The Language of Poetry
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Transcript of The Language of Poetry
The Language of PoetryPoetry Notes
Figurative Language
Definition: Language that communicates meaning beyond the literal meaning.
Examples: simile, metaphor, extended metaphor, hyperbole, personification
Simile
Definition: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using the word like or as
Example: The woman looked like a dog.
Metaphor
Definition: a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically unlike but have something in common.
Example: Life is a journey.
Extended Metaphor
Definition: A figure of speech that compares two essentially unlike things at some length and in several ways.
Example: “All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players”
-William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Hyperbole
Definition: A figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect
Example: I have told you all to do your homework a thousand times.
Personification
Definition: Figure of speech in which human qualities are given to an object, animal, or idea.
Example: The books whispered in the quiet room.
Symbol
Definition: A person, place, object, or activity that stands for something beyond itself.
Example: A dove is a symbol for peace.
Connotation
Definition: Attitude or feeling associated with a word
Example: Enthusiastic-positive association; rowdy-negative association
Alliteration
Definition: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Example: “Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before”
-Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”
Assonance
Definition: The repetition of vowel sounds with nonrhyming words
Example: “Only their usual maneuvers, dear”
-W.H. Auden, “O What Is That Sound”
Consonance
Definition: The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end of words
Example: “lonely afternoon”
Rhyme Scheme Definition: A pattern of end rhymes in a poem. A rhyme
scheme is noted by assigning a letter of the alphabet, beginning with a, to each line. Lines that rhyme are given the same letter.
Example: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, a
And sorry I could not travel both b
And be one traveler, long I stood a
And looked down one as far as I could a
To where it bent in the undergrowth” b
-Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
Rhythm
Definition: A pattern of stressed or unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
Iambic Pentameter
Definition: A metrical pattern of five feet, or units, of each which is made up of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed.
Example: “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand”
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Blank Verse
Definition: Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter
Free Verse
Poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm or rhyme
Haiku
Definition: A form of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables
Example: “My aunt always said
slow and steady wins the race.
She died in a fire” (Alora).
Lyric Poetry
Definition: A short poem in which a single speaker expresses thoughts and feelings
Examples: Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” and Pat Mora’s “A Voice”
Narrative Poetry
Definition: Poetry that tells a story or recounts events
Example: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Stanza
Definition: A group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem
Quatrain
Definition: A four-line stanza, or group of lines, in poetry
Couplet
Definition: A rhymed pair of lines that may be written in any rhythmic pattern
“Across the Universe”Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cupThey slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mindPossessing and caressing me
Jai Guru Deva OM
Nothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyesThey call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter boxThey tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe
Jai Guru Deva OM
Nothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my worldNothing's gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter shades of live are ringing through my open earsInciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million sunsIt calls me on and on, across the universe
Jai Guru Deva OM
(With a partner, find and record at least 5 examples of figurative language.)