Understanding Poetic Structure

Figurative Language Sound Devices Poetic Form Rhyme & Meter

Metaphors & Similes- Please copy

The metaphor is first cousin to the simile. Like the simile, it compares two objects but does not use like or as or than.Examples:

Simile:

Her cheeks are like polished apples.Metaphor:

Her cheeks are polished apples.

A caterpillar is an upholstered worm.

Figurative Language Please copy

Using words or phrases to describe something in terms of another thing, with the intent that the description will not be taken literally

The more common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and symbol

Metaphor & Simile- reminderPlease copy

Simile- figures of speech that compares two unlike things, using the words like or as.

"His feet were as big as boats.“ Metaphor- a figure of speech that compares two unlike

things directly, without the use of like or as.

"Her hair is silk."

Metaphor /Simile PracticePlease Copy & Complete

Create a metaphor and simile for each of the following:Example: Describe a person that is in a hurry Metaphor: He is a race horse bursting out of the gate Simile: She is running like a chicken with her head cut off1. Describe a very angry person

Metaphor: Simile:

2. Describe a sunsetMetaphor:

Simile:

3. Describe a rock concertMetaphor:

Simile:

Personification & Symbolism Please copy

assigning human qualities to non-human things.

"The tropical storm slept for two days.“ Symbolism: using an object to represent an

idea. A symbol means what it is and also something more.

Lions often symbolize royalty.

Try it: Personification & Symbolism

Please copy and complete

Personification: Personify the following:

Example- the flower frowned with wilted pedals

1. A tree

2. A computer

Symbolism- symbolize the following:

Example: Justice is represented by the scales

1. Freedom

2. authority

Hyperbole – Try itcopy and complete

an expression of exaggeration.

"I nearly died laughing.“

Write three expressions of your own

1.

2.

3.

Sound Devices Please copy

Sound devices are also a form of figurative language

Some common sound devices are assonance, alliteration, consonance, onomatopoeia

Alliteration Please copy

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

The wanderer wept while the wind wailed. “With blade, with bloody blameful blade, he

bravely broached his boiling bloody breast.” (From Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Assonance Please copy

It’s the repetition of vowel sounds within neighboring words, which creates a kind of rhyme.

the slow motion of the snow

Consonance Please copy

This is a sound effect that is created by the repetition of similar consonant sounds. Also called “slant rhyme.”

Example:“reason” and “raisin” (it’s both the “r” and “s” sounds)

She should tread

the middle-ground.

Onomatopoeia Please copy

The use of a word or phrase that imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes.

Snap, crackle, pop! Squish

Sound Devices- You Try Please copy & complete- Write two examples for each below

– Alliteration 1. 2.

– Assonance 1. 2.

– Consonance 1. 2.

– Onomatopoeia 1. 2.

Poetic Form- please copy

Narrative poems: tell stories and are usually long. Epics and ballads are narrative poems

– Ballad A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an example of a ballad.

Poetic Form Continued- please copy

Couplet consists of two rhyming lines of poetry Lyric Poem is a poem that does not tell a

story, but expresses the personal thoughts or feelings of the speaker/poet

Sonnet is a fourteen line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, and following a Shakespearian structure

Rhyme- please copy

The repetition of same stressed vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more words (ex. glisten – listen)

Just by chance while walking,

I overheard you talking.

When rhyme is found within the same line of poetry, it is internal rhyme

When rhyme is found at the end of lines of poetry, it is end rhyme

Rhyme- Purpose, please copy

The purpose of rhyme is to create a sound cadence for the reader

Poets often create a pattern of end rhyme. Although we generally only recognize one form

of rhyme in our speech, poets use several different forms of rhyme.– Exact: pun, fun Slant: slither, slather– Identical: dog, dog

Meter- please copy

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Each syllable in a line of poetry is labeled with a stress mark, or an unstressed mark

The purpose of meter is to create a recognizable rhythm through a regular sound pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Stanza

A grouping of lines in a poem (equivalent to a paragraph in prose).

Two lines: couplet

Three lines: tercet

Four lines: quatrain