1. Introduction to Poetry English 1B Honors

2. Poetry Literature “is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.” (Ezra Pound) “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. ” (Emily Dickinson)

3. Reading and Writing Poetry is depending on both writer and reader; it’s not looking for a moral lesson; it’s not requiring beauty

4. Sound and Sense True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. ‘Tis not enough no harshness gives offense, The sound must seem an echo to the sense.” Alexander Pope

5. Guidelines for Reading How many times should you read each poem? What do you need while reading? How can you hear the poem? Read sentence by sentence, not line by line. Pay attention to patterns and repetitions. Hold the overall picture or story in your mind as you read the details.

6. Poetry Reading

7. “Tone of Voice” by Charles Webb It pinks the cheeks of speech, or flushes the forehead. It’s a spring breeze in which words play, a scorching sun that burns them red, slate clouds that cover them in ice. Mastering tone, the child outgrows his sticks and stones."Okay," he sneers, twisting the word in Mommie’s eye. Ellipses, dashes, all capitals, underlines– these are the tuna nets through which tone’s minnows slide. "I love you" may arrive spiked like a mace, or snickering. "State your name" from lawyers’ lips can mean "You lie!" Tone leaks the truth despite our best efforts to hide. It’s verbal garlic; mistress on a husband’s hands. Consider, dear, when you ask, "Where are my French fries?” how you may stand in a silk teddy holding grapes, a suit of mail holding a lance, a hangman’s hood holding a rope. As useless to protest, "I didn’t mean that," as to tell a corpse, "Stand up. You misinterpreted my car."

8. Add Your Tone “Shut the door.” “Give me the letter.” “It’s raining.” What has happened right before you say this? What is the speaker’s power relationship to the listener? Is this the first time the speaker has spoken this line, or is this a repetition?

9. Who’s speaking? Who’s listening? It’s not always the author; it is often the narrator or the persona. It’s not necessarily the reader; it is often a dramatized listener or auditor First person Second person Third person (omniscient, limited omniscient, objective) Reliable or unreliable

10. Unreliable Narrator

11. Poem from our reader Who’s speaking? To whom are they speaking? How many sentences are there? What is the tone? What repeated images are there? What stands out in the poet’s choices? What unusual words are there? What words rhyme with each other? How many syllables in each line? What patterns do you notice?