PoetryLiterary Terms

Poetry A type of literature in which ideas and feelings

are expressed in compact, imaginative, and musical language. Poets arrange words intended to touch readers’ senses, emotions, and minds

Poetry:

StanzaA group of lines within a poem. A stanza is like a

paragraph in a work of prose

Stanza

You know you love me, I know you care,

Just shout whenever, and I’ll be there,

You are my love, you are my heart,

And we will never, ever, ever be apart,

SpeakerThe voice that “talks” or “sings” to the reader.

The speaker can be ANYTHING in poetry. People, dogs, or even rocks.

Speaker

ToneThe attitude a writer takes toward the audience,

subject, or a character

Tone I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

- Louis Armstrong, “Wonderful World”

Louis Armstrong has a positive tone in this song, he’s optimistic about the world we live in!

MoodThe atmosphere or “feeling” that the literary

work creates.

Mood

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” ( one of the most famous poets and poems of all time ) has a chilling and creepy mood to it.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door- Only this, and nothing more."

ImageryWords and phrases that appeal to the readers

five senses. Imagery helps readers imagine how things look, feel, smell, sound and taste.

Imagery

- The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”

Picture yourself in a boat on a riverWith tangerine trees and marmalade skiesSomebody calls you, you answer quite slowlyA girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Cellophane flowers of yellow and greenTowering over your headLook for the girl with the sun in her eyesAnd she's gone

Figurative LanguageLanguage not intended to be

understood in a strict literal sense. A “Figure of Speech” is a specific type of figurative language.

Some examples of some Figurative Language are…

SimileA comparison between two unlike objects

using the word “like” or “as”

That kid was as fast as lightning!

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike objects in which one thing is said to be another.

Cause I’m T.N.T,

I'm Dynamite,

T.N.T.,

And I'll win the fight,

T.N.T.,

I'm a power-load,

T.N.T.,

Watch me Explode

- AC/DC “TNT”

Personification The giving of human

qualities to an animal, object, or idea.

Dinnertime Chorus

The teapot sang as the water boiled,

The ice cubes cackled in their glass,

the teacups chattered to one another,

While the chairs were passing gas,

The gravy gurgled merrily

As the oil danced in a pan.

Oh my dinnertime chorus

What a lovely, lovely clan!

HyperboleThe use of EXTREME exaggeration

I’ve told you a million times NOT to do that!

If I can’t hang out with my friends today I’m gonna die…

That place is a million miles away!

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse..

Sounds DevicesThe words a poet chooses to create the desired

effect in a poem

Some examples are…

RhymeA likeness of sound at the ends of words.

- Jack Jonson, “Sitting, waiting, wishing”

“I sing ya songs, I dance a danceI gave ya friends, all a chancePutting up with them wasn't worth never having youAnd maybe you been through this beforeBut it's my first timeSo please ignoreThe next few lines cause they're directed at you”

RepetitionThe use of sounds, words, phrases, or

whole lines more than once.

Jackon 5,”Rockin Robin”

He rocks in the tree tops all day longHoppin' and a-boppin' and singing his songAll the little birdies on Jaybird StreetLove to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet

Rockin' robin, tweet tweet tweetRockin' robin' tweet tweetly-tweetBlow rockin' robin'Cause we're really gonna rock tonight

Rhythm The pattern of sounds created by the arrangement of stressed or unstressed syllables.

1, 2,

buckle-your-shoe

3,4

close-the-door

5,6

pick-up-sticks

7,8

lay-them-straight

9,10

Start again!

AlliterationThe repetition of constant sounds at the

beginning of words.

Allie almost accidentally ate her aunts apple.

Carries cat claws her couch, causing constant chaos.

OnomatopoeiaThe use of words whose sounds suggest

the meaning.

Buzz

Chirp

Clap

RhymeRhyme Scheme- The pattern of rhymes in a poem.

The “poem” below would have a rhyme scheme of ABAB

There once was a big brown cat a

That liked to eat a lot of mice. b

He got all round and fat a

Because they tasted so nice. B

Exact RhymeWords with sounds that are the same

I went to the house, I got my blouse,

I went back to the car,

And took a drive somewhere far.

Slant RhymeWords with sounds that are similar but not

exactly the same

“I want to turn the whole thing upside downI'll find the things they say just can't be foundI'll share this love I find with everyoneWe'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songsI don't want this feeling to go away”

- Jack Johnson, “Upside Down”

Free VersePoetry without regular patterns of rhyme

and rhythm

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer - Walt Whitman

Types of PoetryNarrative Poetry- Poetry that tells a story

“ A Boy Named Sue “ Song was written by Shell Silverstein, and it was recorded by Johnny Cash.

Tells a story about a boy who grew up with the name Sue. The boy grows up to be a troublesome kid, always getting in fights because other people would make fun of him for his name.

Eventually he grows up and decides he’s going to go find the man that named him Sue, which is his father.

Sue finds his father in a dirty, run-down bar (he knows it’s him because of a picture he has of his dad from when he was first born).

He confronts his father for naming him Sue, telling him that he hated his father for naming him that.

They get in a brawl in the middle of the bar, with Sue eventually winning.

The father then tells his son that the only reason he named his son Sue was so the son would grow up tough, and be able to defend himself.

They make up and say they love each other, but before the song ends Cash sings “ and If I ever have a son, I think I’ll name him….. Bill or George, ANYTHING but Sue!”

Lyric PoetryThe form of poetry used for the expression of

personal thoughts or feelings.

Basically ANY song

Ticket out the doorTime to make a flip book!

Get a sheet of paper from the front of the class room

Fold to make six squares (we’ll use front and back)

Write the poetry term at the top of the square, then write your own example under that, then draw an example of the term

If it’s difficult to draw an example then draw something that makes your mind click and will help you remember what that term means.

Homework Due Friday, April 13th

 

- Write a short song or poem

- The song or poem must be AT LEAST 3 stanzas ( 4 lines per stanza)

- Must have a rhyme scheme (ABABA, AABBAA, are some examples)

- Must include a simile and a metaphor, and choose 2 sound devices ( alliteration, onomatopoeia, ect )