1. Elements of Poetry

2. Definition of Poetry 1 of 3 major types of literature
Uses highly concise, musical and emotionally charged language
Also uses imagery, figurative language and special devices of sound. Ex: rhyme

3. Types of Poetry
Narrative – story told in verse might include elements of short story: characters, plot and conflict
Free Verse – a poem in which there is no strict pattern of rhymes or rhythms.

4. Parts of a Poem Line – a row of words Stanza – a group of lines
Line Breaks – a poet’s purposeful choice of where to end one line and begin the next.
Speaker – the “voice” of the poem
Mood – tone or feeling of the poem

5. Parts of a Poem Who is the speaker? What is the mood? Stanza
Come Let us roam the night together Singing I love you. Across The Harlem roof-tops Moon is shining. Night sky is blue. Stars are great drops Of golden dew. Down the street A band is playing. Come, Sining
Line
Line Breaks
Who is the speaker?
What is the mood?
Stanza
Harlem Night Song
Langston Hughes

6. Literary Devices Simile – comparing two things using “like” and “as”
Life is like a birthday gift; you don’t always get what you want, but you often enjoy what you get.
Metaphor – comparing two things by saying one thing is another.
Music is Joel’s lifeblood, he must have a daily infusion of rock, pop and rap.
Hyperbole – a deliberate use of exaggeration, usually for comic effect.
Just as Leroy caught the ball, he saw the linebacker the size of an aircraft carrier hurtle into view.

7. Literary Devices
Personification – giving human like qualities to something non-human.
Symbol – something concrete that represents an idea or feeling.
Imagery – words or phrase that appeal to one or more of the five senses. Painting pictures with words.
He fumed and charged like an angry bull.
He fell down like an old tree falling down
in a storm.
He felt like the flowers were waving him
a hello.
The eerie silence was shattered by
her scream.

8. What are some literary devices in this poem?
Under the trees light
has dropped from the top of the sky,
light
like a green
latticework of branches
Shining
on every leaf,
drifting down like clean
white sand.
A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air.
The world is a glass overflowing
with water.
Ode to Enchanted Light
Pablo Neruda
Simile
Simile
Imagery
Metaphor

9. What are some literary devices in these poems?
Fog by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Personification?
No, it compares the fog to a cat, which is not a person. It is a metaphor.
Loo-Wit by Wendy Rose
The way they do
This old woman
No longer cares
What others think
But spits her black tobacco
Any which way
Stretching full length
From her bumpy bed
Personifcation
It gives a volcano, human traits and describes the eruption like a woman getting out of bed.

10. What is the symbol in the poem?
What literary devices are in these poems?
The Dirtiest Man in the World
Oh, I’m Dirty Dan, the world’s dirtiest man,
I never have taken a shower.
I can’t see my shirt – it’s so covered with dirt,
And my ears have enough to grow flowers.
Hyperbole
Life by Naomi Long Madgett
Life is but a toy that swings on a bright gold chain
Ticking for a little while
To amuse a fascinated infant,
Until the keeper, a very old man,
Becomes tired of the game
And lets the watch run down.
What is the symbol in the poem?
The toy or watch is the symbol that represents life….

11. Alliteration and Repetition
Sound Devices
Alliteration and Repetition
Alliteration – is the repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning of words
Repetition –is the use of any element of language, sound word, phrase, clause, or sentence -- more than once.

12. Sound Devices
Onomatopoeia – is the use of words that imitate sounds, as in rap, swish, and flutter

13. One last thing to know…
Idioms