1. On the page, in the ear and with the tools
Poetry Terms
On the page, in the ear and with the tools

2. On the page—STANZAS One of the primary organizers of poetry
(the paragraphs of
poetry)
Couplet Sestet 6
Triplet Septet 7
Quatrain Octave 8
Quintet 5

3. On the page—Line Breaks
Creates rhythm or sound
Signals meaning
Sometimes gives poems a particular appearance

4. On the page—Indentations
Foregrounds
different words/ideas
Signals meaning
Sometimes gives poems a particular appearance

5. On the page—White Space
Signals meaning
“I also liked the way poetry looked on the page—all that white space around the words suggested that each word had honor.”
-- Shihab Nye
I loved poetry's leaping interweave, the selectiveness of each magical word. Poetry wasn't worrying about anything. It was contemplating. I loved the rich descriptions of lines and scenes. Poetry wasn't trying to get us to do anything, it was simply inviting us to think, and feel, and see. It was language we could tuck under our chins. A cool sheet, a cotton quilt.
Poetry's understated quality of hinting somehow felt better than the words that got passed around the rest of the day. With intimate immediacy, poetry took me to a deeper place, a time-pillow of heightened consciousness. I am sitting on the step of the book, soaking something in ...
I also liked the way poetry looked on the page--all that white space around the words suggested that each word had honor.

6. On the page—Punctuation
Signals meaning
Signals pause
Signals breath
Shapes meaning
Dawkins Hierarchy of puctuation

7. Dawkins Hierarchy of Punctuation
Dawkins Hierarchy of puctuation

8. In the Ear—Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words
Example
“We wear the mask that grins and lies,/”
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”

9. In the Ear—Consonance The repetition of consonant sounds in words
Similar to alliteration, but not limited to first letter of words
Example
“We wear the mask that grins and lies,/
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--/”
Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Wear the Mask”

10. In the ear—Assonance
The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants
Example:
“Like stalks of tall, dry straw
At poor peace I sing”
Dylan Thomas, “Prologue”

11. In the Ear—Onomatopoeia
The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning
Examples:
Clang
Buzz
Twang
swoosh

12. In the Ear—Repetition
We Real Cool
By Gwendolyn Brooks
               The Pool Players.         Seven at the Golden Shovel.
            We real cool. We   
            Left school. We
            Lurk late. We
            Strike straight. We
            Sing sin. We   
            Thin gin. We
            Jazz June. We   
            Die soon.
The repeating of a word, a phrase, or an idea for emphasis or effect

13. In the Ear—End Rhyme /Rhyme Scheme
The rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two lines of poetry
The Storm
James K. McAlister
Wind rustled crunching leaves a
That on the sidewalk lay b
There was a big storm coming c
On a windy Autumn day b
Thunder rumbled overhead d
And shook me through and through. e
A jagged bolt of lightning struck! f
The sky then cracked in two! e
Rain washed down the dirty road. g
It hissed, and gushed, and muttered. h
The downpour swept dead leaves away i
Into the bubbling gutter. h

14. In the Ear—Internal Rhyme
We Real Cool
By Gwendolyn Brooks
               The Pool Players.         Seven at the Golden Shovel.
            We real cool. We   
            Left school. We
            Lurk late. We
            Strike straight. We
            Sing sin. We   
            Thin gin. We
            Jazz June. We   
            Die soon.
Occurs when the rhyming words appear in the same line of poetry

15. In the Ear—Rhythm Regular or random occurrence of sound in poetry
Regular is called meter
Random is called Free Verse
Contemporary poetry often uses free verse

16. Tools—Metaphor
comparison between essentially unlike things without using words OR application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable
A Three Point Shot From Andromeda
By Paul Beatty
rain rusted orange
ring of saturn
in urban orbit
over an outdoor gym
What two things are being compared?

17. Tools—Simile
comparison between two essentially unlike things using words such as "like," as," or "as though”
Example:
“Of asphodel, that greeny flower,
like a buttercup
upon its branching stem-”
William Carlos Williams, “Asphodel, that Greeny Flower”

18. Tools—Hyperbole An exaggeration for emphasis The Storm
James K. McAlister
Wind rustled crunching leaves
That on the sidewalk lay.
There was a big storm coming
On a windy Autumn day.
Thunder rumbled overhead
And shook me through and through.
A jagged bolt of lightning struck!
The sky then cracked in two!
Rain washed down the dirty road.
It hissed, and gushed, and muttered.
The downpour swept dead leaves away
Into the bubbling gutter.
An exaggeration for emphasis

19. Tools—Imagery
A word or sequence of words representing a sensory experience (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory)
Example: Billy Collins, “Litany”
“You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.”

20. Tools—Allusion
A a reference to the person, event, or work outside the poem or literary piece
Example: Dylan Thomas’s “Fern Hill”
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.

21. Tools—Symbol
An object or action that stands for something beyond itself
Green Light and Gamma Ways
By Thylias Moss
Miss Liberty is green, the horizon and sky
plus yellow skin.
She is a minority too, color
of ridiculous Martian fable
and not a man.
Handicapped, disabled.
Another immigrant.

22. Tools—Metonymy
An idea associated with something substituted for the whole
The Big Apple = New York
The Crown = Royalty
Land of the Free and Home of the Brave = USA
The Suits = stuffy, upper middle class, bosses