Poetry

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Poetry
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Poetry is.

• Older than any other genre of writing
• The first poems were written 2000 years before
  Christ.

• Difficult to define
• Why? Because it has been around so long, poetry
  has become a widely varied art form.

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Poetry is.

• A genre in which the quality of language is just
  as important as the meaning.
• Sometimes more important!
• Dense
• There is a lot happening in a small amount of
  space.

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Poetry has been used to

• Record historical events
• Record myths/legends
• Entertain
• Release emotion
• Bring in customers
• Criticize government/society
• Romance lovers

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Poetry can be found

• In textbooks and literature
• Greeting cards
• Graffiti
• Songs
• Famous speeches
• TV/Radio commercials
• Church services and prayers

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Poetry is

• EVERYWHERE!

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Poetry is written about

• Religion
• Love
• War
• Nature
• Relationships
• Sex
• Drugs

• Peace
• Animals
• School
• Sports
• Racism
• Mean teachers
• Work

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Poetry is written about.

• EVERYTHING!

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There are many kinds of poems.

• Impossible to count
• New poems are being written all the time

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Fixed/closed form poems

• Haiku (usually about nature)
• From China
• 3 lines, each with a set number of syllables
  5, 7, 5

• Sonnet (Usually about love)
• Has a set rhyme pattern
• (Petrarchan) abba abba cdcdcd
• (Shakespearean) abab cdcd efef gg

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Other closed/fixed form poems

• Limerick
• ABC
• Acrostic
• Sestina
• Villanelle
• Many more

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Open form (free verse) poetry

• No rules about rhyme pattern, number of lines,
  number of syllables, etc.

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Poetic devices

• Tools poets use to make their poetry
• Easier to read
• More specific
• More interesting
• Deeper
• More memorable

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Rhyme

• Use of words with the same end sounds.
• At the end of lines
• There was a man from Nantucket
• whose body was shaped like a bucket
• Within lines
• There was a boy named Little Leroy

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Alliteration

• Repetition of a beginning consonant sound
• Greek god
• Dangerous dragon

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Consonance

• Repetition of consonant sounds in a line, stanza,
  or whole poem
• Laughter lights yellow flames in dangling lamps

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Assonance

• Repetition of vowel sounds in a line, stanza, or
  whole poem
• Hey you, theres only room for two on the moon.

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Meter/Rhythm

• Some poems have rhythm due to rhyme and stressed
  and unstressed syllables.
• eeny meeny miny moe
• catch a tiger by the toe

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Figurative language

• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Onomatopoeia

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Simile

• Comparing two things using like or as
• Quiet as a mouse
• Talkative as an ATS student
• He ran like he was being chased by an ax
  murderer

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Metaphor

• Language that compares two seemingly unrelated
  things
• This creates a sharper understanding or picture
  of the concept being explained
• Figurative meaning! Not literal!

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Metaphor examples

• His hair was a mop
• What does this mean? His head isnt really a
  mop. Describe what you picture

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Metaphor examples

• Soldiers on parade, the ants marched toward the
  dropped candy
• How might the ants be like soldiers on parade?
  That is what the writer wants you to picture.

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Metaphor examples

• Sometimes a whole poem or story is a metaphor for
  something else.
• Oh Captain, My Captain by Walt Whitman
• Appears to be about a captain of a ship, but is
  really about Abraham Lincoln

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Personification

• Giving human or lifelike characteristics to
  something that is not human or alive.
• This offers a new perspective through which we
  are able to see our world in new ways.
• This also makes the language more interesting.

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Personification examples

• The moon danced on the lake
• As the wind blew, the trees sang and told their
  ancient stories.
• Whenever you see talking animals, toasters, cars,
  etc in movies.

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Onomatopoeia

• Whenever natural sounds are written out in words.
• Hiss (snake, balloon letting out its air, car
  on wet pavement)
• Cluck cluck cluck (chicken)
• Boom (bomb or blast)

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How do we read poetry?

• Slowly
• Several times
• Curiously
• There is a lot to look for! Be observant!

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On the first time through,

• Get an overall feel of the mood and situation.
• What emotions are involved?
• What is going on?
• Who is speaking to the reader?
• What connections can you make?

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Then

• Read slowly. Look at the poem carefully.
• What tools does the poet use to enhance meaning?
• To make the poem more interesting?
• What is your favorite line, image, or stanza?
• Finally, describe the experience that the poem
  creates for the reader.

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Harlem by Langston Hughes

• What happens to a dream deferred??
• Does it dry up ?
• like a raisin in the sun? ?
• Or fester like a sore-- ?
• And then run? ?
• Does it stink like rotten meat? ?
• Or crust and sugar over--
• like a syrupy sweet??
• Maybe it just sags
• like a heavy load.?
• Or does it explode?