Unit 5: PoetryUnit 5: Poetry

Sound DevicesSound Devices

Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.

—Percy Bysshe Shelley

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What is poetry?

• Poetry is a type of literature that uses imaginative and musical language to communicate experiences, thoughts, or emotions.

How are poetry and prose similar?

• Both use imagery and figurative language to paint a picture for readers.

• Both use precise language to communicate a tone, viewpoint, or perception of an object or experience.

How are poetry and prose different?

• Poetry reduces meaning into fewer words. • Poetry often uses meter, rhyme, lines, and

stanzas.• Poetry allows more freedom in the ordering of

words and use of punctuation.

Who are your favorite poets?

• Maya Angelou• Lewis Carroll• Langston Hughes• Emily Dickinson• Robert Frost• Walt Whitman• Shel Silverstein• Naomi Shihab Nye

What are your favorite types of poems?

• Lyric poems• Narrative poems• Sonnets• Haiku• Concrete poems• Free verse

Lyric and Narrative Poetry

• The two main kinds of poetry are lyric and narrative.

• A lyric poem expresses the emotions of the poem’s speaker.– The speaker is the poem’s narrator.

• A narrative poem tells a story.– Narrative poems include many of the same literary

elements as fiction.

Other Poetic Forms

• A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem that explores the theme of romantic love.– Sonnets use rhyme and a regular rhythm.

• A haiku is a short, three-line poem that describes a single image or scene, usually from nature.– The first and third lines of a

haiku have five syllables, while the second line has seven.

Other Poetic Forms

• A concrete poem is a poem that is shaped like the object it describes.

• A free verse poem does not use consistent rhythm or rhyme.– Free verse poems can take any

shape and address any subject.

What are the purposes of poetry?

• To entertain readers• To help readers learn about the human

experience• To help readers gain insight into themselves

and others• To help readers experience joy, inspiration,

comfort, gratitude, redemption, or strength• To unite readers in a common understanding

The Art of Poetry

• Poetry is one of the world’s oldest art forms.• Poetry has survived the centuries because of

its ability to communicate emotions and images.

The Rising Popularity of Poetry

• Poetry – is a powerful and expressive art form that is

popular among young people– can be viewed on social

networking sites, blogs, andother websites

– can be heard in classrooms,transit stations, bookstores, coffeehouses, clubs, films, TVshows, and other public areas

How can a poem’s imagery and rhythm create an emotional connection with readers?

I never find words right away. Poems for me always begin with images and rhythms, shapes, feelings, forms, dances in the back of my mind.

—Gary Snyder

I never find words right away. Poems for me always begin with images and rhythms, shapes, feelings, forms, dances in the back of my mind.

—Gary Snyder

Sound Devices

• Sound is one of elements that distinguishes poetry from prose.

• Poetry is often musical, consisting of rhythms, rhymes, and other sound devices.

• Sound devices are elements that writers use to appeal to the ears of listeners or readers.

Rhyme

• One common sound technique that readers immediately associate with poetry is rhyme.

• Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.

• End rhyme is when the rhyming words in a poem appear at the ends of the lines.

• When a poem has a consistent pattern of end rhymes, it is said to have a rhyme scheme.

Rhyme Scheme

• You can identify the rhyme scheme of a poem by assigning a new letter to each rhyme.

• For example:

It was the schooner Hesperus a That sailed the wintry sea; bAnd the skipper had taken his little daughter, c To bear him company. b

—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was the schooner Hesperus a That sailed the wintry sea; bAnd the skipper had taken his little daughter, c To bear him company. b

—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dash those hot dogsInto buns and splash onAll that good stuff

—from “Good Hot Dogs,” by Sandra Cisneros

Dash those hot dogsInto buns and splash onAll that good stuff

—from “Good Hot Dogs,” by Sandra Cisneros

Stooping as low as the Otter’s WindowTouching the Roof and tinting the BarnKissing her Bonnet to the Meadow—from “Blazing in Gold and quenching in Purple,”

by Emily Dickinson

Stooping as low as the Otter’s WindowTouching the Roof and tinting the BarnKissing her Bonnet to the Meadow—from “Blazing in Gold and quenching in Purple,”

by Emily Dickinson

Rhyme• Other types of rhyme that poets use include

– internal rhyme, where rhyming words appear within the lines,

and– slant rhyme, or half rhyme, where rhyming sounds

are similar but not identical.

