1. POETRY: an imaginative expression of ideas and emotions

2. Poetry usually . . .
is arranged in lines.
uses compressed language to make a point.
has a regular pattern of rhythm.
uses literary devices to appeal to our emotions and imagination.
Poetry sometimes . . .
has a regular rhyme scheme

3. Poetry Terms
Stanza – the division of lines in a poem; a poem “paragraph.”
Meter – the pattern and number of syllables in a line of poetry.
Refrain – the repeating of words or phrases throughout a poem.
Tone -- the overall feeling given by the poem.

4. Rhythm: the patterns of beats or a series of stressed and unstressed syllables; the musical quality.
Repetition: the repeating of a word, sounds, or phrases to add rhythm or to focus on an idea.
Stress: the prominence or emphasis given to particular syllables. Stressed syllables usually stand out because they have long rather than short vowels or because the pitch is different.

5. from “The Secret Heart” by R.Coffin
End Rhyme: words at end of lines rhyme
Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhyme
Across the years he could recall a
His father one way best of all. a
In the stillest hour of night b
The boy awakened to a light. b
Half in dreams, he saw his sire c
With his great hands full of fire c
from “The Secret Heart” by R.Coffin

6. Internal Rhyme: rhyme within lines
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary . . .
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“It is some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door-
from “The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe

7. Sound devices: are poetic devices that relate to sound, including consonance, assonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.

8. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in a line of poetry
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

9. Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds within a line of poetry
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

10. Alliteration: repetition of beginning consonant sounds in words close together
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary . . .
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping . . .
from “The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe

11. Onomatopoeia: the use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning.
buzz
hiss
splash
roar

12. Figurative Language: A figure of speech; a word or phrase that
describes one thing in terms of another
and is not meant to be understood as
literally true.
Simile Hyperbole
Metaphor Symbol
Personification Imagery Oxymoron Irony
Allusion Idiom

13. Simile - a comparison between two things using “like” or “as”.
The cookie was hard as a rock.
Metaphor – a comparison between two things without using “like” or “as”.
Life is a river.

14. Personification – a figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing (an idea, object, or animal) is given human characteristics.
The picture spoke to us of the sacrifices
our family had made.
Oxymoron – a technique putting two words with opposite meanings together for a special effect.
jumbo shrimp old news
bittersweet small fortune

15. Allusion – a reference to a well-known person, place, thing or event with which the writer assumes the reader will be familiar
George rushed in like Superman to save the man from the burning building.

16. Symbol – a concrete or real object used to represent an idea
A bird, because it can fly, has often been used as a symbol of freedom.

17. Hyperbole – an extreme exaggeration or overstatement that a writer uses for emphasis.
My brother exploded when he saw the damage to his car.
Irony – a technique that uses a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its normal meaning.
Danielle laughs all the time, so we call her “Grumpy”.

18. Imagery – vivid description that appeals to the senses.
They were flat round wafers, slightly browned on the edges and butter-yellow in the center. With cold lemonade they were sufficient for childhood’s lifelong diet.

19. Idiom- a common phrase made up of words that cannot be understood by their literal, or ordinary meanings.
The cat got your tongue.