1. Analyzing Poetry

2. Poets and Poems Poets: “a man [or woman]…endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind” Poetry: “the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth”

3. Types of Poems Lyric Poem: Expresses a poet’s emotion or share’s an idea. A speaker conveys the poet’s feelings or thoughts. The speaker is the same gender as the poet. A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns Narrative Poem: Tells a story. A narrator describes the action. The voice speaking in the poem is that of the narrator.

4. Narrative Poem Jimmy was a happy ape Until some hunters caught him He liked the jungle better than The city where they brought him The city was louder The city was meaner Even the dirt in the jungle was cleaner So Jimmy made a daring escape! The hunters were suddenly minus one ape! He climbed the tallest building Because from there he'd see How far away the jungle was From the middle of the city. Jimmy jumped into a passing plane But the pilot didn't wait for him to explain Jimmy flew back to the jungle And told his ape friends in their lair "The city's okay for a visit But you couldn't make me live there.” (Jimmy Goes to the City by Arthur Read)

5. Dramatic Monologue  A dramatic monologue is a poem that shares many features with a speech from a play: one person speaks, and in that speech there are clues to his/her character, the character of the implied person or people that s/he is speaking to, the situation in which it is spoken and the story that has led to this situation. "O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown! Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town? And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?" — "O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she. — "You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks, Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks; And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!" — "Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she. — "At home in the barton you said `thee' and `thou,' And `thik oon,' and `theäs oon,' and `t'other'; but now Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!" — "Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she. (The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy)

6. Poetry and Fiction: Elements Plot: The series of connected feelings/thoughts/actions that move through the work. Character: The nature of the narrator in a narrative poem or of the speaker in a lyric poem. The characters in the poem will reveal their personalities through their words, actions, choices, thoughts, and feelings. Setting: The time and place of the poem may be explicitly described or it may be implied by the details that the narrator or speaker describes.

7. The Three Voices of Poetry The first voice: The voice of the poet talking to himself – or to nobody. I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infant’s cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear. (London by William Blake)

8. The Second Voice The voice of the poet addressing an audience, whether large or small. We are the desperate Who do not care, The hungry Who have nowhere To eat, No place to sleep, The tearless Who cannot Weep. (Vagabonds by Langston Hughes)

9. The Third Voice The third voice: The voice of the poet when he attempts to create a dramatic character speaking in verse. The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy

10. Poetry and Fiction: Elements Theme: The poet’s values, their views and ideas about life. The theme is communicated through:  the subject of the work.  what is said about the subject.  the poet’s use of poetic devices. This message about life is an idea, an insight that the poet has had and wants to share with us.

11. Poetry and Fiction: Elements Tone: The poet’s attitude toward his subject, and it is described by adjectives that we apply to our own attitudes: objective, formal, joyous, hopeful, bitter, ironic, and compassionate.

12. Poetry and Fiction: Elements Symbol: Is something – a person, place, object, action, color, or event – that has two levels of meaning. Example: The rose is a particular flower noted for its beauty and its thorns. On the figurative level, it is often a symbol of love because love is a beautiful experience that may cause us pain.

13. Rhyme Scheme Rhyme Scheme - The pattern in which end rhyme occurs. Example: Continuous as the stars that shine (A) And twinkle on the milky way, (B) They stretched in never-ending line (A) Along the margin of a bay: (B) Ten thousand saw I at a glance, (C) Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. (C)

14. Structure Stanza: A unit of lines grouped together which are similar to a paragraph in prose Couplet: Consists of two lines with the same end rhyme. Tercet: Consists of three rhyming lines. Quatrain: A four-line stanza which may contain no end rhymes or may rhyme in a variety of ways.

15. QuintainQuintain (or Cinquain): five linesinquain SestetSestet: six lines OctetOctet: eight lines

16. Figurative Language

17. Examples of Figurative Language Alliteration Assonance Consonance Anaphora Hyperbole Imagery Analogy Onomatopoeia Oxymoron Personification Simile Metaphor Synecdoche Pun

18. Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words. Example: She sells sea shells by the seashore.

19. Assonance Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound within words. And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. Edgar Allan Poe, "Annabel Lee"

20. Consonance  Consonance is the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds.  Example: tick tock or sing song.

21. Anaphora Anaphora is repetition for emphasis. Famous example is from Winston Churchill: We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

22. Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement for effect. Example: I had so much homework, I needed a pickup truck to carry all my books home.

23. Imagery Imagery is the descriptive language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. Note: These images are created by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement.

24. Don't be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth. For there is no core or stem or rind or pit or seed or skin to throw away. How to Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam

25. Onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds. Examples: whirr, thud, sizzle, hiss, bang, boom.

26. Oxymoron Oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms. Examples: Sweet Sorrow, Deafening Silence, and Jumbo Shrimp

27. Personification Personification is a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics. Example: The leaves danced in the wind.

28. Synecdoche Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. Example: Will you please lend a hand?

29. Simile Simile is a figure of speech in which “like” or “as” is used to make a comparison between two unlike ideas. Example: It’s as easy as pie. He is as happy as a clam.

30. Metaphor A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike objects or ideas. Example: My love is a rose.

31. Analogy An analogy is usually used when we are trying to explain something complex and use something familiar as an example. In the following example of an analogy, a simile and a metaphor is used to construct the analogy.

32. To a Daughter Leaving Home by Linda Pastan When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels, my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park, I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance, pumping, pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye.

33. Pun A pun is an amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings, or that sound the same although they are spelt differently. The Ruined Maid by Thomas Hardy