1. ELEMENTS OF POETRY AN INTERACTIVE POWERPOINT Not Your Average Classroom Language Arts Units

2. Assignments:  What does Poetry Do? Graphic Organizer(s)  Prose vs. Poetry Top Hat  Elements of Poetry Web Quest  Elements of Poetry Mini Presentation

3. Why do we need poetry?  Why waste time defining what poetry is? It’s so much more interesting, and more important, to discuss why we have it, why we need it.  Why does poetry exist? What does it do? What need does it fulfill?

4. Let’s Explore  To answer these questions, let’s listen to a few spoken word poems. As you listen, fill out the What does Poetry Do? Graphic Organizer with your thoughts.  As you watch the poets, notice how they transition back and forth between poetry and prose. Click on the links below to begin.

5. Poetry vs. Prose

6. Organize these characteristics  Prose  Poetry Organized into paragraphs Organized into stanzas Sounds similar to ordinary speech Has rhythm Arranged to create a specific emotional response An imaginative expression of thoughts May or may not be creative Fewer rules More rules Basic unit is the line Basic unit is the sentence

7. But how are they similar?  The differences are easy to spot. It’s the similarities between prose and poetry that are the challenge. Take a moment to fill out the Poetry vs. Prose Top Hat. It is similar to a Venn Diagram, but with more room for that challenging portion.  Discuss  Keep adding more to the Top Hat as you learn more similarities and differences.

8. The elements of poetry can be grouped into three categories How the poem is organized The sound of the poemThe literary devices

9. Elements of Poetry Form Mood or Tone Literary Devices Rhythm/ Meter Connotation or Denotation Figurative Language Theme DictionSymbolism Word Order Alliteration and Assonance Irony Stanza RhymeImagery Skip to the Web Quest

10. Form  The form is the physical structure of the poem: the length of the lines, the rhythms, system of rhymes and repetition. In other words, the “type” of poem.  There are many types: SSonnet VVillanelle BBlank Verse* FFree Verse* AAubade BBallad DDoggerel DDirge DDramatic Monologue EElegy EEpic HHaiku LLyric DDiamante OOde LLimerick RRondeau AAcrostic SSestina Go Back to Elements of Poetry

11. Rhythm and Meter  Rhythm is the pattern you hear between stressed syllables. It has a characteristic rise and fall that you expect.  Meter describes the pattern of rhythm. There are many types of meter: Go Back to Elements of Poetry IIambic DDactyl CCadence BBlank Verse FFree Verse TTrochee TTrimeter TTetrameter PPentameter HHexameter HHeptameter CCommon Measure

12. Theme  To describe the theme of a poem is to discuss the overarching abstract idea or ideas being examined in the poem.  Though related to the concept of a moral, or lesson, themes are usually more complicated and ambiguous.  Whereas a moral might say that “power corrupts,” a poem exploring the dangers of power might recognize, as well, the necessity of power. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

13. Word Order  In short, word order is the arrangement of words in the poem.  Is the word order or sentence structure (syntax) unusual in any way?  Are there noticeable patterns in the order of words?  Do the lines have strong end-stops, or do they break across lines (enjamb)? Do the lines end with a final stress or rhyme?  Are there lots of long, complete sentences (simple or complex?), or are there many sentence fragments and phrases? Does the poem stop and start, or does it move or flow continuously? What is the effect of this? Go Back to Elements of Poetry

14. Stanza  The stanza is a grouping of lines separated from others in a poem.  In modern free verse, the stanza, like a prose paragraph, can be used to mark a shift in mood, time, or thought.free verse  One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines: couplet (2 lines) tercet (3 lines) quatrain (4 lines) cinquain (5 lines) sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain) septet (7 lines) octave (8 lines)  The pattern of a stanza is determined by it’s meter and rhyming scheme Go Back to Elements of Poetry

15. Mood or Tone  The tone of a poem is the style, or manner of expression, of its writing. It can be thought of as the attitude of the writer.  Examples of tone: serious, playful, humorous, formal, informal, angry, satirical, ironic or sad.  The mood refers to the atmosphere in the poem. Different elements of a poem such as its setting, tone, voice and theme help establish this atmosphere.  Examples of mood: romantic, realistic, optimistic, gloomy, imaginary or mournful. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

16. Connotation or Denotation  Denotation is the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition.”  The denotative meanings of the word “snake,” is: A scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptile having a long, tapering, cylindrical body  Connotation refers to the associations that are connected to a word or the emotional suggestions related to that word.  The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. The connotations for the word snake could include “evil” or “danger.” Go Back to Elements of Poetry

17. Diction  Poetic diction refers to the vocabulary, phrasing, and grammatical usage deemed appropriate to verse (poetry).  Poetic diction is distinguished from common speech by circumlocution, elision, personification and even Latinate terminology such as “azure skies.”circumlocution,elision, personification  In short, diction is the types of words used, and how they are used, in a poem. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

18. Alliteration and Assonance  Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in a series of words within a phrase or verse line. Alliteration need not reuse all initial consonants; Example: “We saw the sea sound sing, we heard the salt sheet tell,” from Dylan Thomas’s “Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed.” Browse poems with alliteration.“Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed.”alliteration  Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme. See Amy Lowell’s “In a Garden” (“With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur”) or “The Taxi” (“And shout into the ridges of the wind”). Browse poems with assonance.“In a Garden”“The Taxi”assonance Go Back to Elements of Poetry

