Introduction to PoetryGrade 9

How to Read a PoemLook at the title~What might the poem be about?

Read the poem silentlyFirst reading: Let the poem come to youSecond reading: Let yourself come to the poemThird reading: Listen to the poem as it is meant to be read

Start with what you knowVocabulary, etc. Look for words you do not understand, use context clues, use a dictionary

Check for understandingWhat is your impression?~Do you like it/dislike it?~Why?

Look for patternsRhyme scheme, stanzas, image, organization, repetition, etc.

Identify author and speakerWhat do you know about author?Who is the speaker?When was the poem written?authors tone?

Critical moments/changesWhen do they happen?Are they effective?

Form and functionWhat type of poem is it? (ode, ballad, lyric, elegy, haiku, limerick, free verse, etc.)Why is the form effective for the subject?

Check your feelingsWhat are the mood and tone of the poem?How does the poem make you feel as you read it?Do you make any connections to your own life and experiences?

Check for understanding againHistory, what you now know, etc.Go back to the title were your predictions correct?

After ReadingPause and reflect~Do I feel comfortable explaining what the poem is about?~Do I have a clear picture of the poem in my head?~What particular words or images come to mind?~What is the big idea of the poem?

Poetic Terms to knowCopy and save these terms in your binders. You will need to refer to them as we work through the poems in this unit.

denotationThe meaning of the word you will find in the dictionaryExample:squander to spend wastefully or extravagantly

connotationThe emotional response or suggestions that a word triggers within youExample:squander to be careless with what you have; to not appreciate somethings value

alliterationThe repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginnings of several words of a line of poetry or a sentenceExample:There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,And swallows calling with their shimmering sound; (Sara Teasdale There Will Come Soft Rains)

assonanceRepetition of similar vowel sounds that are followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together in a poemExample:Moses supposes his toeses are roses.

allusionA reference to something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person, place, or event from history or literatureExample:She drank from a bottle called DRINK MEAnd up she grew so tall,She ate from a plate called TASTE MEAnd down she shrank so smallAnd so she changed, while other folksNever tried nothin at all.(Alice by Shel Silverstein)

figurative languageMade up of all the tools that a poet uses to create a special effect or feeling. It includes metaphor, simile, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole.

metaphorA comparison of two unlike things in which one thing becomes another thing without the use of the word(s) like, as, than, or resembles.Example:My love is a red, red rose

simileA comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, resembles, or than.Example:Your eyes sparkle as brightly as the stars.

personificationA metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were humanExample:This poetry gets bored of being alone,it wants to go outdoors and chew on the winds,to fill its commas with the keels of rowboats (Hugo Margenat, from Living Poetry)

onomatopoeiaUse of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning (comic book words)Example:boom crash swoosh

coupletTwo consecutive lines of poetry that rhymeExample:I am his Highness dog at Kew;Pray tell me, Sir, whose dog are you?(Alexander Pope)

dictionA writers or speakers choice of words.Diction is an essential element of a writers style.Connotations of words are an important aspect of diction.

hyperboleExaggeration for effect; often humorousExample:He was as big as a house!

imageryThe use of words that appeal to your five sensesExample: I peeled my orangeThat was so bright againstThe gray of DecemberThat, from some distance,Someone might have thoughtI was making a fire in my hands.(from Oranges by Gary Soto)

balladA poem that tells a story similar to a folktale or legend. Often has a repeated refrain.Example:The Ballad of Davy Crockett

free versePoetry written without a regular rhyme scheme, meter, or formThe early 20th-century poets were the first to write what they called "free verse" which allowed them to break from the formula and rigidity of traditional poetry.

moodthe feeling created in the reader by the poem or storyExample: Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever. (from Winter Garden)

symbolWhen something stands for or represents an idea or emotionExample:Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. (The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupak Shakur)

toneThe attitude taken by the author or speaker toward the subject of the workExample:I hoped that he would love me,And he has kissed my mouthBut I am like a stricken birdThat cannot reach the south.For though I know he loves me,Tonight my heart is sad;His kiss was not so wonderfulAs all the dreams I had.(The Kiss by Sara Teasdale)

rhymeThe repetition of similar soundsExample:Teddy said it was a hat,And so I put it on.Now dad is saying,Where the hecks the toilet plunger gone?(Hat by Shel Silverstein)

internal rhymeRhyme that occurs in the middle of a lineExample:Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary(EAP The Raven)

end rhymeRhymes that occur at the ends of linesExample:My last defenseIs the present tense.It hurts me now to knowI shall not goCathedral-hunting in SpainNor cherrying in Michigan or Maine. (Old Mary Gwendolyn Brooks)

rhyme schemeThe pattern of rhymes formed by the end rhyme in a poemExample:My last defenseIs the present tense.It hurts me now to knowI shall not goCathedral-hunting in SpainNor cherrying in Michigan or Maine. (Old Mary Gwendolyn Brooks)Rhyme Scheme of this poem is: aabbcc

speakerVoice that is talking to the reader in a poem

Sometimes the speaker is identical with the poet, but often the speaker and the poet are not the same.

lyric poemPoetry that does not tell a story but is aimed only at expressing a speakers emotions or thoughtsExample:The dead are always looking down on us, they say. while we are putting on our shoes or eating a steak, they are looking down through the glass bottom boats of heaven as they row themselves slowly through eternity.They watch the tops of our heads moving below on earth, and when we lie down in a field or on a couch, drugged perhaps by the hum of a long afternoon, they think we are looking back at them, which makes them lift their oars and fall silent and wait, like parents, for us to close our eyes. (The Dead by Billy Collins)

sonnetFourteen-line lyric poem that has one of several rhyme schemes

Shakespeare wrote 154 Shakespearean sonnets: rhyme scheme = abab cdcd efef gg

themeThe main idea, or meaning, behind a poem

narrative poemA poem that tells a story and usually contains all of the elements of fictionExample:Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. (Paul Reveres Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

repetitionRepeating of sounds and words for effectExample:And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.(from Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost)

odeA lyric poem that is serious and thoughtful in tone and has a very precise, formal structure. A tribute.Example:Ode to Joy

elegya mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.Example:O Captain, My Captain by Walt Whitman