Imagery in Poetry

Why must we look carefully at each word in a poem?

Poets choose each work carefully – they have limited space to convey big ideas or passions

Poets use sensory detail, imagery and figures of speech like metaphors, similes and personification to help convey more through their words

Imagery in Poetry

Images add visual clarity to a poem – they are “jam-packed” with meaning and can convey so much in so few words

Look at the poem “Autumn” What images does the poet use here? What ideas and feelings are conveyed by

these images?

Imagery in Poetry

“Autumn” – what feelings / tone /mood do the personifications help convey?

How is imagery used in “The Landlady” to help characterization?

*remember imagery is vivid descriptions appealing to the senses (sight,sound, touch, smell, taste)

Symbolism in Poetry

Like imagery, poet’s can use symbolism to help them convey much in few words

*remember symbols are tangible things that represent abstract things (rose represents love, dove = peace, etc)

Symbolism in Poetry

What dominant symbol can you find in “Overland to the Islands”? What does this symbol represent?

What symbol can you find in “Norman Bethune”? What literary devices are used to help convey the meaning of the symbol?

Working with Words and Images

You will write a 50 word poem (no more, no less) about a setting / location– try to convey “the feeling” of the setting / location without flat adjectives like “big” and “open” – use imagery to convey the feeling of whatever you chose

What symbol is used in “Perhaps the World Ends Here”? What does this symbol represent? Explain using proof from the poem.

7

Imagery

Write two 20 word poems using the following images as inspiration - try using imagery and symbolism to help convey meaning in your poems.

7

8

9

Voice

Voice is the personality of the speaker in the poem (the persona)- remember this is not necessarily the poet (although it can be) for the poet can create a speaker / narrator persona for the poem

Voice reveals attitudes and opinions to the reader and helps establish tone and mood

11

Voice

Read “The Zoo” How would you describe the voice in this

poem? What is the speaker’s attitude towards the

subject? How does the poet’s diction help create the

tone of the poem? How does the poet use meter for effect in

the poem?11

12

Voice

Notice how the suspense is built from stanza to stanza

Various viewpoints are included - helps place emphasis on the idea of having different perspectives

The poem ends with a direct question as a way of drawing the reader in more

12

13

Rhythm and Meter

The rhythm of a poem or its meter can be used to help place emphasis on certain ideas or convey a certain tone

Read “Identi-Kit” and “Dutch Interior” - how do the poets use rhythm and meter to help convey the message of their poems?

What effect does the use of enjambment have in “Considering the Snail”?

13

14

Rhythm and Meter

Write a ten line poem about a meal you’ve had - use meter to help create an impact with your poem

Explain how you used meter for effect

14

15

Assonance and Consonance

What effect does the use of assonance have in “Anabel Lee”?

What effect does consonance have in “The Eagle”?

15

16

Voice and Imagery

How does the poet effectively use voice and imagery in “Considering the Snail”?

*to help you come to an answer - do the same work - analyze the diction and imagery of the poem and decide what attitude the speaker has towards the subject - diction is key!

13

17

Voice, Imagery and Symbolism

How does the poem “somewhere i have never travelled” express love and tenderness without actually using those words?

How does the poet’s use of symbolism and imagery help convey the voice or attitude towards the subject?

14

18

Your Turn

Brainstorm a list of the everyday things that surround you Choose three things and consider the subject from an

unusual point of view (the object’s, the object’s friend or enemy, yours, an older person or a younger person)

write a 50 word poem that reflects your ideas on the subject

*consider what the object could be symbolic of - does it hold any unspoken truths about life, love, death, etc

**use devices like, meter, rhythm, paradox and oxymoron to help reveal these “truths”

15

19

Structure, Word Order, Rhythm

Many poems are “Free Verse” - they have no regular rhythmic pattern or formal structure (unlike a sonnet, for example)

Free Verse allows a poet freedom from structural restraint

*However, this does NOT mean they will not use structure to help convey an idea - the poet may have created their own “unique” structure for their poem

16

20

Structure, Word Order, Rhythm

Examine the structure of “Enlightenment and Muscular Dystrophy”

What words/phrases are by themselves in the poem? Why would the poet choose to isolate these words? Do

they help convey one of the poem’s ideas? How does the poet use spacing to help convey ideas in

the poem? What literary devices that involve structure and word

order are used by the poet? Why? What do they do for the poem?

17

21

Poetry Analysis You are to select a poem and write a formal

analysis of it (what does a poem mean and how does it work?) You must refer to:

diction voice (including tone) figurative language / poetic devices (imagery,

metaphor, simile, personification, etc) structure and order (how it appears on the page,

rhythm, meter, etc)