English Stuff

Assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words

internal rhyme

two rhyming words inside one line

parallel structures

using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

tercet

three lines of rhyming verse

iamb

unstressed, stressed

dactyl

stressed, unstressed, unstressed

anapest

unstressed, stressed, stressed

trochee

stressed, unstressed

spondee

stressed, stressed

ballad

a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas, traditionally passed down orally through generations

lyric

a type of poem that expresses the writer's emotions, typically briefly and in stanzas and recognized forms (sometimes performed with a lyre)

Sonnet

a poem of fourteen lines using any number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically have 10 syllables per line

free verse

Poetry that does not rhyme or have regular meter

blank verse

Poetry that does not rhyme but has a meter, especially that which uses iambic pentameter

elegy

a poem of serious reflection, especially one of lament for the dead (focus on love, loss, war)

narrative

a poem that tells a story, focused on plot rather than emotions

dramatic

A type of poetry that features quoted dialogue between characters

style of an elegy

quatrain, ABAB rhyme, iambic pentameter

villanelle

french verse, 5 verses followed by a quatrain, ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA

Gwendolyn Brooks (basic bio)

mid to late 1900s, influenced by Civil Rights Movement and Black Urban experience

Gwendolyn Brooks (poems)

"We real cool" "The bean eaters" "To prisoners"

notes on "the bean eaters"

- about the life of an elderly couple
- using language of the upper class to describe lower class things (irony)
- repetition of plain
- items described represent memories of childhood
- about accepting aging and remembering life

Elizabeth Bishop (bio)

Mid to late 1900s, mother suffered mental illness, themes: poetic serenity, belonging, working class families, humanity

Elizabeth Bishop (poems)

"one art" "filling station"

One art notes

- Villanelle!!
- loss is the only thing speaker has mastered
- disaster and master repetition
- references to author's lack of roots (she moved around a lot)
- you lose more things as you get older
- parallel structures
- accepting loss, learning to miss things but move on

Dylan Thomas (bio)

Mid 1900s, influenced by WW2, emotional and lyrical, themes of: creation/destruction, time, life

Dylan Thomas (poems)

"do not go gentle into that good night"

Do not go gentle into that good night notes

- Villanelle format, elegy theme
- possibly about the cancer of the author's father
- comparison death/life, dark/light
- about fighting against death
- Anaphora (Do not go gentle . . . Rage, rage)
- parallel structures of "___ men"
- religious undertones

Robert Penn Warren (bio)

Lived through great depression, WW1, WW2. Helped establish "new criticism" (analyzing a source without including outside sources/influences) Themes include: Time, Nature, Humanity, History

Robert Penn Warren (poems)

Evening Hawk, Man coming of age

Evening Hawk notes

- central image of a hawk at sunset
- the hawk is time/grim reaper figure, passing judgement on humanity
- time is a sentient being
- hawk (time/judgment) does not forgive our sins

Man coming of age notes

- speaker is looking at a frosted morning hillside
- questions how something so beautiful could come from a cold night
- talks about peace on the face of a dying person (comparisons)
- light/dark imagery
- reminiscing on "seasons of life"

Lydia Davis (bio)

late 1900s, known for flash fiction,

Lydia Davis (poems)

head, heart

head, heart

- free verse
- central conceit "metaphor": head-intellect, heart-emotions
- Personification!
- suggests a cycle of hurt/heartbreak
- logic is temporary, grief is permanent

Billy collins (bio)

late 1900s, style-quirky, whimsical. Contemporary

billy collins (poems)

some days

some days

- central conceit: some days you are in control (playing with dolls) and some days you are being controlled (being a doll)
- compares being in control to being out of control
- repetition = metonym (boredum) of everyday life
- Everyone is hiding emotions behind masks

to prisoners notes

- asking for hope
- commanding/telling prisoners to have hope and try even when it's hard
- a message to incarcerated people about recovery/doing better

facing it author

Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa bio

a correspondent in the vietnam war, poems inspired by personal experiences, recieved a bronze star for service

facing it notes

- a memorial by maya lin with over 58000 names of lives lost in Vietnam
- a man looking into a memorial and reflecting on his experiences in the war
- attempts to stay strong and not show emotion
- paranoia after war (ptsd)

dudley randall (bio)

influenced by black poetry movement (mid to late 1900s)

Ballad of Birmingham author

Dudley Randall

ballad of birmingham notes

- a ballad
- about the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed 4 young girls
- Rhyme creates a sing-song type feeling, contrasts the serious nature of the topic
- a child wants to go downtown and to go protest in a Freedom March
- the mother refuses because she believes it is not safe and she wants to protect her child
- the church is believed to be a safe place, but the daughter ends of dying in the bombing (situational irony)

Nick and the candlestick author

sylvia plath

sylvia plath (bio)

divorced with two kids, struggled with mental health, died by suicide, themes of motherhood, loss, and finding purpose

nick and the candlestick notes

- about her son Nicholas
- she is worried about her kid growing up in a broken home
- she is walking through her house towards her son and remembering her pregnancy with him
- she feels a hollow emptiness (related to child and divorce)
- religious references as she believes that Nick is her savior like Jesus

photograph of September 11 author

Wisława Szymborska

alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

slant rhyme

rhyme that's a little off (ex. need and tree)

consonance

repetition of consonants

anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence

metaphor

comparison without like or as

metonomy

the substitution of the name of an attribute of something for that of the thing meant

allusion

a specific refrence

couplet

two lines of rhyming verse

Wisława Szymborska (bio)

Polish, focus on historical events, russian communist influence

photograph of September 11 notes

- an Ekphrasis about the photograph "Falling man" by Richard Drew, taken of a man falling head first from the twin towers on 9-11
- about how the people are forever frozen in this moment
- they are much more peaceful in the photo
- about how it is too late to save them and there is nothing we can do but keep the story alive

a hymn to childhood author

Li-young lee

li-young lee bio

born in indonesia after parents escaped China after communism came, parents were important

a hymn to childhood notes

- themes of hope, fear, childhood
- begins talking about childish fears then expands to greater fears of war as a child
- games=childhood coping mechanisms
- child and mother fears as father is imprisoned in Indonesia
- the child was forced to grow up quickly
- growing up in a time of war - child doesn't fully understand

invictus author

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (bio)

tubercular arthritis, struggled with illness, amputed leg, themes of perseverance and strength

Invictus

- religious points = thanking gods for his strength even though he was an athiest (some find religion during times of struggle)
- about having strength against hardship, not being broken
- he has been harmed but not given in
- connects to the time period - people try to be stoical and not show emotion/pain

how to write a poem in a time of war author

Joy harjo

joy harjo (bio)

born native american tribe in Oklahoma, very nature connected and community vibes, muscial involvement also

how to write a poem in a time of war notes

- elegy in style (mourning/serious reflection)
- lineation is formated very spaced out/chaotic, like war
- free verse (unstructered, confusion)
- speaker is contemplating how to begin recovering/telling the story of war
- tone begins depressing but more uplifting towards end
- about soldiers trying to take native american land
- about starting out on a positive foot and looking towards the future