Poetry Unit – Notes

“In a poem the words should be as pleasing to the ear as the meaning is to the mind.” -- Marianne Moore

Types of Poetry

Narrative

Lyric

Dramatic

Haiku

Sonnet

Villanelle

Ballad

Epic

Narrative Poetry

A narrative poem, like a short story, tells a story that includes a plot, characters, and a setting.

Characteristics– One or more characters – people who take part in the

action– Setting – time and place of the action– Conflict – a struggle between opposing forces– A series of events

Example “The Canterbury Tales”

Lyric Poetry

A lyric poem expresses the observations and feelings of a speaker in a musical way.

It never tells a full story but focuses on an experience or creates and explores a single effect.

Examples “The Guitar” and “What Are Friends For”

Dramatic Poetry

A dramatic poem employs the techniques of a drama in the form of a monologue for one speaker or dramatic dialogue for two or more speakers.

Example “Danny Deever”

The speaker of a poem is the voice telling it. This may be the poet or a fictitious character created by the poet.

Haiku

A haiku is an unrhymed lyric poem of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. It usually includes an image from nature.

ExamplesAn old silent pond...A frog jumps into the pond,splash! Silence again. Autumn moonlight—

a worm digs silentlyinto the chestnut.

Sonnet

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter (five unaccented syllables

each followed by an accented one).

Villanelle

A villanelle is a lyric poem written in three-line stanzas and ending in a four-line stanza. It has two refrains formed by repeating line 1 in lines 6, 12, and 18 and line 3 in lines 9, 15, and 19.

BalladA ballad is a song that tells a story, often a story

about love, death, or betrayal.

They tell their stories using a steady rhythm and a simple pattern of rhymes which makes them easy

to memorize.

Epic PoetryAn epic is a long narrative poem which tells the

adventures of heroes who, in some way, embody the values of their civilization.

Right BrainCreativityEmotions

Left BrainLogic

Reality

The Human BrainDivided into 2 parts

Each half has its own function

To Clarify…

When you are looking at big puffy

clouds…

Your right brain tells you, “Hey! That one looks like a bunny.”

While your left brain tells you…

It’s a cloud, Stupid!

So, which half of the brain do you use when studying poetry?

Here are a few hints:– Poetry requires creativity– Poetry requires emotion– Poetry requires an artistic quality– Poetry requires logic

BOTH!

Left BrainLogic

Reality

The Human Brain

Poetic Structure

Line is the basic unit of poetry; it serves the same function of a sentence.

Meter is the set amount of syllables (sounds) in each line.

Stanzas are groups of lineswhich often have rhyme scheme

Couplet - a two line stanza Triplet - a three line stanza

Quatrain - a four line stanza Cinquain - a five line stanza

Poetic Devices

Rhyme is when the ending of words sound the same.

Dust of Snow The way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom a hemlock treeHas given my heartA change of moodAnd save some partOf a day I had rued.

Poetic Devices

Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line. Not all poetry has a

rhyme scheme. They are not hard to identify, but you must look carefully at which words

rhyme and which do not.

Poems of more than one stanza often repeat the same rhyme scheme in each stanza.

Rhyme Scheme

Dust of Snow The way a crow ___Shook down on me ___The dust of snow ___From a hemlock tree ___Has given my heart ___A change of mood ___And save some part ___Of a day I had rued. ___

ABABCDCD

Poetic Devices

Repetition is the repeating of a sound, word, or phrase for emphasis.

InsideInside the house

(I get ready)Inside the car

(I go to school)Inside the school

(I wait for the bell to ring)

*

*

*

Right BrainCreativityEmotions

The Human Brain

Figurative Language

Imagery is descriptive or figurative language that creates word pictures. These images are shaped by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement (five senses).

Example: “My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.”

Figurative Language

Atmosphere is the mood or the overall feeling that a story or poem conveys.

A writer establishes atmosphere through details of the setting or action. Descriptive

details, word choice, and rhyme and rhythm work together to produce atmosphere.

Figurative Language

Simile is an explicit comparison (using like or as): "Her lips are like roses."

Metaphor is a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or idea used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them ("the ship ploughs the sea.")

**A metaphor is generally an implicit comparison (doesn't use like or as): "Her lips are roses."

Figurative Language

Personification is attributing animation to something inanimate ("a grieving nation"); treating a thing or abstract quality as though it were a person.

Oxymoron is the deliberate combination of seemingly contradictory words ("helpful bureaucrat"; "bittersweet").

Figurative Language

Onomatopoeia is the concordance of sounds and meaning. “snap, crackle, pop."

Assonance is the recurrent vowel sounds ("sweet, sleeps, creature").

Alliteration is the recurrent consonant sounds, frequently but not exclusively at beginning of words (e.g. in Shakespeare's Sonnet 30: sessions, sweet, silent, summon, things, past...)

Figurative Language

Hyperbole is the deliberate overstatement, exaggeration for effect ("I'm so hungry I could eat a horse").

Allusion is a reference to or echo of familiar expressions, persons or objects from a cultural tradition (esp. biblical, classical, proverbial); e.g., a "prodigal son" alludes to the biblical parable.

Connotation is the double- and triple-level suggestive power of words; gold can connote wealth, but also beauty and excellence or greed; a dove, peace as well as innocence.