Rhythm

• The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry is its rhythm.

• Stressed syllables are referred to as beats.• A regular and predictable pattern of stressed

and unstressed syllables is called meter.

Rhythm

• Can you hear the rhythm in this excerpt?• Scanning can help you hear the rhythm.• Scanning is the process of marking / over

stressed syllables and ˘ over unstressed syllables.

• The pattern in thisexcerpt is regular—these lines aremetered.

It was the schooner Hesperus,

That sailed the wintry sea;—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was the schooner Hesperus,

That sailed the wintry sea;—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /

˘ / ˘ / ˘ /

Rhythm

• Every meter is made up of feet.• A foot is a group of two or more stressed or

unstressed syllables.• An iamb is a type of foot that contains a single

unstressed syllable followed by a single stressed syllable.

Rhythm

• The meter of this excerpt from “The Wreck of the Hesperus” is made up of iambic feet.

It was the schooner Hesperus,

That sailed the wintry sea;—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was the schooner Hesperus,

That sailed the wintry sea;—from “The Wreck of the Hesperus,”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

˘ / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ /

˘ / ˘ / ˘ /

Other Sound Devices

• Aside from rhyme, poets often use the sounds of letters in other parts of words to achieve a musical effect.

• These sound techniques include– alliteration– consonance– assonance

Alliteration

• Alliteration occurs when a consonant sound is repeated at the beginnings of words that are found near each other.

• What consonant sounds are repeated in the following excerpt?

Love, leave me like the light,The gently passing day;

We would not know, but for the night,When it has slipped away.

—from “If You Should Go,” by Countee Cullen

Love, leave me like the light,The gently passing day;

We would not know, but for the night,When it has slipped away.

—from “If You Should Go,” by Countee Cullen

Consonance

• Consonance occurs when a consonant sound is repeated at the ends or the middles of words.

• The following excerpt contains both consonance and alliteration. What consonant sounds are repeated?

I swerve, I curve, Isway; I speed to whirringsound an inch above the

ground; …—from “The Sidewalk Racer,

or On the Skateboard” by Lillian Morrison

I swerve, I curve, Isway; I speed to whirringsound an inch above the

ground; …—from “The Sidewalk Racer,

or On the Skateboard” by Lillian Morrison

Assonance

• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.• What vowel sounds are repeated in the

following excerpt?But four young oysters hurried up,

All eager for the treat:Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,

Their shoes were clean and neat—And this was odd, because, you know,

They hadn’t any feet.—from “The Walrus and the Carpenter,”

by Lewis Carroll

But four young oysters hurried up,All eager for the treat:

Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,Their shoes were clean and neat—

And this was odd, because, you know,They hadn’t any feet.

—from “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” by Lewis Carroll

Onomatopoeia

• Another common sound device used in poetry is onomatopoeia.

• Onomatopoeia is the use of words or phrases that sound like the things to which they refer.

HONK!squeak

hissbuzz

CHIRPgrowl

The table below displays a partial list of onomatopoeic words. With your classmates, brainstorm other onomatopoeic words you could add to this list.

Onomatopoeic Wordshiss buzz chirp growl

SUMMARY: Sound Devices

• To analyze the sound techniques that poets use, consider the following strategies:– Read a poem aloud, or listen as someone else reads

aloud. • Hearing a poem captures the musicality of the poet’s

words.

– Take notes or use a graphic organizer to record the literary elements of a poem.