1. Poems aren’t as hard as you might think.
Reading Poetry
Poems aren’t as hard as you might think.

2. Learning Goals
Understand how author’s organize poems to help me comprehend the deeper meaning of the text.
Use the strategy of close reading to help me break down the information into digestible pieces.

3. Poems 101 Poems tend to pack a lot of meaning into very few words.
Poetry tends to be more personal than other forms of literature.
Poetry communicate what the heart wants to say, what the society needs to hear.
Many people are afraid of poetry because they find its language or symbols difficult to understand.

4. The Process to Understanding Poetry
Before Reading
Set a purpose
Preview
Plan
During Reading
Read with a purpose
Connect
After Reading
Pause and Reflect
Reread
BR:
Set a purpose – What is the poem about? What’s the mood or feeling of the poem? What meaning can I take from the poem?
Preview – Title and name of poet, structure and shape of the poem on the page, any rhymes, words and names that are repeated or stand out, the first and last lines
Plan – read the poem several times (1st for enjoyment, 2nd for meaning, 3rd for structure and language, 4th for mood and tone)
DR:
Enjoyment – respond to the poem as if you would respond to a friendly conversation
Meaning – explain the lines in your own words
Structure and Language – think about why the author chose a certain structure or a certain word
Mood and Tone – read the poem for feeling; look for words that express emotion
Connect – try to connect the poem to your own life
AR:
Pause and Reflect – do I have a clear understanding of the poem? Can I remember any specific words, images, or phrases? How would I express the “big idea” of the poem? What mood or feeling did the poet create?
Reread – you gain the most from the poems that you read the most.

5. Common Poetic Devices Figurative language Descriptive language
Connotations
Denotations
Tone
Mood
Repetition
Alliteration
Assonance
Rhymes
Rhythm or meter
Figurative language: nonliteral meaning of words (similes, metaphors, personification, etc.)
Descriptive language: imagery – stimulate your senses
Connotation: the feeling suggested by or associated with the word
Denotation: the meaning you will find when you look up the word in a dictionary
Tone: the author’s attitude toward the subject
Mood: the feeling the poem conveys
Repetition affects both the music and meaning of the poem.
Alliteration: repetition of the same sounds at the beginnings of words
Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds
Rhythm or meter: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem (the beat)

6. Elements of Poetry Alliteration Allusion Consonance
Figurative language
Free verse
Hyperbole
Imagery
Inversion
Lyric
Metaphor
Mood
Onomatopoeia
Personification
Repetition
Rhyme and rhyme scheme
Rhythm
Simile
Stanza
Symbol
Tone
Allusion: refers to something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person, place, or event from history or literature or some aspect of culture
Consonance: the repetition of identical consonant sounds that come after different vowel sounds (half rhyme – words almost rhyme but they don’t)
Inversion: placing a sentence element out of its normal position to emphasize or create a certain mood and alter the rhythm
Symbol: something concrete that stands for something else, such as an idea or emotion