1. Poetry A poem is created by putting words together in an interesting way to express a feeling, create a mental picture, tell a story, or make a sound. Poetry entertains the ears and the eyes.

2. Poems Everywhere Poems can be found in many places. They are in your reading book and in lots of places in and out of school. You might have a collection of poems in one book all written by the same author, like this book by Shel Silverstein~

3. Or you might find a collection of poems, written by various authors, but printed in the same book. anthology This is called an anthology.

4. Poetry Parts

5. Verse Verse Verse ~ usually means a line of poetry, but sometimes means a whole poem: Dust of Snow by Robert Frost The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I rued.

6. Stanza  A stanza in a poem is like a paragraph in an essay.  Each stanza is usually separated by some blank space.  Common stanza lengths are two, three, four, six or eight lines.

7. How Many Stanzas Does This Poem Have? Snevington Snee by Jack Prelutsky I’m Snevington Snee And from seven till three I hang by my toes From a coconut tree. I’ve plenty of time And it’s hardly a crime, And no one seems willing To do it for me.

8. Rhyme rhyme Repetition of end sounds is called rhyme. My dog chewed up my homework. He slobbered on it, too. So now my homework’s ripped to shreds, And full of slimy goo. (~Bruce Lansky)

9. Rhyme Scheme Rhyme scheme can be determined by marking similarly rhyming lines of the poem with a letter of the alphabet.

10. Rhyme Scheme Here is a poem by Jack Prelutsky with an A-B-C-B rhyme scheme: Grizelda Gratz kept sixty cats A She fed them very well B On angel cakes and raisin flakes C And acorns in a shell. B

11. Now It’s Your Turn Can you identify the rhyme scheme of this poem by Mary O’Neill? Green is the grass And the leaves of trees Green is the smell Of a country breeze.

12. Free Verse or Unrhymed Verse Free verse or unrhymed poems do not rhyme or have regular rhythm. American Walt Whitman was one of the first poets to publish free verse poems. I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work… ~(From I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman)

13. Meter Meter Meter is a regular, patterned repetition of sounds in a poem (the beat). Rhythmrhyme Rhythm and rhyme can give poetry a musical quality.

14. Figurative Language

15. Types of word use that makes the poem more interesting to hear or read

16. Examples of Figurative Language  Alliteration  Onomatopoeia  Simile  Metaphor  Idiom

17. Alliteration Down the slippery slide they slid Sitting slightly sideways; Slipping swiftly see them skid On holidays and Fridays. ~by Michael Rosen beginning Alliteration is when almost all of the words in the line have the same beginning sound.

18. Onomatopoeia The rusty spigot sputters, utters a splutter, spatters a smattering of drops, gashes wider; slash, splatters, scatters, spurts, finally stops sputtering and plash! gushes rushes splashes clear water dashes. ~ by Eve Merriam Onomatopoeia is fun to say and easy to remember! It is the imitation of sounds in word form.

19. Simile “Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.” ~from Arithmetic by Carl Sandburg A simile is a comparison using _____ or _____. Can you fill in the blanks?

20. Metaphor “ On the first snowfall there is a pinhole in the pillow of the sky a feather from a white dove is falling from the sky…” (~from On the First Snowfall by Eve Merriam) What makes this an example of a metaphor? Is comparing two things where one is more of a symbol or the other

21. Idiom An idiom is a phrase whose words have a different meaning other than its original meaning. Don’t worry. The math test on fractions is a piece of cake!

22. Personification Personification is when you give human characteristics to non-human things The teapot sang as the water boiled The ice cubes cackled in their glass the teacups chattered to one another. While the chairs were passing gas The gravy gurgled merrily As the oil danced in a pan. Oh my dinnertime chorus What a lovely, lovely clan !

23. Hyperbole A HUGE exaggeration not meant to be taken literally. Appetite In a house the size of a postage stamp lived a man as big as a barge. His mouth could drink the entire river You could say it was rather large For dinner he would eat a trillion beans And a silo full of grain, Washed it down with a tanker of milk As if he were a drain

24. Combination Sometimes a poet will combine two or more literary devices. Can you tell what two devices are used in the verse below? “ice cubes clinking clatter clink, crazily inside my drink” ~from Ice Cubes by Joan Graham

25. Enjoy Poetry! Poetry opens up a whole new world that is different from prose. Try these things: Check out a poetry book from the Learning Center. Start a collection of poetry by copying your favorites into a poetry journal. Try your hand at writing some of your own poetry.