1. Introduction to

2. Poetry is the most misunderstood form of writing
Poetry is the most misunderstood form of writing. It is also arguably the purest form of writing.
It is art.
Like art it is very difficult to define because it is an expression of what the poet thinks and feels and may take any form the poet chooses for this expression.
Poetry is a creative use of words which, like all art, is intended to stir an emotion in the audience.
Poetry generally has some structure that separates it from prose.

3. The basic unit of poetry is the line.
Most poems have a structure in which each line contains a set amount of syllables; this is called meter.
Lines are also often grouped into stanzas - similar to a paragraph.
(2) Couplet: a two line stanza
(3) Triplet: a three line stanza
(4) Quatrain: a four line stanza
(5) Cinquain: a five line stanza
Often the lines in a stanza will have a specific rhyme scheme.

4. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
Meter is the measured arrangement of words in poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind and number of lines. Meter is an organized way to arrange stressed/accented syllables and unstressed/unaccented syllables.
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

5. Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
Rhyme is when the endings of the words sound the same.
Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And save some part
Of a day I had rued.

6. Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line
Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line. They are not hard to identify, but you must look carefully at which words rhyme and which do not.
Dust of Snow
by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And save some part
Of a day I had rued. A B C D

7. Repetition is the repeating of a sound, word, or phrase for emphasis.
Inside
Inside the house (I get ready) Inside the car (I go to school) Inside the school (I wait for the bell to ring)

8. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
DEFINITION
SIMILE
USE OF ‘LIKE’ OR ‘AS’ TO COMPARE
METAPHOR
COMPARISON BETWEEN 2 UNLIKE THINGS
ALLITERATION
The repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words: TERRY THISTLE THREW A THORNY THISTLE
IMAGERY
APPEAL TO SENSES – TASTE, SIGHT, SOUND, TOUCH, SMELL
EXAGGERATION
TO EMPHASIZE OR HEIGHTEN EFFECT – HYPERBOLE
IDIOM
WORDS TOGETHER = DIFFERENT MEANING WORDS SEPARATE = INDIVIDUAL HAVE DIFFERENT MEANING
ONAMATOPEIA
WORD FORMED FROM SOUNDS - BUZZ, CLICK
PERSONIFICATION
GIVING HUMAN QUALITIES TO AN ANIMAL OR OBJECT

9. MOST COMMON TYPES OF POEMS
Free Verse (without proper use of rules)
Haiku (3 lines : syllables)
Limerick (5 lines – AABBA)
Narrative Poem (simple stanzas with refrain)
Sonnets (14 lines with strict rhythmic pattern)
Epitaph (commemorative inscription on a tombstone)
Epic (long serious poems – 5 page poem)
Prose (straightforward ordinary language)

10. Some might consider the study of poetry old fashioned, yet even in our hurried lives we are surrounded by it: 1) Children's rhymes/lullabies Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder what you are
2) Verses from rap/pop songs Starships are meant to fly… Hands up and touch the sky…
3) Commercial jingles Get your skis shined up, Grab a stick of Juicy Fruit – The taste is gonna move you! Move you up! Move you out! The taste is gonna move you When you pop it in your mouth!
A A
A A
ABCADCD

11. OUT OF THESE THREE OPTIONS, CHOOSE ONE. A) SONG B) COMMERCIAL JINGLE
C) LULLABY/RHYME
SET IT UP LIKE A POEM AND DESCRIBE THE RHYME SCHEME AS YOU HAVE JUST SEEN IN THE LAST SLIDE…

12. Putting it all together – analyzing a poem
1. Read it once to yourself. Notice your first impressions or reaction to what the author is saying.
2. Read it again and try to figure out the literal meaning – forget the literary elements. What is the straightforward meaning.
Try to summarize what is being said in one or two sentences that your friends could understand.
3. Read it again. Find words that could have double, deeper, or hidden meanings, and verify the meaning of words you do not know.
4. Figure out what the author is trying to say – the purpose of the poem.

13. Analyzing continued
5. Now analyze the tools the author used to make this point – all the devices we just learned about.
Similes and metaphors
Alliteration and assonance
Imagery
Exaggeration
Idiom
Onomatopoeia
Personification
Repetition

14. Analysis Continued 6. Determine the poem’s structure and organization.
Lines
Syllables and meter
Stanzas
Rhyme scheme
7. Come up with your analysis What is the theme and how is it conveyed?
How is the message you found in step 4 reinforced or conveyed through the literary and poetic devices used in the poem?