1. Because I know you love poetry!
Poetry Notes
Because I know you love poetry!

2. Narrative Poetry -tells a story
-uses some of the same elements as short stories
plot
characters
dialogue
setting
-may have language that repeats, which helps readers focus on important details of story
-example: “The Highway Man” by Alfred Noyes

3. Rhythm
-sound pattern created by combining stressed and unstressed syllables
stressed syllables (marked ‘)
unstressed syllables (marked )
-some change from line to line
-example: “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service

4. Rhyme -repetition of sound in two or more words or phrases
-types:
End Rhyme-occurs at end of a line
Internal Rhyme-occurs within a line such as “peas and cheese”
Approximate Rhyme-words whose sounds are similar, but not identical such as “pans and hams”
Rhyme Scheme-variety of rhyme pattern
-example: “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” by Shel Silverstein

5. Repetition -use of a word or group of words more than once
-may cause the poem to sound like a piece of music
-example: “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe

6. Figurative Language -language not to be meant to be taken literally
-may use comparisons to change usual views of seeing the world
-four types:
simile-comparison that uses the words “like,” “than,” or “as” to point out a similarity between two unlike things
- example: “The Magnificent Bull” by Dinka Traditional

7. Figurative Language
metaphor-comparison that does not use the words “like” or “as,” but points out similarity between two unlike things
- example: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg
extended metaphor-continues beyond a single phrase or sentence
-example: “Loo-Wit” by Wendy Rose
personification-animal, object, or abstract idea is given human qualities
- example: “Loo-Wit” by Wendy Rose

8. Imagery -pictures created with words
-can see images in your mind while reading
-example: “The Bat” by Theodore Roethke & “The Pasture” by Robert Frost

9. Concrete Poetry
-meant to be seen on the page so the words are arranged into a shape that often looks like the subject
-example: “Seal” by William Jay Smith

10. Haiku three lines -usually describes scene in nature
-1st and 3rd lines have five syllables each
-2nd line has seven syllables
-usually describes scene in nature
-usually conveys strong feeling
-example: “Three Haiku” translated from the Japanese by Harry Behn

11. Lyric Poetry
-expresses poet’s personal thoughts and feelings in vivid and musical language
-different patterns of rhyme and rhythm
-example: “Washed in Silver” by James Stephens

12. Connotation -refers to feelings and associations words stir up in us
-example: “Feelings about Words” by Mary O’Neill

13. Literal Language
-refers to language that does not go beyond the dictionary definitions of words (opposite of figurative language
-example: “The Courage that My Mother Had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (uses both literal and figurative language)

14. Sensory Language
-language that appeals to your senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell)
-example: “in Just-“by E.E. Cummings and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

15. Sound Devices
Alliteration- repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words
-example: “Season at the Shore” by Phyllis McGinley
Onomatopoeia- use of a word that imitates or suggests the sound of what the word refers to
-example: “When the Frost is on the Punkin” by James Whitcomb Riley

16. Tone
-poet’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject, toward the reader, or toward himself or herself
-example: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson

17. Humor -most have two things in common, rhythm and rhyme
-example: “Father William” by Lewis Carroll

18. Limerick -five lines -1st, 2nd, and 5th lines rhyme
-1st, 2nd, and 5th lines have three beats
-3rd and 4th lines rhyme
-3rd and 4th lines have two beats
-example: “Two Limericks” by Oliver Herford

19. Free Verse -has no regular rhythm pattern
-has no regular rhyme pattern
-usually uses sounds of natural speech
-example: “Miracles” by Walt Whitman