EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

ABOUT POETRY AS A FRESHMAN

Poetry Showcase

VOCABLULARY

POETRY TERMS YOU WILL LEARNLiteral Language Simile MetaphorPersonification Author’s PurposeDictionDenotationConnotationImagery Symbolism Poetry Rhyme Internal Rhyme

DissonanceConsonanceToneCoupletIronyOnomatopoeiaAlliterationFree VerseHaikuStanzaSonnetLyric Lyric Poetry BalladMeter Iambic PentameterLimerick

Introduction to POETRY

Do you like poetry?

Before you answer, think of the words of your favorite song, the words youremember from books you have read and enjoyed, a famous quote from a famousperson you admire, the smell of a special meal, or a special place you like to visit. Are these things poetry? Yes!! They can be.

The first thing to remember about poetry is that it is all around you. Your favoritemusical celebrities probably consider themselves poets! Poetry helps us expressour thoughts, feelings, and ideas as we relate to the world around us. As we readthe poetry of others, we understand who they are, what they think, and what wemight have in common. Poetry is the "Great Communicator!" It can "talk to our heads and our hearts".Source: http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/lyrical.htm

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

When words are used to make comparisons but not meant to be believed literally or as an actual description of an event

Example of Figurative LANGUAGE

QUESTION:

What does this poem really mean?

Is Hughes speaking figuratively or literally?

From Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor --Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now --For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Answer When the mother told her son “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair…” she is speaking figuratively. She meant life has not been a glamorous easy journey to success. She has had a hard life.”

WORDS THAT CAN BE TAKEN LITERALLY TO MEAN WHAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY STATING; THE OPPOSITE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Literal Language

MAKING COMPARISONS USING THE WORDS “LIKE” OR “AS” . REMEMBER TO COMPARE IS TO SAY TWO OR MORE THINGS ARE (SIMILAR) ALMOST THE SAME

EX. 1 . “MICHAEL JOHNSON IS AS FAST AS A CHEETAH.”

EX . 2 “MICHAEL RUNS LIKE A FOX.”

Simile

MAKING COMPARISONS WITHOUT USING THE WORDS “LIKE” OR “AS”.

EX . 1 “L IFE…. ITS HAD C RAC KS IN IT AN D B O AR DS TO R N U P AN D FLO O R S WITH N O C ARPET. BARE…”

EX . 2 “MIC HAEL JO HN S O N IS A C HEETAH. MIC HAEL IS A FOX . ”

Metaphor

WHEN AN OBJECT OR ANIMAL IS GIVEN HUMAN LIKE CHARACTERISTICS

EX. 1 NATURE AND I ARE SO CLOSE, AS I PASS BY THE TREES WAVE “HELLO” .

EX. 2 THE BIRDS WROTE ME A SWEET MELODY AND SUNG TO ME AS I AWOKE.

Personification

THE REASON THE WRITER WROTE WHAT HE OR SHE WROTE; TO INFORM, TO ENTERTAIN, TO PERSUADE

NEWSWEEK ARTICLE -TO INFORM

BET FILM SCRIPT-TO ENTERTAIN

ADVERTISEMENT-TO PERSUADE

Author’s Purpose

AN AUTHOR’S CHOICE OF WORDS

• FORMAL

• INFORMAL

• C O L LO Q U I A L - I S I N F O R M A L L A N G UA G E T H AT I S N O T R U D E , B U T W O U L D N O T B E U S E D I N F O R M A L S I T UAT I O N S . I T I S L E S S U N A C C E P TA B L E T H A N S L A N G & S W E A R W O R D S .

• S L A N G

D I C T I O N W E B S I T E

Diction

THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF A WORD

EXAMPLE:

LIGHT- OF LITTLE WEIGHT; EASY TO LIFT OR THE NATURAL AGENT THAT STIMULATES SIGHT AND MAKES THINGS VISIBLE; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION

Denotation

THE IMPLIED MEANING AND FEELING IT CONVEYS

EXAMPLE:

“DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT. RAGE , RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT” .

