: I’s jus kiddin’

8. Dialogue words directly spoken by the character
For internal dialogue: words thought by the character
Ex: She said, “that will be fine.”
Ex: I would love that she thought

9. “This is Just to Say” by William Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving for breakfast
Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

10. Last Word by Peter Davison
When I saw your head bow, I knew I had beaten you.
You shed no tears—not near me—but held your neck
Bare for the blow I had been too frightened
Even to deliver, even in words. And now,
In spite of me, plummeting it came.
Frozen we both waited for its fall.
Most of what you gave me I have forgotten
With my mind but not taken into my body,
But this I remember well: the bones of your neck
And the strain in my shoulders as I heaved up that huge
Double blade and snapped my wrists to swing
The handle down and hear the axe’s edge
Nick through your flesh and creak into the block.

11. Excerpt from Violets by D.H. lawrence
Sister, tha knows while we was on the planks   Aside o' th' grave, while th' coffin wor lyin' yet On th' yaller clay, an' th' white flowers top of it   Tryin' to keep off'n him a bit o' th' wet,
An' parson makin' haste, an' a' the black   Huddlin' close together a cause o' th' rain, Did t''appen ter notice a bit of a lass away back   By a head-stun, sobbin' an' sobbin' again!

12. Poem…
Internment
by Juliet S. Kono (p. 437)

13. Your assignment 1. Write a poem using only denotative word meanings
**at least 20 words
2. Find a published poem that contains connotative word meanings and highlight the words and express the meanings
**at least 30 words

14. In your folder… Table on Contents Page 1 needs to have:
List all poems and page numbers
Page 1 needs to have:
ALL definitions in alphabetical order
And page number for each example

15. Poems labeled “connotation” and “denotation” poems
Next page:
Poems labeled “connotation” and “denotation” poems
on same or separate pages

16. I come home after school My game face is blue.
Denotation Poem: Connotation Poem:
Homework Mirror, Mirror
by: Katherine Foreman
I come home after school My game face is blue.
begin working on I must put it back on, see
MY HOMEWORK How much of my glory was real
“Why?” I cry, “do we have And how much fever.
So much homework?”
I hate homework. blue=team color and sad
back on=literally repaint and figuratively bring back the emotion
glory=excitement
fever=uncontrollable excitement

17. Mirror, Mirror blue=team color and sad My game face is blue.
Connotation Poem:
Mirror, Mirror
by: Katherine Foreman
blue=team color and sad
My game face is blue.
must put it back on, see literally repaint and figuratively bring
How much of my glory was real back the emotion
And how much fever.
glory=excitement
fever=uncontrollable excitement

18. Table on Contents
page
Definitions
Denotation Poem 2
Connotation Poem 2

19. Day 2

20. Scene (Setting)
tells where & when the poem takes place

21. Speaker (narrator) The voice talking to us in the poem.
(It is not necessarily the author’s voice)

22. Theme
central idea of the poem or story, themes are expressed through story-like examples of that situation
Themes should always be written as a sentence
Ex: Friendship is more than companionship; it also requires responsibility for another

23. Author’s Purpose
why the author wrote the poem or story, usually a lesson
Ex: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee wanted to make people aware of racism and injustice

24. Poems to read… Po' Boy Blues by: Langston Hughes
Southbound on the Freeway
by: May Swenson
The World is Not a Pleasant Place to Be
by: Nikki Giovanni (p. 40)

25. Po’ Boy Blues by Langston Hughes
When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de Whole damn world's turned cold. I was a good boy, Never done no wrong. Yes, I was a good boy, Never done no wrong, But this world is weary An' de road is hard an' long.

26. I fell in love with A gal I thought was kind
I fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. Fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. She made me lose ma money An' almost lose ma mind. Weary, weary, Weary early in de morn. Weary, weary, Early, early in de morn. I's so weary I wish I'd never been born.

27. Your assignment…
Write a poem from the perspective of an unusual speaker
Identify the speaker at the end of the poem
Must be at least 30 words
Take a famous poem and identify the:
Theme
Author’s purpose
Speaker
Scene
Within the poem
Must be at least 20 words

28. Awake
by: Katherine Foreman
speaker: My last night as a full-time child author I didn't want to sleep, for fear of Waking up in a rustle of too-crisp sheets scene:
And a creak of inadequate bedsprings bedroom With a lightly snoring virtual stranger eight feet away.
And also I didn't want it to be tomorrow, Because then it would be time to do what I've denied for three weeks of subsistence And oblivion--ignoring is bliss. And I saw everything I never did Lying around me, pieces and steps of the Success I never got, reminders that Whatever I planned, I never got far. But in the middle of these broken promises To myself, I could see for the first time That I have not been broken.
Author’s And I must keep myself, all that is real,
purpose: As daybreak does, and nightfall.
Show change I exist to others, but all I need is me.
From child to I will be the last promise, when all is said
adult And kept.
Theme: The change from childhood to adulthood is when you realize responsibility and
anticipate your actions.

