Imagery, Sound Devices, Figurative Language and other terms.

Poetry talks less and says more.

Poetry: type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses imagery, figures of speech, and sound devices to appeal to the reader’s emotions and imagination.

Speaker: voice of the poem (not necessarily the poet)

Stanza: group of lines of verse, usually regular in pattern, forming a division of a poem or song

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Other TermsAllusion: a reference to a past writing or

event from history

Refrain: a repeated line or word in a poem

Poetic License: freedom to break conventional rules in order to use language playfully and creatively

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Diction: a writer’s choice of words

Denotation ~ literal meaning of a word, as listed in a dictionary

Connotation ~ emotional association (that some words carry)- could be positive, negative, or neutral

Example: strong-willed vs. pig-headed (positive) (negative)

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Types of PoetryNarrative Poetry

Dramatic Poetry

Lyric Poetry

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Narrative Poetrytells a story

Epic: long poem with heroes and a stately, dignified language

• The Iliad The Odyssey Beowulf

• Ballad: shorter narrative poem originally meant to be sung

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Dramatic PoetryPresents a play

One or more characters speakSettingDramatic situationEmotional conflictVigorous speechNatural language rhythms

For example: The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

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expresses emotions or thoughts of the speaker

usually briefTypical Themes

personal thoughts emotions: grief to joy

beauty of nature reminiscence of past

Elegy: poem mourning someone who has diedSonnets: 14 line poems with a set rhyme scheme

Lyric Poetry

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ImageryLanguage that relates to the senses

Sight imagery: Red clouds floated lazily across the horizon

Sound imagery: Wind whistled thinly through the crack

Taste imagery: Rich chocolate slowly melted on his tongue.

Smell imagery: The scent of freshly brewed coffee tickled my nose awake.

Touch imagery: Jill’s forehead slammed against the steering wheel as her head snapped forward.

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MeaningLiteral meaning – the meaning that is

directly stated

Figurative meaning – the deeper meaning which must be interpreted from a literary work

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Figurative Language (Figures of Speech)

Describes one thing in terms of anotherFive types

Hyperbole: an extreme exaggerationSymbol: an object that stands for itself and

something greater (usually an abstract quality)Personification: giving that which is not

human, human qualitiesSimile: a comparison of unlike things using

words such as like or asMetaphor: a direct comparison of unlike things

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HyperboleAn extreme exaggeration

Examples: This school day is taking forever!The lunch line is a million miles long.

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SymbolSymbol ~ an object that stands for itself and

something greater

Example

Miles to go before I sleepAnd miles to go before I sleep.

Sleep is most often interpreted as symbolizing death or retreat from the living.

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PersonificationPersonification~ giving that which is not human,

human qualities ExamplesThe wind sang her mournful song.Great waves looked over others.Daffodils nodded their yellow heads.

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Simile and MetaphorSimile ~ a

comparison using words such as like, than, or as

ExamplesI wandered lonely as a

cloud.The baby was like an

octopus, grabbing everything in sight.

Metaphor ~ a direct comparison

ExamplesI am a tiger in a cage. Sara is a tornado of

ambition, destroying everyone in her path.

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Implied MetaphorDescribes the things being compared instead of

directly stating both The reader must figure out the comparison.(One thing is described in terms of another).

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won. ~ Walt Whitman

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Extended Metaphor a comparison that continues throughout an entire work

Fireworks

You hate me and I hate you, And we are so polite, we two!

But whenever I see you, I burst apartAnd scatter the sky with my blazing heart.It spits and sparkles in stars and balls,Buds into roses – and flares and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,Silver spirals and asterisks,Shoot and tremble in a mistPeppered with mauve and amethyst. ~ Amy Lowell

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Sound DevicesAlliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds

in words that are close together

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

The long light shakes across the lakes.

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together

And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over

And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side,Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride.

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Sound DevicesOnomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound

imitates or suggests its meaning

The frog croaks; the bird whistles.The car screeched to a stop. She jingled the keys.

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RhymeRepetition of accented vowel sounds and all

sounds following them in words that are close together

Heart / Part / startPlaster / fasterKnow / though / snow

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Types of rhymeExact rhyme: sounds ending words are

identicalpower / sour June / moon

Approximate rhyme: sounds ending words are nearly the samebegin / him blade / blood

Also known as slant, half, or imperfect rhymes

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Types of RhymeEnd Rhyme: occurs at the ends of lines

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.

Internal Rhyme: occurs within a lineThe splendor falls from castle walls

Couplet: a pair of successive rhyming linesSo call the field to rest, and let’s awayTo part the glories of this happy day.

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Rhyme SchemePattern of rhymed linesIndicate by giving each new end rhyme a new

letter of the alphabetSkip a space for stanza breaks

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Rhyme Scheme Once by the Pacific

Robert Frost

The shattered water made a misty din.Great waves looked over others coming in,And thought of doing something to the shoreThat water never did to land before.The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.You could not tell, and yet it looked as ifThe shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,The cliff in being backed by continent;It looked as if a night of dark intentWas coming, and not only a night, an age.Someone had better be prepared for rage.There would be more than ocean-water brokenBefore God’s last Put out the Light was spoken.

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Rhyme Scheme

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MeterRhythm: beat; arrangement of stressed and

unstressed syllablesMeter: Pattern of rhythm

iamb: unstressed / stressed syllables

penta: five times

Iambic Pentameter: five iambs in one line

Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter

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Blank Verse

When I see birches bend to left and rightAcross the line of straighter darker trees,I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.

from “Birches” by Robert Frost

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Free VerseNo fixed line length, stanza form, rhyme scheme or meter

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much dependsupon

a red wheelbarrow

glazed with rainwater

beside the whitechickens.

William Carlos Williams

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