Poetry Unit ESS ENGLISH
GENRE Genre: a type or kind of literature. (i.e. poetry, drama, short story, novel)
LINE Line: a unit of meaning that stands all by itself for a moment, before the reader goes on to the next line. 2 basic types of line breaks Enjambed: break in the middle of a sentence of phrase ( , ; ) End-stopped: end with punctuation ( . ? !)
STANZA Stanza: a group of lines in a poem, like a paragraph in prose
SPEAKER Speaker: the voice we hear in the poem. NOT THE POET!!! The speaker and the poet are separate entities
MUSIC Music: Poetry was originally sung to music. It is an “aural” art, meaning that it is supposed to be heard. Poetry uses many poetic elements to give it a musical quality (rhyme, alliteration, consonance, assonance, meter, and others)
RHYME Rhyme: repetition of sounds at the end of words. Gives poetry a musical quality. Not necessary in poetry. Most common are end rhyme Rhyme at the end of the line – But still I say it was not fair To ask of me to cut my hair. and internal rhyme rhyme within a line – it was not fair to mislead the pair.
RHYME SCHEME Rhyme Scheme: a general pattern that the rhymes follow in a poem. The rhymes are all assigned a letter (starting with “a”) to create a rhyme scheme.
REPETITION Repetition: A repetitive word, phrase, metrical pattern, syllable, or sound. Repetition conveys a sense of urgency or importance, or adds music to the poem
NARRATIVE POEM Narrative Poem: A poem that tells a story. It typically follows the tradition story plot line (characters, setting, events, resolution).
DIALOGUE Dialogue: exchange of words between two or more speakers. “ “
TONE Tone: The author’s attitude toward his or her subject or audience (i.e. bitter, ironic, sad, cheerful, etc.)
PERSONIFICATION Personification: giving human (or animal) qualities to inanimate objects. Example: The trees were dancing in the wind. The skies wept over her death.
IMAGERY Imagery: using words that appeal to one or more of our five senses-sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell Example: The rose pedal scent that fills the air, The silky satin of the dress, The sound of church bells, Making my heart jump from my chest. Teresa Ly Imagery of a wedding day
METAPHOR Metaphor: a comparison between two dissimilar things Examples "Men's words are bullets, that their enemies take up and make use of against them." "Language is a road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going."
SIMILE Simile: a comparison between two dissimilar things using “like” or “as” Examples: "Good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong." "Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."
SYMBOL Symbol: a thing or action in a poem that has meaning beyond itself. Examples: apple = fall of Eden snake = rebellion and the consequences bird = freedom
ALLITERATION Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds. Example: Brown bears beat boats. TONGUE TWISTERS
CONSONANCE Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds within words. Example: Better letters litter lighter.
ASSONANCE Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds. VOWELS – A E I O U Example: High in the sky shines a field as wide as the world.
ONOMATOPOEIA Onomatopoeia: words sound similar to their meaning. Examples: plop, hiss, fizz, skid, buzz, sizzle, bang, roar, squeak, etc.