29. Day 3

30. Mood feeling WE, the reader or listener, get from the poem
Ex: words describe mood: happy, excited, sad, scary, intense, sweet, etc.

31. Tone
the writer’s or speaker’s attitude about the subject, character, or audience
Ex: words to describe tone: sarcastic, teasing, critical, serious, admiring, ironic, etc

32. Conflict Internal Conflict External Conflict Human vs. Human
Human vs. Society
Human vs. Nature
Human vs. Technology

33. Winter Garden by unknown poet
Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever.

34. Spring Garden by unknown poet
Stunningly dressed flower stalks Stand shimmering in the breeze. The cheerful sun hides playfully Behind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds, While trees whisper secrets To their rustling leaves. Carpets of grass greenly glow Blending joyfully with the day. Spring brings life to death.

35. Comparisons…
Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever.
Stunningly dressed flower stalks Stand shimmering in the breeze. The cheerful sun hides playfully Behind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds, While trees whisper secrets To their rustling leaves. Carpets of grass greenly glow Blending joyfully with the day. Spring brings life to death.

36. Poems… My Father is a Simple Man by Luis Omar Salinas (p. 62)
Forgive my Guilt
by Robert P. Tristram Coffin (p. 128)

37. Your assignment… Write two poems that contain opposite moods
Highlight the words that create the differing moods
Each poem must contain at least 40 words
At least 10 words must be contrasting moods

38. Mood Poems Spring Garden Winter Garden By: unknown author
Stunningly dressed flower stalks
Stand shimmering in the breeze.
The cheerful sun hides playfully
Behind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds,
While trees whisper secrets
To their rustling leaves.
Carpets of grass greenly glow
Blending joyfully with the day.
Spring brings life to death.
Winter Garden
By: unknown author
Stark naked flower stalks
Stand shivering in the wind.
The cheerless sun hides its black light
Behind bleak, angry clouds,
While trees vainly try
To catch their escaping leaves.
Carpets of grass turn brown,
Blending morosely with the dreary day.
Winter seems the death of life forever.

39. Day 4

40. Imagery Use of single words or phrases that appeals to our senses
see, hear, touch, taste, smell

41. Cliché overused, warn-out expression or phrase, not unique
Ex: worn blue jeans, strong as an ox
Try NOT to use clichés unless you purposely want to

42. Fresh Images
helps us see the world in a new or unusual way, new and different ways of describing something
Ex: e. e. cummings writes: mud-luscious

43. The LOVE poem
I love you more than anything I've known. And now my life will never be the same. Every day is heaven in your arms.

44. The BREAK-UP poem
You tore my heart with hands of fire, and ran me through the shredder of desire. Our life together was a song. I thought you loved me -- was I wrong

45. The TEENAGE ANGST poem
No one understands me. Death and skulls. I'm ugly and people hate me -- but I hate them and I don't care. My brain has pain. It cuts like a knife. End my life.

46. The NATURE poem
The birds are cheering the rainbow sunset, The beautiful blue day And children dance on the grass.

47. Catalogue Poem
poem that lists daily activities

48. Poems Woman Work by Maya Angelou Daily Naomi Shihab Nye In Just
by: e. e. cummings (p. 414)

49. Your assignment… Write a catalogue poem about your day
You must list at least 10 items
You must use each of the five senses at least once
Highlight each time you use one of the five senses

50. My Day Catalog Poem: Every morning I wake up To the constant buzzing
by: Ms. Wellmeyer
Every morning
I wake up
To the constant buzzing
Of my alarm clock
And it reads
5:30 in bright red numbers.
I smell the fresh coffee brewing
In the kitchen
And I feel the cold wood floors
As I step out of bed.

51. Day 5

52. Irony
the contrast between expectation and reality

53. Verbal irony
the writer or the speaker says one thing but really means something different
Ex: calling a clumsy basketball player Michael Jordan

54. Situational Irony
describes an event that is not just surprising, but contrary to what we expect
Ex: You stay up all night studying for a test. When you go to class, you discover the test is not until the next day.

