Poetry Terms English I – Miss Michel

Poetry Writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm

Speaker The voice that is talking to us in a poem. Sometimes the speaker is identical with the poet, but often the speaker and the poet are not the same. The poet may be speaking as a child, a woman, a man, a whole people, an animal, or even as an object.

“George Gray” By : Edgar Lee Masters I have studied many times The marble which was chiseled for me – A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid; Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail And catch the winds of destiny Wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire --It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

Theme The central idea of a work of literature A theme is not the same as a subject. The subject of a work can usually be expressed in a word or two: love, childhood, death, etc. The theme is the idea that a writer wishes to reveal about the subject. The theme is something that can be expressed in at least one complete sentence.

What’s the theme? Finding Nemo?

Tone Tone is the attitude a writer takes toward an audience, a subject, or a character. Tone is conveyed through a writer’s choice of words and details.

What’s the tone of this picture? Sitting outside the principal’s office…

Denotation and Connotation The dictionary definition of a word. All of the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests. Denotation and Connotation

Stanza A group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit. A stanza in a poem is something like a paragraph in prose. It often expresses one unit of thought. Two lines are called a “couplet.” Four lines are called a “quatrain.”

Imagery Language that appeals to the senses. Most images are visual—that is, they create pictures in the reader’s mind by appealing to the sense of sight. Images can also appeal to the sense of sound, touch, taste, or smell (or many senses all at once). Imagery is an element in all typed of writing, but it is particularly important in poetry.

From “Meeting at Night” By: Robert Browning Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match…

Figurative Language Word or phrase that describes one things in terms of another Language that is not meant to be taken literally Figures of speech always involve some sort of imaginative comparison between seemingly unlike things. The most common types of figurative language (though there are 250) are the simile, metaphor, and personification.

Literal is the opposite of figurative ! To remember: Literal is the opposite of figurative !

Metaphor A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing without the words like, as, than, or resembles. Example: Fame is a fickle friend. Example: My mother is a monster. Example: Time is a gift we should not waste.

Metaphor “Stabbed in the back”

Simile Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, resembles, or than. Example: “I wandered as lonely as a cloud.” Example: “I love you like a fat kid loves cake.”

Similes He sleeps like a log.

Allusion A reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture. In calling one of his stories “The Gift of the Magi,” O Henry used an allusion to the wise men from the East called the Magi who presented the infant Jesus with the first Christmas gifts.

Personification A kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman things or quality is talked about as if it were human. =

What is Personified? It’s the poetry itself! This poetry gets bored of being alone, it wants to go outdoors to chew on the winds, to fill its commas with the keels of rowboats . . .

And now: Poetry Sounds

Alliteration Repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together in poems.

In this example, the sounds “fl,” “t,” “n,” and “w” are repeated From “The Raven” By: Edgar Allan Poe In this example, the sounds “fl,” “t,” “n,” and “w” are repeated in lines 1 and 2, and the “s” sound is repeated in lines 3 and 4: “Open here I flung the shutter, when with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.”

Onomatopoeia The use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. Onomatopoeia is so natural to us that we begin using it instinctively as children. Crackle, pop, fizz, click, zoom, and chirp are all examples of onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is an important element in poetry.

Onomatopoeia

Rhyme Repetition of accented vowel sounds, and all sounds following them, in words that are close together in a poem. Choice and Voice are rhymes. Tingle and Jingle are rhymes.

Old Mary By Gwendolyn Brooks My last defense Is the present tense. It little hurts me now to know I shall not go Cathedral-hunting in Spain Nor cherrying in Michigan or Maine.

Exact and Approximate Rhyme Exact Rhyme Approximate Rhyme When words rhyme perfectly. Examples: cat and hat, Examples: doggy and soggy Examples: trial and mile Examples: lighter and fighter When two words have some sound in common but do not rhyme exactly, they are approximate rhymes. These are also called slant rhymes or near rhymes. Examples: now and know Examples: buoy and truly Exact and Approximate Rhyme

Internal and End Rhyme Internal Rhyme End Rhyme Internal rhymes occur in the middle of a line. Example: “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I Pondered, weak and weary…” (from “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe) End rhymes occur at the end of lines. Example: “My last defense Is the present tense. It little hurts me now to know I shall not go Cathedral-hunting in Spain Nor cherrying in Michigan or Maine. Internal and End Rhyme

Meter (the beat) The generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Indicating the metrical pattern in poetry is called scanning the poem (or scansion).

Sonnet Fourteen-line lyric poem that is usually written in iambic pentameter and that has one of several potential rhyme schemes. The oldest kind of poem is the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet. Another famous sonnet type is the Shakespearean sonnet, named after William Shakespeare.

A Sample Sonnet: My college life has left me without sleep. I study every night locked in my room. The walls at times feel almost like a tomb; The loneliness causes my soul to weep. Great tears of sadness flow from eyes that keep Returning to the text where answers loom, Enshrouded in a chapter like a womb, My eyes throughout the words do futilely creep. I must a Big Mac eat or I will die Of hunger gnawing at my fragile mind That cannot read another word of this. I also want a piece of apple pie That Ronald has so patiently refined. I must these eat or I will be a mess.

Sonnets are usually about LOVE <3

Refrain A repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines. Though refrains are usually associated with songs and poems, they are used in speeches and other forms of literature. Refrains are most often used to build rhythm, but they may also provide commentary or build suspense.

Refrain "In my shoes, just to see What it's like, to be me I'll be you, let's trade shoes Just to see what it'd be like To feel your pain, you feel mine Go inside each other's minds Just to see, what we'd find Look at stuff through each other's eyes Don't let 'em say you ain't beautiful They can all get it, just stay true to you They can all get it, just stay true to you.“ By: Eminem

Haikus and Tankas HAIKU TANKA Japanese verse form consisting of three lines and seventeen syllables. There are five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line, and five in the third line. A haiku often presents an image of daily life that relates to a particular season. Japanese form with five unrhymed lines and a total of thirty-one syllables. Lines 1 and 3 have five syllables each. Lines 2, 4, and 5 have seven syllables each. A tanka evokes a strong feeling with a single image. Haikus and Tankas

Narrative The story of a poem. THE END!