The Poet’s Toolbox

The Essential Tools Poets Use to Make Their Writing Amazing

Take a deep breath. Relax. It’s going to be

okay. Poetry is a type of art that intimidates many

people. I understand: poetry can sometimes be challenging. If you give it a chance, however, it can also be funny, inspiring, and life-changing.

The purpose of this unit is to break down the essential elements of a poetry so that you can feel more confident in reading and writing poetry.

So, You’re About To Study Poetry…

There are five major types of “figurative

language” that we are going to study:

1) Simile 2) Metaphor 3) Hyperbole 4) Personification 5) Symbolism

#1: Figurative Language

Definition: A comparison between two things using

“like” or “as”.

“Let words grow tall like skyscrapers,let them glow like sunsets.“Let similes run wild, like an unsaddled horse across the plain.”

- “Gather Round” by Mr. Foley

“My soul has grown deep like the rivers”- “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

Simile

Definition: A comparison between two things without using “like”

or “as”.

“All the world is a stage” – Shakespeare

“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and hope of the slave. “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

You're not another fat jokeor last Sunday's horoscope.You're the prize catch, grandma's brownie batch.You're the idyllic rising sun, ultra-number one.- “Halitus” by Derek Berry (local Charleston poet)

Metaphor

Definition: Use of extreme exaggeration.

That was the easiest question in the world. I can smell pizza from a mile away. I went home and made the biggest sandwich of all

time.

“So I sit in a sea of ink stainsThen swim through an endless stream of inspiration”

- “The Spark” by Marcus Amaker

Hyperbole

Definition: When a non-human subject is given human

characteristics.

The drooping plant was begging for water. The sun touched me with its warmth.

“My money’s been acting funny latelyNow I don’t mean haha funnyNo, I’m talking strange, weird, different type funnyThis time money’s gone all outLeaving me, showing up, then leaving as quickly as she came”

- “Money” by Poetri

Personification

Definition: A thing that represents or stands for

something else. Everyday Examples: The American flag is a symbol of

the United States of America. A dove represents peace.

Poetic Example:Did you hear about the rose that grewfrom a crack on the concrete?Funny it seems, but by keeping it’s dreamsit learned to breathe fresh air.Long live the rose that grew from concretewhen no one else ever cared.

- Tupac Shakur

Symbolism

Definition: A writer’s attitude or emotions towards their subject.

Possible Tones: Scared, Excited, Worried, Solemn, Angry, Funny, Confident, Sarcastic, Lonely...

How would you describe the tone in this example?Yes, we are our fathers' sons and daughtersBut we are not their choicesFor despite their absences we are still hereStill alive, still breathingWith the power to change this worldOne little boy and girl at a timeKnock knockWho's there?We are- “Knock, Knock” by Daniel Beaty

#2: Tone

Definition: A writer’s choice of unique or

interesting words for a particular reason. Common reasons for unique word choice:

1) Alliteration 2) Repetition 3) Rhyme 4) Allusion

#3: Word Choice

Definition: The repetition of the same sound at the

beginning of a series of words.

“Her hardest hue to hold…” “So dawn goes down to day.”

- from “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost

We’ll take your spirit on a stretcherTo the Hip Hop HospitalAnd… CLEAR!!... Beat box you back to life.

- “What You Will Need in Class Today” by Mr. Foley

Alliteration

The act of repeating a word or phrase to create emphasis.

“Come lovers. Come enemies. Come mere acquaintances.” “Let a guitar be strummed, let a drum be hit,

let the turntables spit round and round.- from “Gather Round” by Mr. Foley

Knock knock down doors of racism and poverty that I could notKnock knock down doors of opportunityFor the lost brilliance of the black men who crowd these cellsKnock knock with diligence for the sake of your childrenKnock knock for me for as long as you are freeThese prison gates cannot contain my spirit - “Knock, Knock” by Daniel Beaty

Repetition

Definition: When two or more words have similar ending

sounds. A) End Rhymes: When the rhymes come at the end of the

line.“Stars hide your firesThese here are my desiresAnd I will give them up to you this time aroundAnd so I'll be foundWith my stake stuck in this ground”- “Roll Away Your Stone” by Mumford & Sons

B) Internal Rhymes: When the rhymes come in the middle of the line “I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream.”

“Microphone Fiend” by Eric B & Rakim

Rhyme

Definition: When an author references another work

of literature, a story, a film, a famous character, etc.

“So Eden sank to grief” - Robert Frost Robert Frost is creating an allusion to the Biblical

story of the Garden of Eden.

“Let us hear Ginsberg and all the beats be-bopping” In Mr. Foley’s poem, he creates an allusion to the poet

Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation of poets from the 1950’s.

Allusion

Definition: Language that appeals to one of the five senses:

sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell.

It was dark and dim in the forest at midnight. Grandma’s warm kitchen smelled of chocolate chip cookies. I licked the sticky sweet strawberry frosting from my fingers.

So pack your backpack full of sunrisesFirst kisses, your mother’s voice,Your father’s hands,The taste of your own breath on a cold morning,The sound of footsteps down a lonely street,The smell of a damp forest.”- “What You Will Need in Class Today” by Mr. Foley

#4: Imagery

Definition: The type of poem the poet chooses to write. The style of

the poem may determine the number of stanzas, the number of lines in each stanza, whether or not the poem rhymes, and the subject of the poem.

#5: Style

Lyric Poetry- Uses a rhyme scheme

- Use a regular meter (rhythm)- Typically express personal, highly

emotional feelings.

Free Verse Poetry- Does not use a rhyme scheme- Does not use a regular meter

- Based on the rhythm of natural speech (the way people actually

talk).

Spoken Word/Slam Poetry- Poetry written to be performed

aloud.- Uses modern language & slang.

- May incorporate elements of storytelling, comedy, or hip hop.

- Often focused on social issues.

Other Types- Haiku

- Epic Poetry- Ballads- Odes

Definition: The message, life lesson, or main

idea of a poem.

#6: Theme

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,Old time is still a-flyingAnd this same flower that smiles todayTomorrow will be dying.

- “To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time”by Robert Herrick

Theme: Life is short. Therefore, live life to the fullest.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.

“ Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

How would you summarize the theme of these closing lines?