T H E I M P L I E D M E A N I N G O F “ L I G H T ” I N T H I S L I N E O F P O E T RY I S “ L I F E ” .

Connotation

WORDS THAT HELP YOU VISUALIZE A SCENE, PAINTS A PICTURE IN YOUR MIND

EXAMPLE:

“WHAT HAPPENS TO A DREAM DEFERRED…DOES IT CRUST OVER LIKE A SUGARY SWEET…OR SAG LIKE A HEAVY LOAD…OR DOES IT EXPLODE?”

Imagery

THE USE OF OBJECTS OR WORDS TO REPRESENT SOMETHING FIGURATIVELY

E XA M P L E :

“ D O N O T G O G E N T L E I N T O T H AT G O O D N I G H T … R A G E R A G E A G A I N S T T H E D Y I N G O F T H E L I G H T. ”

T H E W O R D S “ T H E D Y I N G O F L I G H T ” S Y M B O L I Z E S S O M E O N E L O S I N G T H E I R L I F E .

Symbolism

•A TYPE OF LITERATURE IN WHICH WORDS ARE CAREFULLY CHOSEN AND ARRANGED TO CREATE CERTAIN EFFECTS.

•POETS WRITE POETRY.

•POETS USE A VARIETY OF SOUND DEVICES, IMAGERY, AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TO EXPRESS EMOTIONS AND IDEAS.

Poetry

THE POEM’S PATTERN

EX. ABABCDC

Rhyme Scheme

EX .1SHALL I COM PAR E THEE TO A SU MMER 'S DAY? (A )THOU ART M OR E LOVELY AN D MOR E TEMP ER ATE . (B )R OU GH WI N DS DO SHAKE THE DAR LI N G BU DS OF M AY, (A )AN D SU MM ER 'S LEASE HATH ALL TOO SHORT A DATE . (B )SOMETI ME TOO HOT THE EYE OF HEAVEN SHI N ES, (C )AN D OFTEN I S HI S GOLD COMPLEXI ON DI MMED; (D )AN D EVERY FAI R FR OM FAI R SOMETI ME DECLI N ES, (C )

EX .2R HYM E SCHEME LESSONHTTP: / /WWW.YOU TU BE.COM/WATCH?FEATU R E=PLAYER _ EMBEDDED&V=CQI LLVMB0U S

Rhyme Scheme

TO HAVE THE REPETITION OF THE SAME OR SIMILAR SOUNDS AT THE END OF TWO OR MORE WORDS MOST OFTEN AT THE ENDS OF LINES

EX. “LITTLE BO PEEP HAS LOST HER SHEEP”

INTERNAL RHYME TO HAVE SIMILAR SOUNDING WORDS IN THE SAME LINE

EX. I S A I D “ M AY B E ” A LT H O U G H I T S D A I LY I A M Y E T S T I L L R E S O LV E D W I T H L E AV I N G T H I N G S U N S O LV E D

Rhyme

THE REPETITION OF VOWEL SOUNDS IN WORDS THAT DO NOT END WITH THE SAME CONSONANT

EXAMPLE:

HE BATTLED WITH THE DUMBLEDORS,THE HUMMERHORNS, AND HONEYBEES,

AND WON THE GOLDEN HONEYCOMB,AND RUNNING HOME ON SUNNY SEAS

Assonance

REPETITION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS WITHIN AND AT THE END OF WORDS.

EXAMPLE:

“THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP BUT I HAVE PROMISES TO KEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP”

Dissonance

A POEM'S TONE IS THE ATTITUDE THAT ITS STYLE IMPLIES .

EXAMPLE:

U. A . FANTHORPE'S THE MASTER OF THE CAST SHADOW BEGINS IN A TONE OF ADMIRATION FOR THE PAINTER'S SKILL , BUT MOVES INTO A TONE OF UNEASE TOWARD THE WAY THAT SKILL HIDES THE HISTORY BEHIND THE IMAGES.

