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?