55. Dramatic Irony
WE know what is going to happen to the character, but the character does not
Ex: While watching a horror movie, YOU, the audience, know that the killer is waiting for the victim in the house…and he/she is attacked.

56. Allusion
a reference (usually brief) often casual, occasionally indirect, to a person, event, or condition thought to be familiar to the reader.
Ex: fairy-tale characters in Shrek

57. His House is Clean and Orderly by unknown poet
Just as he had always hoped, His house was clean and orderly; No dust settled on pictures And there was no furniture to clutter the living room. The refrigerator had no moldering vegetables And the tub had no trace of her hair That used to clump and cluster in the drain. The only thing out of place Was a piece of paper taped clumsily to the door In sloppy handwriting: "ALL YOURS."

58. Irony by Jennifer T Street, MD
The shards of glass littered the cold, black asphalt like sparkling stars strewn across the night sky. Their brilliance catching the corner of my eye, making me slow down, just to look at them a little longer. In my awe of the sheer beauty of merely broken glass, I couldn't help but think How someone else's tragedy could be so beautiful to me.

59. The Workbox by Thomas Hardy
See, here's the workbox, little wife,   That I made of polished oak.' He was a joiner, of village life;   She came of borough folk.
He holds the present up to her   As with a smile she nears And answers to the profferer,   ''Twill last all my sewing years!'
'I warrant it will. And longer too.   'Tis a scantling that I got Off poor John Wayward's coffin, who   Died of they knew not what.

60. 'The shingled pattern that seems to cease   Against your box's rim Continues right on in the piece   That's underground with him.
'And while I worked it made me think   Of timber's varied doom; One inch where people eat and drink,   The next inch in a tomb.
'But why do you look so white, my dear,   And turn aside your face? You knew not that good lad, I fear,   Though he came from your native place?'

61. 'How could I know that good young man,   Though he came from my native town, When he must have left there earlier than   I was a woman grown?'
'Ah, no. I should have understood!   It shocked you that I gave To you one end of a piece of wood   Whose other is in a grave?'
'Don't, dear, despise my intellect,   Mere accidental things Of that sort never have effect   On my imaginings.'

62. Yet still her lips were limp and wan,   Her face still held aside, As if she had known not only John,   But known of what he died.

63. Poems…
The Workbox
by Thomas Hardy
In Just—
by e. e. cummings (p 415)

64. Your assignment… Diamante Poem
Directions to follow
Find a famous poem that contains either irony or allusion(s)
Highlight the phrases that contain the irony or allusion
Identify the type of irony or allusion

65. His House is Clean and Orderly
Irony Poem
His House is Clean and Orderly
By: unknown author
Just as he had always hoped, His house was clean and orderly; No dust settled on pictures And there was no furniture to clutter the living room. The refrigerator had no moldering vegetables And the tub had no trace of her hair That used to clump and cluster in the drain. The only thing out of place Was a piece of paper taped clumsily to the door In sloppy handwriting: "ALL YOURS.“
Situational irony

66. Diamante Poem
Diamante is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape.

67. Line 1: Noun or subject
Line 2: Two Adjectives describing the first noun/subject
Line 3: Three -ing words describing the first noun/subject
Line 4: Four words: two about the first noun/subject, two about the antonym/synonym
Line 5: Three -ing words about the antonym/synonym
Line 6: Two adjectives describing the antonym/synonym
Line 7: Antonym/synonym for the subject

68. Rain by unknown author
Rain humid, damp refreshing, dripping, splattering
wet, slippery, cold, slushy
sliding, melting, freezing
frigid, icy
Snow

69. Dreams by unknown author
SUBCONSCIOUS, IMAGINARY
SLEEPING, WISHING,THINKING
FANTASY, ACTUALITY, VISION, GENUINE
BEING, SEEING, KNOWING,
AUTHENTIC, FACTUAL
REALITY

70. Winter by unknown author
Winter Frosty, Bright Skiing, Snow Ball Fighting, Sledding Icicles, Snowflakes, Vacation, Family Swimming, Sun Tanning, Sweltering Hot, Sunny Summer

71. Football by Johnny B. FOOTBALL Cool, tough Tiring, passing, playing
Helmet, shoulder pads, clubs, cart
Putting, concentrating, driving
Boring, relaxing
GOLF

72. functioning, energetic, relaxed, calm stopping, laying, sleeping
Energy by Kelly L
ACTIVE
constant, busy
going, running, doing
functioning, energetic, relaxed, calm
stopping, laying, sleeping
down, lifeless
LAZY