Poetry

Musical Devices – uses of sound that give poems a musical quality

AlliterationOnomatopoeiaAssonanceConsonanceMeterRepetitionRhyme

Poetry Terms

Figurative Language – use of figures of speech that present a fresh and unusual way of looking at things.

SimileMetaphorPersonificationImagerySymbolism

Poetry Terms

Poems are meant to be read – aloud!

Many poems are meant to be read aloud, and it is easier to gain the full effect of musical devices when listening to a poem.

Read in sentences. Do not stop at the end of each line

UNLESS there is a punctuation mark.

Getting the Most out of Poetry

Picture the imagery. Try to form mental

pictures of the words as you listen.

Identify the speaker of the poem. The speaker is not always the poet. Determine who you think is “telling”

the poem and try to understand his or her perspective on the situation.

Getting the Most out of Poetry

1. What is the literal, or basic, meaning of the

poem?2. What is the “message”: the greater or deeper

meaning of the poem?3. How does each element of the poem,

including musical devices and figurative language, contribute to the message or deeper meaning?

4. What is your response to the poem? What do you think about it? Why did you select this particular poem?

How to Analyze a Poem:

The Four-Step Process

1830-1886 (56 years

old at time of death) Lived in Amherst,

Massachusetts for almost all of her life

Studied at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and Amherst Academy

Never married; lived at the Homestead with her sister, Lavinia.

Emily Dickinson

Dickinson had an ailment of the eyes in her mid-thirties, and vision was painful for her for a long time. The concept of “seeing” and sight was very important to Dickinson and appears in many of her poems.

Some Interesting Facts about Dickinson

It is thought that Dickinson may have had agoraphobia, which is a fear of crowded or public places. During the latter part of her life, she became very reclusive. Eventually, she rarely left her bedroom.

The people of Amherst called her “the Myth” because she was so rarely seen.

Some Interesting Facts about Dickinson

Dickinson was known for always wearing white.

Some Interesting Facts about Dickinson

She believed that the color white represented passion or heat, as the hottest fire is actually white in color.

Before the age of 25, two of Emily Dickinson’s best friends and one close cousin died. In fact, Dickinson lost many loved ones throughout her life. Death and dying are very prominent subjects in many of her poems.

Some Interesting Facts about Dickinson

Dickinson wrote almost 1,800 poems in her lifetime. Only 11 were published while she lived. The rest were found when her sister Lavinia went into her room after Emily died. There is some debate about whether Emily Dickinson actually wanted her poems to be published.

1. What is the literal, or basic, meaning of the

poem?2. What is the “message”: the greater or deeper

meaning of the poem?3. How does each element of the poem,

including musical devices and figurative language, contribute to the message or deeper meaning?

4. What is your response to the poem? What do you think about it? Why did you select this particular poem?

Analyze “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, p.

156

“Evenings of the Brain” Why does the word “within” end stanza 3?

Within what? “Something in the sight adjusts itself to

Midnight” “Life steps almost straight”

Some Key Phrases to Understand

In your groups, analyze “Before I got my eye put out” on p.

157 using the four-step process. Write

your answers to each step on notebook

paper (to be collected).

uses of sound that give poems a musical quality Stanza Meter Rhyme (direct and approximate) Alliteration Assonance Consonance

Musical/Sound Devices

Meter: the rhythmic pattern in a line of poetry

Meter is determined by the number of syllables in a line and which syllables are stressed.

Meter

First, you must find the number of feet in a poem. In poetry, a foot is a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables.

We will be working with a type of foot called an iamb. An iamb is a pattern of two syllables: the first stressed and the second unstressed.

Example: I am a pirate with a wooden leg. How many iambs are in this line?This is called iambic pentameter. Sound familiar?

How to find the meter

To find the meter, you must count the number of feet in a line of poetry.

1 foot = monometer2 feet = dimeter3 feet = trimeter4 feet = tetrameter5 feet = pentameter6 feet = hexameter7 feet = septameter, Etc.

Find the number of feet in the first line of “We grow accustomed to the Dark” (p. 157)

How to find the meter

Because the type of foot that we are using to

determine is an iamb, the meter of Dickinson’s poem is iambic.

Since the first line of poetry has four feet, we would call the meter of the first line iambic tetrameter.

Determine the meter for each line in the rest of stanza 1.

How to find the meter

Feet Meter

Iamb - daDUM Monometer – one footTrochee – DUMda Dimeter – two feetSpondee – DUMDUM Trimeter – three feetAnapest – dadaDUM Tetrameter – four feetAmphibrach – daDUMda

Pentameter – five feet

Pyrrhic - dada Hexameter – six feetEtc.

Types of meter and feet

So, we could read poems in anapaestic trimeter or trochaic tetrameter! ... But we won’t worry about that.

The meter of the poem determines

which words are emphasized.

We grow accustomed to the Dark – When Light is put away –As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp –To witness her Goodbye –

What specific words are emphasized in this stanza?Grow, Dark, Light, Lamp

Why is meter important?

Use specific examples and textual evidence. If you do not use specific evidence, do not expect to receive a good grade on this assignment.

Complete Analyzing the Text questions #1-6, p.

159

Read “The Trouble with Poetry” and answer all related questions, p. 58-60 in Close Reader book.

Read “Today” by Billy Collins on p. 61-62 of your Close Reader books. Answer #1-2 and the short answer question. Be prepared to discuss this poem at the beginning of class tomorrow.

Homework for Tonight

Get out your close readers and turn to page 61. When the bell rings, we will review last night’s homework.

Bell Ringer: Review homework

Discuss the poem with your groups. What do you think that the deeper meaning of this poem is? What specific literary devices contribute to the deeper meaning? Make notes in the margin of your paper.

Read “Alone” by Maya Angelou

The repetition of similar ending sounds in poetry

Example: lark and dark

Challenge: Find as many words as you can that rhyme with the word “hardcore.” You have one minute.

Rhyme

1. Direct rhyme – an exact rhyme in which exactly the same ending sounds are used (normal rhyming)

Examples: heart and start, rhyme and time

2. Approximate rhyme - sounds have some correspondence, but the rhyme is not perfect

Examples: bridge and grudge; step and erectAlso called: slant rhyme, half rhyme, near rhyme, or imperfect rhyme

3. Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of a word

Example: skirt, hurt, start; thumb, room, tame

4. Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds in the middle of a word

Example: grow, holds, close; hay, plane, bake

5. Alliteration – repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word

Example: She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Types of Rhyme – write in your notes

The first group to find an example of each type of rhyme within the poem “Alone” by Maya Angelou wins.

Finding Rhyme

Answer all questions, #1-4 and the short answer question. What you do not finish in class today is your homework.

Read “The Trouble with Poetry” on p. 58

Each group must work together to choose ONE poem from the provided list. Poetry choices are first come, first serve. Your group must choose a poem today, or I will choose one for you.

Read the instructions carefully with your group. This will count as a test grade.

You will work on these projects for the next several days in class. Projects will be presented January 20th.

Poetry Project