poetry terms and types thou art about to embark upon a journey most hard, writing poetry terms and...
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Poetry Terms and Types
Thou art about to embark upon a journey most hard,Writing poetry terms and types on index cards.
Write the term in color at the top
Write the definition in pencil below
Can you find the alliteration, personification, simile, and rhyme in this classic poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson?
The EagleAlfred Lord Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Did you find the alliteration, personification, simile, and rhyme?
The EagleAlfred Lord Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Alliteration
• The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words.
Ex. Billy bought brown bananas from Bob Barker.
Personification
• Figurative language that gives human qualities to something that is not human.
Ex. The car’s tires screamed in agony when the driver took the corner too quickly.
Wait a minute! Hold the phone! What is Figurative Language?!?!
Figurative Language
• Figurative Language is writing not meant to be taken literally. Writers use figurative language to state ideas in new ways.
Examples of Figurative Language include: Metaphors, Similes, Personification, and Symbols.
The poet Robert Frost says…
…let’s get back to the definitions. (He’s no fun!)
Simile
• Simile is figurative language that compares two unlike things using “like” or “as.”
Ex. The student in the back of the classroom is quiet as a mouse.
Ex. The classroom was like a tornado, full of swirling noise and activity.
Rhyme
• Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.
Ex. The rain in Spain leaves a stain on the plain.
Ex. Whenever she walks into the room, He feels his love begin to bloom.
AWWWW…THAT WAS SWEET!
Can you find the metaphor, repetition, meter, and the rhyming couplets in this excerpt from “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou?
Still I Rise (excerpt)By Maya Angelou
Out of the huts of history's shame I riseUp from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
Did you find the metaphor, repetition, meter, and the rhyming couplet in this excerpt from “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou?
Still I Rise (excerpt)By Maya Angelou
Out of the huts of history's shame I riseUp from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
Metaphor
• Metaphor is figurative language that describes one thing as something else.
Ex. The rumor was a nasty virus spreading around the school.
Ex. The sprinter was a lightning bolt from start to finish.
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?
That, my friends, was Repetition.
Repetition
• Repetition is the use of any element of language (a word or sentence, for instance) more than once.
Ex. Chug Chug Chug Chug Chug went the train up the hill.
LOOK HERE! Repetition IS NOT Rhyme
Rhythm is like a beat. It can be fast or slow, up or down. And that is…
Meter
• Meter is the rhythmical pattern in a poem.
An example of meter is hard to show, so let’s read the line below (from a Shel Silverstein poem) to hear the meter.
Ex. With bacon rinds and chicken bones, Drippy ends of ice cream cones
This is a rhyming couple.
This is a Shakespearean sonnet (#38) that ends in a Rhyming Couplet!
• How can my muse want subject to invent,While thou dost breathe, that pour'st into my verseThine own sweet argument, too excellentFor every vulgar paper to rehearse?O! give thy self the thanks, if aught in meWorthy perusal stand against thy sight;For who's so dumb that cannot write to thee,When thou thy self dost give invention light? Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worthThan those old nine which rhymers invocate;And he that calls on thee, let him bring forthEternal numbers to outlive long date. If my slight muse do please these curious days, The pain be mine, but thine shall be the praise.
Rhyming Couplet
• A Rhyming Couplet is two rhyming lines of poetry that usually have the same meter and length.
We’re learning all these terms, but how do we read poems?
Maybe Edgar Allen Poe can give us some helpful hints!
• Read poems more than once to “get” meaning.
• Try reading poems like prose: punctuation mark to punctuation mark.
• Think about why a poet ended a line where he/she did.
• Interpret figurative language carefully; try to understand what the poet is trying to say.
• Read poems out loud to hear the rhythm, meter, and “music” of the lines.
• Read each word exactly as it is written. Poets choose their words very carefully.
Do you know who I am?
I’m Shel Silverstein, I wrote Where the Sidewalk Ends, and I am here to teach you about stanzas
and rhyme scheme.
Stanzas
• A stanza is a group of lines in a poem. Stanzas are separated by white space in a poem and can contain any number of lines each.
Rhyme Scheme
• Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines in a poem, usually marked by lower case letters marked at the ends of lines.
• Once a line has a letter assigned to it, all of those same rhymes keep the letter no matter where the line occurs. (Don’t worry, an example is coming right up!)
Ex. aabbccddEx. ababcdcddedefgfg
• The poem to the right is “If the World Was Crazy” by Shel Silverstein. Can you tell how many stanzas it has? Can you figure out the rhyme scheme?