19. Rhyme  Rhymes are the repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line.  Rhymed words conventionally share all sounds following the word’s last stressed syllable. Thus “tenacity” and “mendacity” rhyme, but not “jaundice” and “John does,” or “tomboy” and “calm bay.”  A rhyme scheme is usually the pattern of end rhymes in a stanza, with each rhyme encoded by a letter of the alphabet, from a onward (ABAB, ABBA, AABB, or XAXA, for example). ABABAABB Go Back to Elements of Poetry

20. ABAB  ABAB is a classic, often-used rhyme scheme with interlocking rhymes. It’s sometimes called alternate rhyme.  Here’s an example of ABAB in action, as written by William Shakespeare:  A O, if I say, you look upon this verse, B When I, perhaps, compounded am with clay, A Do not so much as my poor name rehearse, B But let your love even with my life decay…  This ABAB rhyme scheme is built into the famous poetic form called the Shakespearean sonnet.Shakespearean sonnet

21. AABB  A pair of successive rhyming lines. This is the rhyme scheme found in the couplet.  Couplets comprise two lines that rhyme and have the same meter and length.  A couplet is “closed” when the lines form a bounded grammatical unit like a sentence. The regal eagle sits alone upon a tree that serves as throne. But sometimes when the eagle flies (though this might come as some surprise) a mob of crows may—wing to wing— together drive away that king. Democracy in beak and claw finds regal eagle's fatal flaw. And is that legal? I don't know. You'll have to ask a mobster crow.

22. Literary Devices  Literary devices are language techniques which writers use to create text that is clear, interesting, and memorable.  Figurative language (metaphors and similes), symbolism, irony, alliteration, and assonance are actually all types of literary devices. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

23. A brief reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement. “The Waste Land,” T. S. Eliot’s influential long poem is dense with allusions.“The Waste Land,” A striking exaggeration. For example, see James Tate’s lines “She scorched you with her radiance” or “He was more wronged than Job.” Hyperbole usually carries the force of strong emotion.James Tate’s“She scorched you with her radiance”“He was more wronged than Job.” A direct comparison (John Keats’s “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”) “Ode on a Grecian Urn” or Emily Dickinson’s “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers— / That perches in the soul—.” “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers— / That perches in the soul—.” A comparison made with “as,” “like,” or “than.” In “A Red, Red Rose,” Robert Burns declares“A Red, Red Rose,” O my Luve is like a red, red rose That’s newly sprung in June; O my Luve is like the melody That’s sweetly played in tune. The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (for example “hiss,” or “buzz”). In “Piano,” D.H. Lawrence describes the “boom of the tingling strings” as his mother played the piano.“Piano,” Brings together contradictory words for effect, such as “jumbo shrimp” and “deafening silence.” For instance, John Milton describes Hell as “darkness visible” in Book I of Paradise Lost.Book I of Paradise Lost. The poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a nonhuman form as if it were a person. William Blake’s “O Rose, thou art sick!” and Donne’s “Death, be not proud”“O Rose, thou art sick!”“Death, be not proud” Wordplay that uses homonyms (two different words that are spelled identically) to deliver two or more meanings at the same time. Harryette Mullen riffs on the multiple meanings of “slip” in [Of a girl, in white].[Of a girl, in white]. A seemingly self-contradictory phrase or concept. Alexander Pope, in “An Essay on Man: Epistle II,” describes Man as “Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all.” “An Essay on Man: Epistle II,” Allusion Hyperbole Metaphor Simile Onomatopoeia Oxymoron Personification Pun Paradox Figurative Language Go Back to Elements of Poetry

24. Symbolism  Symbolism is the practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea. A rose, for instance, has long been used as a symbol for love.  An action, person, place, word, or object can all have a symbolic meaning.  When an author wants to suggest a certain mood or emotion, she can also use symbolism to hint at it, rather than just blatantly saying it. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

25. Irony  As a literary device, irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally means the opposite.  Dramatic or situational irony is a little different. It involves a contrast between reality and a character’s intention. For example, in Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, King Oedipus searches for his father’s murderer, not knowing that he himself is that man.  In both cases, irony creates distance between what is said or done, and the true meaning, or the true reality of the situation. Go Back to Elements of Poetry

26. Imagery  Elements of a poem that invoke any of the five senses to create a set of mental images.  Imagery uses vivid or figurative language to represent ideas, objects, or actions. Poems that use rich imagery include T.S. Eliot’s “Preludes,” Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind,” Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” and Mary Oliver’s “At Black River.”PreludesOde to the West WindDaddyAt Black River Go Back to Elements of Poetry

27. Web Quest: Poetry Foundation

28. Let’s Explore  The Poetry Foundation is a wonderful resource. Complete the “Let’s Explore” portion of the Elements of Poetry WebQuest as you navigate the website.  Once you are familiar with the tabs and content, begin searching for a poem to study for your Elements of Poetry Mini Presentation  Click on the image on the previous slide to enter the website.

29. Articles  Rhythm Rhythm  Movement Movement  Metaphor Metaphor  Transformation Transformation  Imagery Imagery  Lines Lines