3. Personification: Giving life-like qualities to an inanimate object

“Because I Could Not Stop For Death”

by Emily Dickinson:Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

What is personified in this poem? Why do you suppose the poet chose to use personification in this way?

Practice Personification

Practice using personification by completing the sentences below.

-The shadow

-The car

-The scarf

-The blanket

-The tree

Hyperbole: (sounds like hy-per-ba-lee)This is an exaggeration that is not intended to deceive, but used for emphasis.

Example:

“I’ve told you a million times not to shoot fireworks in the house!”

Poetry Analysis“Mother to Son”

“Mother to Son”

• Read through the poem on your own a few times.

• Think about the terms we’ve talked about in class to make sense of the poem.

• Answer the questions in pen using MLA format.

This is a formative assessment.

You will be asked to analyze a poem on your test on Thursday and again on the exam.

Theme – the underlining message of the poem

2. Imagery

There are three categories of imagery:

A. Sensuous Imagery

B. Figurative Imagery

C. Symbolic Imagery

Symbolic Imagery: Using symbols to enhance the poem or to convey the poet’s thoughts in a more interesting way.

“The Road Not Taken”

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.

What is the symbol Frost uses in his poem? What does it symbolize or represent?

Symbolism: When a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning itself also stands for something else.

Common symbols in literature:

Spring – New life/hope

Crown – Power

Rose – beauty

Mountains – Obstacle/challenge

Poet’s Tools

A poet’s tools are:

1. Word Choice

2. Imagery

3. Sound Devices

4. Formal Devices (Structure and Rhythm)

3. Sound devices

Another set of tools available to the poet are sound devices. Sound devices help bring out the musical qualities of lyric poems.

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant or vowel sounds in a line of poetry.

Example:

“Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers”

The peppy puppy the prince presented the princess

produced piles of poop in the palace.

Create alliterative sentences (aka tongue twisters) with a partner.

Practice Alliteration

Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sound they represent.

Examples:

“oink”, “bark”, “ring”, “meow”, “clang”, “bang”

How many more examples can you add to this list?