P OETIC SOUND Strategies for being successful on Objective 2

O BJECTIVES By the time you finish taking notes on this presentation, you should understand some key strategies for identifying the following poetic sound terms within a poem and identifying the effect they have on the meaning of the poem : Meter Rhyme Sound Devices (Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance) Enjambment Repetition (Anaphora)

THE MOST IMPORTANT STRATEGY OF ALL. Read the poem. Read the poem again. Understanding what the poem means (what the theme is) is key to any use of these terms. The answers to these questions can be found in the poem – if you read it closely.

M ETER – S TRATEGIES In general, if a question is asking you about meter, your first focus should be on paying attention to (and counting) the number of syllables in each line. You want to pay close attention to any changes in meter. These often signal a key shift or moment in the poem! If the poet uses a consistent meter for most of the poem and then changes it suddenly, that’s important.

M ETER - S TRATEGIES Another strategy for meter is to actually read the poem out loud, to get a sense of the rhythm of the poem. You could also ask your teacher to help with this part if you are confused. Meter often affects the tone of a poem. A more consistent, song-like meter can give a poem a more musical (and sometimes playful) quality.

R HYME - S TRATEGIES Rhyme is often very similar to meter, in terms of what to look for. Again, what is often key to using rhyme in your analysis is paying attention to when the poet changes the rhyme scheme. This signals a shift or an important moment in the poem, especially if the rhyme scheme was very consistent before that.

R HYME - S TRATEGIES In addition, you can often think of words that rhyme within a poem as being linked or connected in some way. Think about what these words might have in common (in addition to the fact that they rhyme). When you are asked about rhyme, it can be very useful to write out the rhyme scheme of the poem you are looking at (in order to detect shifts and inconsistencies).

S OUND D EVICES - S TRATEGIES The sound devices of assonance, consonance, and alliteration are often used to add to the rhythm of the poem. However, in other cases, you can think of these three devices as highlighting links between words in the poem and placing emphasis on the words that are utilizing assonance, consonance, and alliteration.

E NJAMBMENT - S TRATEGIES The use of enjambment has a strong effect on the rhythm of a poem. Think of it this way – any punctuation in a poem implies a pause. A lack of punctuation, therefore, demonstrates that there IS no pause.

E NJAMBMENT - STRATEGIES So what’s the effect of that? Well, there are a few answers, depending on HOW the poet uses enjambment. If the poet alternates between line breaks with enjambment and line breaks without, then consider the following: What is the effect on the rhythm of the poem? Is the poet adding emphasis to the lines with similar use of punctuation? Are there links between the lines with enjambment? Are there links between the lines without it?

E NJAMBMENT - STRATEGIES If the poet uses enjambment consistently throughout the poem (remember the e.e. cummings poem in the vocab presentation): What is the effect of having no pauses? How is that similar to or different from normal punctuation use? Where is the poet choosing to add line breaks (if punctuation isn’t the driving factor)? Why is he or she breaking the lines in those places?

R EPETITION - STRATEGIES The effect of repetition within a poem is generally to add emphasis to the words being repeated. If a poet keeps repeating words or phrases, you can pretty much assume that those words or phrases are SUPER important. In what way are they important? That depends on the poem. Determine the OVERALL theme of the poem and then consider: do the repeated lines support or add to that theme?

NEXT STEPS After taking notes on these strategies, use the rest of the resources under this objective to get a few models of what reading a poem for sound and writing about it should look like. Read the annotations and model paragraph for “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain”. What are they focused on? What is revealed about the poem through analysis of poetic sound?