What Makes a Poem?

Differences between Poetry and Prose

Definitions• Poem: a piece of writing that usually

has figurative language and that is written in separate lines (stanzas) that often have a repeated rhythm and sometimes rhyme

• Prose: ordinary writing

Key Elements of

Poetry• Rhyme

• Rhyme Scheme

• Rhythm

• Meter

• Stanzas

• Figurative LanguageWhat, exactly,

makes a poem a poem?

RhymeWords that sound the same and are usually placed

at the END of a line of poetry.

Example:Silent night,

Holy night,

All is calm

All is bright

Rhyme Scheme

• The pattern of the rhymes in poems.We label rhyme scheme like this:

Silent night a

Holy night a

All is calm b

All is bright a

Rhythm• When the arrangement of syllables creates

an audible pattern or beat when read out loud.

Example:

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Can you see the rhyme and rhythm?

Life is mostly froth and bubble,Two things stand like stone,

Kindness in another’s trouble,Courage in your own.

- Adam Lindsay Gordon

Meter• Meter is the pattern that the rhythm

takes in a poem. • Similar to what a rhyme scheme is for

rhyme.

Example:“His noisy snoring woke the

neighbors' dog.”

Stanzas• A unit or a group of lines in poetry that

are usually related to a single idea. OR

• How we organize the lines in poetry.

Find the Stanzas

Figurative Language• Speech or writing that departs from

literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning.

OR• Words or expressions that mean

something different from their literal meaning.

Types of Figurative Language

• Simile• Metaphor• Hyperbole• Personification• Onomatopoeia • Idioms

• She was as beautiful as the sun.

• She was a rose in bloom.

• Everyone was losing their heads!

• The wind howled sadly.

• BOOM! Went the cannons.

• Out of the blue, the dog attacked!