Poetry:

1
Poetry

• It is easier to read than you think
• English 10th grade

2
MAP Standards and Other Information

• Language Arts 10th grade
• Creator Julie Taylor
• MAP Standards Reading and evaluating poetry

3
Starting at the Beginning

• Most poems have titles. Most titles tell the
  reader something important about the poem.
• For example, the title Richard Cory tells the
  reader the main character of the poem.

4
Read the poem silently

• While you read, make note of any words you do not
  know. Also note any words you do know that seem
  to be used in a strange or unusual way. Look up
  the words that are new to you in your dictionary.

5
Read the poem aloud

• Ask these questions as you read
• 1. Does this poem have a certain rhythmic
  pattern?
• 2. Is there repetition of identical consonant
  sounds, alliteration? Of identical vowel sounds,
  assonance? Of identical words or phrases?

6
Units of meaning

• Poems are composed of units of meaning.
• A unit of meaning is a word or group of
• words containing a meaning relevant to
• the overall meaning of the poem. A unit
• of meaning may be as small as a single
• word or as large as the whole poem.

7

• Things to observe when looking at Poetry Units
• 1. Look at each unit of meaning and determine
  all the possible meanings for that unit. Make
  note of these meanings throughout the poem.
• 2. Look for patterns in the notes you have taken.
  

8
Look for images in the poem

• Do the images add to the meaning of the poem?
• Do they help to create the tone of the poem?
• Do they create symbols in the poem?
• Do they add credibility to the poem?
• Do they contribute to the poems setting?

9
Images

• There are six types of images
• 1. Visual images (sight)
• 2. Auditory images (sound)
• 3. Gustatory images (taste)
• 4. Olfactory images (smell)
• 5. Tactile images (touch)
• 6. Kinesthetic images (movement)

10
Visual images

• Visual images attempt to tap into
• our memories of people, places,
• and things that we are familiar
• with. This allows the author to
• create setting, tone, credibility,
• and symbols in the poem.

The onion in my cupboard Judith Minty
11
Auditory images

• Auditory images invoke memories of sounds we have
  heard. They too can help add credibility to the
  poem. In addition, they can add to the rhythm
  and tone of the poem.

Coughing like hags Wilfred Owen
12
Gustatory images

• Images of taste can
• also help in the
• reading of a poem.
• They are frequently
• used as metaphors to
• help the reader
• understand concepts.

After the cups, the marmalade, the tea T. S.
Eliot
13
Olfactory images

• Images of smell work like images of taste. They
  also act as metaphors to increase understanding.
  These are sometimes the strongest images of all.

The whiskey on your breath / could make a small
boy dizzy Theodore Roethke
14
Tactile images

• Images of touch, like all the other images, can
  be used in metaphors that can help the reader
  understand the poem more easily.

...seek the softness in my warriors beard
Mari Evans
15
Kinesthetic images

• Images of motion can contribute to the setting.
• They can create metaphors that increase the
  readers understanding of the poem.

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine John
Mansfield
16
OTHER POETIC DEVICESThere are other poetic
devices that contribute to the overall effect of
the poem and aid the reader in understanding the
poem. Learning to recognize these devices can
help the reader gain insight into the poem that
he or she might miss with a simple reading.
17
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of identical
consonant sounds in close proximity to one
another. When you think about Alliteration,
think about tongue twisters you used to try when
you were a child.
His body humbled by a hair shirt Dan Georgakas
18
Assonance

• Assonance is the repetition of identical vowel
  sounds in close proximity to one another. These
  devices are used to aid the rhythm of the poem
  and to help set the tone of the poem.
• Love alters not when it alteration finds
• William Shakespeare

19
Allusion
Allusion is a device with which the poet makes
reference to another work of literature, art, or
history. This device is used to broaden the
meaning of the poem.

20
Apostrophe

• Apostrophe occurs when the speaker of a poem
  addresses a real or imagined person who is not
  present or when the speaker addresses an
  abstraction.

Death be not proud. John Donne
21
Closed and Open Forms

• Closed form poetry uses traditional patterns of
  meter and rhyme. Sonnets are one type of closed
  form poetry.
• Open form poetry does not use traditional
  patterns of rhyme and meter. Free verse is one
  type of open form poetry.

22
Metaphor and Simile
Metaphor and simile are ways of making
comparisons. Metaphor makes a direct comparison
without using the words like or as.
All the worlds a stage William Shakespeare
23
Simile

• Simile makes a direct comparison using the words
  like or as.
• My love is like a red, red rose Robert Burns

24
Metonymy

• When the poet uses a part to stand for the whole
  that is metonymy. All hands on deck is an
  example of metonymy.
• The speaker does not want the sailors to cut off
  their hands and throw them on the deck instead,
  all the sailors are supposed to report to the
  deck. Using a hand to represent a person is an
  example of metonymy.

25
Synecdoche

• Synecdoche is a device which uses one closely
  related thing to represent another thing.
• For example, when the newscaster says, The
  White House announced today... He or she does
  not mean the building spoke. The White House is
  being used to represent the president.

26
Onomatopoeia

• Onomatopoeia is a device in which the poet uses
  words that sound like what they mean.
• Examples of onomatopoeia include bark, crack,
  and tinkle.

I heard a fly buzz when I died. Emily Dickinson
27
Personification

• Personification is used when the poet gives human
  characteristics to non-human elements in a poem.
  
• In another example, death waited patiently, the
  human characteristic is mental. This device is
  used to make abstract ideas more easily
  understandable to the reader.

Death be not proud John Donne
28
Repetition
Repetition is a device in which the poet repeats
words or phrases. Repetition occurs when the
poet repeats words or phrases in one part of the
poem.
29
Rhyme

• The most widely recognized poetic device is
  rhyme.
• Rhyme occurs when the central vowel sound and end
  consonant sound of two words are the same.
• Rhymes were used originally in the oral tradition
  to make memorizing poems easier.

30
Rhyme

• The most common rhyme is exact end rhyme. An
  exact rhyme involves two or more words that
  follow the above definition exactly.
• Love and dove are examples of words that
  rhyme exactly. An end rhyme is a rhyme that
  occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry.

If we had world enough and time This coyness
lady were no crime. Andrew Marvell
31
Rhyme scheme

• The way a poem rhymes in a traditional pattern
  can be described using a rhyme scheme.
• A rhyme scheme uses lower case letters to
  indicate the pattern of rhymes within a stanza or
  the whole poem.

32
Rhyme scheme

• For example, a stanza in which the first and
  third, and second and fourth lines rhyme has a
  rhyme scheme of abab.
• A stanza in which the first, third and fifth
  lines rhyme and the second fourth and sixth lines
  rhyme has a rhyme scheme of ababab.

33
Synaesthesia

• Synaesthesia is another device poets use to
  create specific effects in their works. A poet
  uses synaesthesia when he or she uses language
  appropriate to one sense to describe another
  sense.
• For example, if a poet talks about the color of
  music or the sound of taste, that is
  synaesthesia.

34

• Now that you have completed this brief overview
  of poetry, you are ready to begin reading,
  understanding, and hopefully enjoying poetry.
• Remember
• Read the poem at least twice.
• Look up words you dont know.
• Consider the type and purpose of the poetic
  devices in the poem.
• Look for patterns of meanings.
• Engage your imagination and begin the adventure!