THE MASTER OF THE CAST SHADOW

Tone

A COUPLE OF LINES THAT RHYME

E XA M P L E :

“ T R U E W I T I S N AT U R E T O A DVA N TA G E D I ST R E SS E DW H AT O F T WA S T H O U G H T B U T N E ' E R S O W E L L E X P R E SS E D. "

Couplet

IRONY ILLUSTRATES A SITUATION, OR A USE OF LANGUAGE, INVOLVING SOME KIND OF DISCREPANCY. THE RESULT OF AN ACTION OR SITUATION IS THE REVERSE OF WHAT IS EXPECTED.

A FAMOUS EXAMPLE OF IRONY IS ”WATER, WATER, EVERY WHERE, NOR ANY DROP TO

DRINK” IN THE ANCIENT MARINER.

THE ANCIENT MARINER

Irony

WORDS THAT DEMONSTRATE A SOUND.

EXAMPLE:

BOOM! POW! ZOOM! POP!

Onomatopoeia

THE REPETITION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS AT THE BEGINNINGS OF WORDS ; HAVING THE SAME SOUND OR LETTER AT THE BEGINNING OF WORDS

EXAMPLE:

“PETER PIPER PICKED A PACK OF PICKLED PEPPERS”

Alliteration

FREE VERSE IS A FORM OF POETRY COMPOSED OF UNRHYMED LINES THAT HAVE NO SET FIXED METRICAL PATTERN.

EXAMPLE:

I CELEBRATE MYSELF, AND SING MYSELF,AND WHAT I ASSUME YOU SHALL ASSUME,

FOR EVERY ATOM BELONGING TO ME AS GOOD BELONGS TO YOU.

I LOAF AND INVITE MY SOUL,I LEAN AND LOAF AT MY EASE OBSERVING A SPEAR OF

SUMMER GRASS

FREE VERSE

HAIKU IS A POETIC FORM AND A TYPE OF POETRY FROM THE JAPANESE CULTURE. HAIKU COMBINES FORM, CONTENT, AND LANGUAGE IN A MEANINGFUL, YET COMPACT FORM. HAIKU POETS, WHICH YOU WILL SOON BE, WRITE ABOUT EVERYDAY THINGS. MANY THEMES INCLUDE NATURE, FEELINGS, OR EXPERIENCES. USUALLY THEY USE SIMPLE WORDS AND GRAMMAR. THE MOST COMMON FORM FOR HAIKU IS THREE SHORT LINES.

BASHO MATSUO(1644-1694) IS KNOWN AS THE FIRST GREAT POET OF HAIKU.

HAIKU

Basho Matsuo(1644-1694)

1.Curving up, then down.

Meeting blue sky and green earth

Melding sun and rain

2.From all directions

Winds bring petals of cherry

Into the grebe lake.

HAIKU examples

STANZA

One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.How many stanzas does the following poem have?

ANGEL FROM ABOVE by Robert Small

Gazing into her eyes when we first met I knew then she was heaven sent.

All I ever dreamed of, an angel from above.

She had no idea from the start true love, I'd found in my heart.

One of a kind, Love that LASTS a lifetime All I ever dreamed of, an angel from above.

Still, her smile, my breath it takes away wanting, needing, to hold her, so much to say.

All my prayers answered when into my life she came to me, she is everything.

All I ever dreamed of, an angel from above.

SONNET

a fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines that are typically 5-foot iambics rhyming according to a prescribed scheme; also : a poem in this pattern

Example:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

LYRIC

Lyric Poetry consists of a poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet

BALLAD

a simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing

METER

the measure of feet in poetry. A foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable called an iamb

Example:

There WAS..|..a TIME..|..when MEAD..|..ow, GROVE,..|..and STREAM, Iambic Pentameter

The EARTH,..|..and EV..|..ry COM..|..mon SIGHT, Iambic Tetrameter

ME..|..did SEEM Iambic Dimeter

Turn WHERE..|..so E'ER..|..I MAY Iambic Trimeter

LIMERICK

a type of humorous poem with five lines, the third and fourth lines being shorter than the others

Example:

There was an Old Man of NantucketWho kept all his cash in a bucket.

His daughter, called Nan,Ran away with a man,

And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

Poetry Showcase

So now… are you ready to become a poet?