poetry
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Poetry
Prof. Roberto E. Olmeda
English 0902
March 28, 2012
What is Poetry?
What is Poetry
What is Poetry?
Poetry is a literary form that combines the precise meanings of words with their emotional associations, sounds, and rhythms in order to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. It can tell a story, express feelings and thoughts, or describe things.
Verse, not Prose
Many poems are structured in stanzas, or groupings of two or more lines.
Specific stanza types include couplets, which have two lines, and quatrains, which have four lines.
Elements of Poetry
Poets use figurative language,
such as metaphor, simile,
personification, and onomatopoeia to
express ideas or feelings in a fresh
way. Figurative language uses
"figures of speech" - a way of saying
something other than the literal
meaning of the words.
MetaphorsPoets use metaphors to compare two apparently unlike things without using the words like, as, than, or resembles.
Examples:
“The sky is a patchwork quilt”
“Thomas is a bear on the football field”
“She cried a sea of tears”
“'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life”
Similes
Use the following images to write your own example of simile or metaphor:
PersonificationThis happens when the poet intentionally gives human qualities to non-human objects or things.
Examples:
“The sun smiled down on me”
“My computer hates me”
“Trees were dancing with the wind”
“The furious tornado was approaching our house”
Use one of the following images to write your own example of personification:
HyperbolesHyperboles are exaggerated statements.
Examples:
“That cat is as big as an elephant”
“I received an avalanche of telephone calls”
“I’m so tired; I could sleep for a year!”
“This book weighs a ton!”
OnomatopoeiaThese are words the sound of which imitates its meaning.
Examples:
splash, buzz, meow, shush, sizzle, tinkle, boom, cock-a-doodle-doo, crunch, moan, neigh, yawn, zip, thud, thump
“Snap, Crackle, and Pop”The three creepy gnomes on Rice Krispies boxes
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used
for the whole (as wheels for car), the whole
for a part (as the law for police officer), the
specific for the general
(as cutthroat for assassin), the general for
the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the
material for the thing made from it
(as steel for sword).
Imagery
Refers to the way an author uses
words that appeal to any or all of
the five senses. It is intended to
show rather than just tell. Images
help you hear, see, touch, taste, and
smell whatever is being described.
Example of Imagery
Sound Devices
Dewdrops Dancing Down DaisiesBy Paul Mc Cann
Assonance – is the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, in a group of words.
Examples: “sweet child of mine ”
Beat
Sweet
Seat
Feet
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a rhyming poem or in lyrics for music. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme.
For example, “abab” indicates a four-line stanza in which the first and third lines rhyme, as do the second and fourth.
Example #1
Bid me to weep, and I will weep, a
While I have eyes to see; b
And having none, yet I will keep a
A heart to weep for thee. b
Example #2
You are not wrong who deem ,
That my days have been a dream
Yet if hope has flown away,
In a night or in a day.
In a vision, or in none
Is it therefore the less gone?
Types of RhymePerfect rhyme: Refers to the immediately recognizable norm: true/blue, mountain/fountain.
Imperfect rhyme: Refers to rhymes that are close but not exact: lap/shape, glorious/nefarious.
Eye rhyme: This refers to rhymes based on similarity of spelling rather than sound. Often these are highly conventional, and reflect historical changes in pronunciation: love/move/prove, why/envy.
Types of Rhyme
Internal Rhyme
Rhythm – is the repetition of a pattern of sounds
Repetition – is the return of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of literature.
Example
Back off from this poem
It has drawn in your feet
Back off from this poem
It has drawn in your legs
Back off from this poem
It is a greedy mirror
Journal Entry #4
What do I expect to learn about Poetry?
What do I expect to learn from Poetry?