LSCC

Spring 2012

J. Pierce, Instructor

Agenda Introduction to poetry unit

New Terms!

Advice on reading poetry

Things to look for in poems

Two poems to start us out!

Wislawa Symborska, “The Terrorist,

He Watches”

John Updike, “Icarus”

Do not be afraid…

Reading Hints 1. Read more than once

2. Title is important

3. Don’t worry about words you don’t know 1st time through

4. DO worry about them next time, though

5. Read poetry aloud

6. Note your interpretations in the margins

7. Read punctuation and spaces

8. Paraphrase poem

9. Assume everything in poem serves a purpose

10.Think outside your own box

11.Adopt/try on critical thinking strategies (will discuss in more depth next class)

12.Don’t feel like you have to “get” everything

Key Terms for Poetry Unit alliteration

assonance

connotation

denotation

Diction

explication

metaphor

meter

onomatopoeia

poem

rhyme

rhythm

simile

sonnet

speaker

stanza

symbol

theme

tone

Approaching a Poem First Response

Speaker

Tone

Audience

Structure & Form

Theme

Diction

Sound Effects

Figurative Language

First Response Read through and stop to consider your reactions

What emotions does the poem evoke?

What experiences of your own does the poem remind you of?

What elements of the poem force you to pay attention?

Speaker DO NOT equate the speaker with the poet

Often, the poet is capturing a character, much like a short story writer might

What in the poem reveals the speaker’s persona, attitude, beliefs, emotions, etc?

Tone Is the poem serious?

Romantic?

Sarcastic?

Ironic?

Humorous?

Point to the words, phrases, etc. that give you this

impression

Audience Consider the internal and external audiences for this

poem

We, as readers, are the external audience

How does someone reading the poem interact and help create the meaning?

Is there a specific person to whom the poem is aimed inside the work? How do we know?

Structure & Form Rhyme

Meter

Stanzaic Patterns

Does the poem fit a standard form?

Ballad

Villanelle

Sestina

Sonnet

Etc.

Theme As with all literature, certain themes recur in poetry

Love

Death

Hate

Sex

Religion

War

With poetry, however, the emphasis is more on words than themes

Diction & Sound Effects Pay careful attention to the words chosen

Denotation

Connotation

Does that unusual word contribute to the meaning?

Does the author choose it to fit the form?

READ WITH A DICTIONARY!!!

Notice, too, how the poet uses sound to enhance meaning Alliteration

Assonance

onomatopoeia

Figurative Language Image/imagery

Simile

Metaphor

Other figurative language:

Pun

Personification

Hyperbole

Paradox

Oxymoron

Symbol

Wislawa Szymborska

John Updike “The Terrorist, He Watches” and “Icarus”

First Response

Speaker

Tone

Audience

Structure & Form

Theme

Diction

Sound Effects

Click

Me

“The Terrorist, He Watches” Note that the poem was written in 1981, before

terrorism became so real in the us

always an issue in Europe though

How do we read this poem differently today?

“Icarus” Who is Icarus?

Why is it relevant?

Post 911

With both poems, in essence we are

cast in the poem—discuss the

effect, particularly given the subject

matter

Icarus, by Kent Lew

What’s Next?

8 2/28

Poetry and Voice Ch. 14 (645-73) 3/1

3/6

SPRING BREAK 3/8

9 3/13

Closed Form Poetry Ch. 22 (809-29) 3/15