Poetry 1201

What is Poetry?

A concentrated form of language written in verse with vivid imagery, figurative language, rhythm, and sometimes rhyme

Line:

the basic unit of a poem.

Stanza:

a collection of lines in a poem.

Couplet:

A pair of rhyming lines in a poem.

Types of Poetry

Types of Poetry

Ballad

A story poem usually meant to be sung. There are two types:

Traditional Ballad:

writer often unknown, it tells a single story, is often passed down from generation to generation. Usually rhymes and has a lot of repetition as it can be easily remembered.

Literary Ballad:

often written in four-line stanzas with the second and fourth lines rhyming. The author’s name is known and it does not have a tune. Also tells simple stories of things or events.

Free Verse

A form of poetry that does not follow a set rhythm.

Lyrical

A poem that expresses intense personal thoughts moods and emotions

Narrative

A poem that tells a story

Concrete

A poem whose shape or visual appearance contributed to its meaning.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter

Haiku

A seventeen-syllable poem. It has three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second seven syllables, and the third five syllables. Many haikus are about nature.

**Figurative Language:**

Figurative Langauge:

Simile

A comparison of two unlike things using the word like or as

Metaphor

A direct comparison of two things not usually thought of as alike without using like or as.

Personification

The giving of human characteristics to inanimate objects.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound in a line of poetry.

Onomatopoeia

When a word sounds like its meaning or what it is.

Assonance

The repetition of a vowel sound in consecutive words in a line of poetry or prose.

Repetition

The repeating of a word or words in a line of poetry.

**Literal Meaning vs Figurative Meaning**

Literal Meaning vs Figurative Meaning

Literal Meaning:

A reader’s take on what the poem is saying literally. It involves what the words say at face value, what is written in black and white.

Figurative Meaning

Involves looking at a poem’s symbolic meaning. Symbolically the poem has a message for the audience that is implied (hinted at) rather than stated out and out (explicit).

Irony

Is when something happens that is the opposite of what you expect to happen.

**There are three types of irony.**

There are three types of irony.

Verbal Irony:

Say something that means the opposite

Dramatic Irony:

When one character or the audience is aware of something other characters are not aware of.

Situational Irony:

A contrast between what a character says or what he or she means or a contrast between what a character expects to happen and what actually happens.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the five senses VISUAL imagery is the most common type of imagery Some writers even manage to create images of the way things smell, taste, or feel Purpose is to make readers think about how something smells etc

Rhyme

Matching word sounds

Rhythm/Meter

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.

Refrain

A recurring passage or phrase in a poem.

Mood

The feelings and emotions of the author as they come through in the writing, and the feelings that the writing produces in the reader.

Tone

The way a writer’s choice of words reveals his or her attitude towards the subject, characters, and reader.

Ex. The cold, bleak, slushy pile of snow. 🙁

Ex. The fluffy featherbed of snow. 🙂

Symbol

An object, which stands for a quality or idea (For example a dove as a symbol for peace or a heart for love).

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds in consecutive words

Allusion

A reference to a person, event, or literary work outside the poem.

Contrast

A device used by a writer to emphasise the differences between two people, places, or things.