Introduction to Poetry

English 8

Miss Blake

Brainstorm

On your Venn diagram, compare what you

know about poetry and prose (ordinary

form of spoken or written language

without rhythmical structure)

Think about differences and similarities

Poetry vs. Prose

Both are a form of writing that have the goal of communicating or conveying a message to an audience.

How they communicate is slightly different.

Poetry vs. Prose

Prose Poetry

Most everyday writing is in

prose form.

The language of prose is

typically straightforward

without much decoration.

Ideas are contained in

sentences that are arranged

into paragraphs.

Poetry is typically reserved for expressing something special in an artistic way.

The language of poetry tends to be more expressive or decorated, with comparisons, rhyme, and rhythm contributing to a different sound and feel.

Ideas are contained in lines that may or may not be sentences. Lines are arranged in stanzas.

Poetry vs. Prose

Prose Poetry

There are no line breaks.

Sentences run to the right

margin.

The first word of each

sentence is capitalized.

Prose looks like large blocks

of words.

Poetry uses line breaks for various reasons—to follow a formatted rhythm or to emphasize an idea. Lines can run extremely long or be as short as one word or letter.

Traditionally, the first letter of every line is capitalized, but many modern poets choose not to follow this rule strictly.

The shape of poetry can vary depending on line length and the intent of the poet.

Main Elements of Poetry

Rhythm

Sound ◦ Rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia

Imagery ◦ Imagery vs. image

Figurative Language ◦ Figurative vs. literal

◦ Simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

Form ◦ Lines and stanzas

◦ Lyric, narrative, free verse

Rhythm

Rhythm: the sound pattern created by

stressed and unstressed syllables.

◦ The pattern can be regular or

random.

Rhythm is often combined with rhyme,

alliteration, and other poetic devices to

add a musical quality to the writing.

Rhythm Example

Example:

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

The purple words/syllables are “stressed”, and they have a regular pattern.

Sound

Rhyme: The repetition of end sounds

in words

◦ End rhymes appear at the end of two or

more lines of poetry.

◦ Internal rhymes appear within a single line

of poetry.

Rhyme Examples

Double, double toil and trouble

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King’s horses, And all the

King’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Sound

Alliteration: The repetition of initial

consonant sounds, in two or more

neighboring words or syllables.

How much wood would a woodchuck

chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Alphabet Aerobics

Sound

Onomatopoeia (ono-mat-opo-eia): a

word that expresses a sound

Screech, scream, holler, and yell –

Buzz a buzzer, clang a bell

Imagery

Imagery: the use of words to create

pictures, or images, in your mind.

• Appeals to the five senses

• Details about smells, sounds, colours, and

taste create strong images.

Images are the pictures created by the

poet’s use of imagery

To create vivid images writers use figures

of speech or figurative language

Example of Imagery

His body was tubular

And tapered

And smoke-blue,

And as he passed the wharf

He turned,

And snapped at a flat-fish

That was dead and floating.

And I saw the flash of a white throat,

And a double row of white teeth,

And eyes of metallic grey,

Hard and narrow and slit.

Then out of the harbour,

With that three-cornered fin

Shearing without a bubble the water

Lithely,

Leisurely,

He swam—

That strange fish,

Tubular, tapered, smoke-blue,

Part vulture, part wolf,

Part neither—for his blood was cold.

What is the image that the

poet is describing?

Figurative vs. Literal Language

Literal Figurative

Words mean exactly what

they say

Stated directly

Example: It’s raining hard

outside.

Words do not mean what

they say but imply

something else

Imaginary

Descriptive – helps the

writer paint a picture in the

reader’s mind using

comparisons

Example: It’s raining cats

and dogs.

Literal or Figurative?

____ 1. The chair was so heavy that I couldn’t lift it.

____ 2. My whole life is one big circus.

____ 3. The bridge of my nose was bruised.

____ 4. The cozy living room waited like a tired friend.

____ 5. The warm evening lingered, quiet as a mouse.

Figurative Language

Simile: A comparison between two

usually unrelated things using the word

“like” or “as”.

An emerald is as green as grass,

A ruby red as blood;

A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;

A flint lies in the mud.

Figurative Language

Metaphor: compares two things without

using the words “like” or “as.”

Gives the qualities of one thing to something that is quite different (one thing is another thing)

The Night is a big black cat

The moon is her topaz eye,

The stars are the mice she hunts at night,

In the field of the sultry sky.

Figurative Language

Personification: gives human traits

and feelings to things that are not human

– like animals or objects

The sun stretched its lazy

fingers over the valley.

Figurative Language

Hyperbole: An exaggeration for the

sake of emphasis.

If I can’t buy that new game, I will die.

This car goes faster than the speed of light.

I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

Form

Poetry is usually written in lines and

stanzas.

A stanza is a set of lines grouped

together to complete a single idea. They

act as paragraphs.

Poems can be long or short and can be

written for many different purposes.

There are many different poetic forms –

we will be studying three different types.

A poem that expresses the thoughts and

feelings of the poet.

◦ Addresses the reader directly, portraying the

speaker’s own feeling, state of mind, and

perceptions

Lyric

Free Verse

A free verse poem does not use rhyme

or patterns.

◦ Can vary freely in length of lines, stanzas, and

subject.

◦ Is very conversational – sounds like someone

talking to you.

◦ Some do not use punctuation or

capitalization, or they use other ways of

breaking the rules of grammar.

Narrative

A poem that tells a story and has the

elements of a story.

◦ Often narrative poems have a rhyme scheme