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd eat? A big slice of soup and a whole quart of meat, A lemonade sandwich, and then I might try Some roasted ice cream or a bicycle pie, A nice notebook salad, an underwear roast, An omelet of hats and some crisp cardboard toast, A thick malted milk made from pencils and daisies, And that's what I'd eat if the world was crazy.
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd wear? A chocolate suit and a tie of eclair, Some marshmallow earmuffs, some licorice shoes, And I'd read a paper of peppermint news. I'd call the boys "Suzy" and I'd call the girls "Harry,“ I'd talk through my ears, and I always would carry A paper umbrella for when it grew hazy To keep in the rain, if the world was crazy.
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd do? I'd walk on the ocean and swim in my shoe, I'd fly through the ground and I'd skip through the air, I'd run down the bathtub and bathe on the stair. When I met somebody I'd say "G'bye, Joe," And when I was leaving--then I'd say "Hello." And the greatest of men would be silly and lazy So I would be king...if the world was crazy.
• Nice poem, right?
• Could you figure out how many stanzas it has? (3)
• Could you figure out the rhyme scheme?
• Notice how the rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza have the same rhyme? Notive how their rhyme scheme is marked.
• Now you try to do the scheme of the third stanza.
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd eat? a A big slice of soup and a whole quart of meat, aA lemonade sandwich, and then I might try bSome roasted ice cream or a bicycle pie, bA nice notebook salad, an underwear roast, cAn omelet of hats and some crisp cardboard toast, cA thick malted milk made from pencils and daisies, dAnd that's what I'd eat if the world was crazy. d
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd wear? eA chocolate suit and a tie of eclair, eSome marshmallow earmuffs, some licorice shoes, fAnd I'd read a paper of peppermint news. fI'd call the boys "Suzy" and I'd call the girls "Harry,“ g I'd talk through my ears, and I always would carry gA paper umbrella for when it grew hazy dTo keep in the rain, if the world was crazy. d
If the world was crazy, you know what I'd do? I'd walk on the ocean and swim in my shoe, I'd fly through the ground and I'd skip through the air, I'd run down the bathtub and bathe on the stair. When I met somebody I'd say "G'bye, Joe," And when I was leaving--then I'd say "Hello." And the greatest of men would be silly and lazy So I would be king...if the world was crazy.
Are you ready for a tough one now? I pity the fool who doesn’t
know what a symbol is!!!
Symbol
• A symbol is anything that represents something else.
• Symbols can be tough to find. Sometimes wind blowing in a poem is just wind blowing. Sometimes the wind is a symbol of change sweeping through.
• Identifying symbolism is one of the things that makes poetry challenging AND interesting.
Can you find the symbol in “Uphill” by Christina Rosetti?
• The “journey” is a metaphor for one’s life. Does that help?
• The inn is a symbol, but for what? See if you can get it!
• (This is why we read poems more than once!)
Uphillby Christina Rossetti
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?Yes, to the very end.Will the day's journey take the whole long day?From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.May not the darkness hide it from my face?You cannot miss that inn.
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?Those who have gone before.Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?They will not keep you standing at that door.
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?Of labour you shall find the sum.Will there be beds for me and all who seek?Yea, beds for all who come.
What’s that noise?!?!?
Boom Whoosh Crackle Sploosh BURP!
Onomatopoeia
• Onomatopoeia is a word that is spelled like the sound it makes.
Ex. The water in the tub went splish, splash, The car on the road went boom, crash.
Let’s wrap this up with my homeboys, poets Walt Whitman & Matsuo Basho.
Free Verse
Free Verse is a type of poem that has no strict structure of meter, rhyme, line length, etc.
Walt Whitman, one of the most well-knownAmerican poets, wrote many poems in freeverse.
Example of Free VerseSong of Myself (excerpt)ByWalt Whitman
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.I loaf and invite my soul,I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese three-line form of poetry with a strict structure. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, the third line has 5 syllables.
Basho is a famous writer of haiku born in 1644!
Haiku are often written in series of three and about nature.
Fun Fact: Basho wrote in Japanese. When translated to English, his haiku are not usually in the 5/7/5 format!
Example of Haiku
I am first with fiveThen seven in the middle –Five again to end.
Green and speckled legs,Hop on logs and lily padsSplash in cool water.
Sand scatters the beach Waves crash on the sandy shore Blue water shimmers
Yay! We’re done! Wasn’t that fun? You’re number one! (Hey, I’m a poet who didn’t know it!)