A Very Brief Introduction to Poetry

What exactly is poetry?

Says “Ah-h-h”

Crosses boundaries

Gives us voice

May state facts

Makes imaginative statements that we may value

“To be heard for its own sake and interest even over and above its interest of meaning.”

Much more than just a message

Touches us, stirs us, makes us glad, tells us something

What Poetry Does

First, read it straight through

Then, read slowly, with attention and care

Look and listen

Watch the words

Interact with the piece

The more times you read a poem, the more it yields

Paraphrase

Reading a Poem

Lyric Short poem; Expresses thoughts and feelings of narrator

Narrative Tells a story

Dramatic Presents the voice of an imaginary character speaking directly

to the audience. No author is present

Dramatic Monologue

Didactic States a message; Teaches a body of knowledge

Types of Poems

Read the poem closely. It is important to read it more than once to understand it well.

Go through it line by line. Don’t skip lines or stanzas or any key details. In your own words, what does each line say?

Write your paraphrase as prose.

State the poem’s literal meaning. Don’t worry about deeper meanings.

Reread your statement to see if you have missed anything important. Check to see if you have captured the overall significance of the poem along with the details.

Paraphrasing

Tone conveys an attitude toward the person addressed

In a poem, it’s whatever makes the attitude clear to the listener

Voice

Comic poetry that conveys a message

Detached amusement, withering contempt, implied superiority

Ridicules some person or persons, examining the victim by certain principles and imply that the listener should feel contempt for the victim.

Voice > Satiric Poetry

Poet/Author

Persona

Fictitious character

Person in the Poem

Manner of speaking that implies a discrepancy

Ironic POV

Verbal Irony

When words say one thing but mean something else

Sarcasm

Dramatic Irony

Situational

Irony

Literal Meaning

Diction

Word Choice (Abstract vs. Concrete)

Allusion

Reference to a person, place or thing

Words

Denotation vs. Connotation

Saying & Suggesting

Suggests something seen

In poetry

Visual (See)

Auditory (Sound)

Tactile (Touch)

In a poem, use all the images together

What impression does the reader get?

Imagery

Comparisons

Used for the sake of freshness or emphasis

Often state truths more literal language cannot communicate

Call attention to truths (Emphasis)

Figures of Speech

Metaphor

Statement that one thing is something else

Implied Metaphor

Mixed Metaphor

Simile

Comparison as it resembles something else

Metaphor & Simile

Personification

Apostrophe

Overstatement/Understatement

Pun

Other Figures of Speech

Visible object or action that suggests further meaning in addition to itself

Red Rose

Conventional Symbol

Ex: American Flag

Has more than one meaning in literature

Symbol

Don’t look too hard!

Tip: Pick out references to concrete objects.

Any repetition? Colorful language? Etc.

NOT an abstraction (ex: Death)

Evokes; Suggests; Manifests

Identifying a Symbol

Introductory Poems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkREA94QYRk

Introduction to PoetryBilly Collins

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the light like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poemand watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's roomand feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.

Billy Collins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClzzuHio4WY

Eating PoetryMark Strand

Ink runs form the corners of my mouth.There is no happiness like mine.I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees.Her eyes are sadand she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.The light is dim.The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll,their blond legs burn like brush.The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.When I get on my knees and lick her hand,she screams.

I am a new man.I snarl at her and bark.I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

Eating PoetryMark Strand

Approaching Literature, 3rd edition.

Backpack Literature, 4th edition.

PoemHunter.com.

YouTube.

Works Consulted