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TRANSCRIPT
Elements of Poetry
What is Poetry?
◼ Expression of emotion or ideas in an arrangement of words most often rhythmically
◼ Using imagery and senses to express the way we feel about a subject
◼ Doesn’t have to rhyme
Elements
◼ Stanza
◼ Simile
◼ Onomatopoeia
◼ Metaphor
◼ Idiom
◼ Hyperbole
◼ Theme
◼ Assonance
◼ Alliteration
◼ Personification
◼ Imagery
◼ Rhyme
◼ Rhythm
Stanza❑ In poetry, a stanza is a division of lines having a
certain length, meter (beat), or rhyming scheme.
❑ Stanzas in poetry are similar to paragraphs in prose, other types of writing. Each stanza will have its owncentral idea.
❑ Unlike paragraphs, stanzas are not indented. Stanzas are separated by a blank line or gap
between the last line of one stanza and the first line of the next.
Simile
◼ Compares one thing to another using “like” or “as”
Examples:
The milk tasted like pickles.
It was as dry as a bone.
Life is like a box of chocolates.
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Onomatopoeia
◼ Using words that sound like their meaning
Examples:
buzz splat crash whoosh
moo pow chug whew
beep bam bang chirp
splash wham vroom
Buzz went the bees.
“Moo,” said the cow.
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Metaphor
◼ A comparison between two things which does not use like or as.
◼ May sound false at first, but is a clever way to make a point.
Examples:
My love is a rose.
You are my sunshine.
America is a melting pot.
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Idiom
◼ A language familiar to a group of people.
◼ The dialect of people or a region.
Examples:
That was easy as pie.
Boy, my brain was cookin’.
Ya’ll comin’ to da party tonight?
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Hyperbole
◼ A large exaggeration, usually used with humor.
Examples:
Her feet were so big she could go water skiing without the skies.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
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Assonance
◼ A repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants.
Examples:
Tilting at windmills.
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.
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Alliteration
◼ Starting three or more words with the same sound.
Examples:
A skunk sat on a stump.
Wendy worries about her weird wart.
She sells seashells by the seashore.
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Personification
◼ Assigning the qualities of a person to something that isn’t human.
Examples:
The leaves danced in the wind.
Opportunity knocked on the door.
At precisely 6:30 a.m. my alarm clock sprang to life.
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Imagery
◼ The reader can picture the scene in his mind.
◼ Usually appeals to the 5 senses.
Examples:
I wandered lonely as a cloud.
A host of golden daffodils.
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Beside the lake, beneath the trees.
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Rhyme
◼ The repetition of like sounds within different words, either end sound (external rhyme),middle or beginning (internal rhyme).
◼ Words having a sound similar to others.
Examples:
bat hat cat fat
lake snake fake rake
remain refrain regain
trim brim prim
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Rhythm◼ The rhythm or flow of words within each
stanza.
◼ Music, speech, or movements which are characterized by equal or regularly alternating beats.
Examples:
Chicka-chicka boom chicka boom chicka boom, boom, boom
Da-da-da-dummmm, da-da-da-dummmm
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Theme◼ The message, point of view, and
idea of the poem.
Examples:◼ Spending time with nature is good for the
soul.
◼ Education is essential for all kinds ofgrowth.
◼ Love is eternal.
Theme must be expressed in sentence form.
Back to Elements
Bibliography◼ Basic Elements of Poetry
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/basic-elements-of-poetry.html
◼ Literary Terms http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/
◼ Online dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
◼ Microsoft Clip Art
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/
◼ Georgia Performance Standards – 5th grade