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Poetry Basics and Analysis Guide

The Basics and A Few Poetic Devices

  • Topic: Introduction to poetry
  • Core idea: Poetry is a craft that uses language in distinctive ways to create effects beyond ordinary prose
  • Key elements introduced:
    • Form made up of individual lines rather than sentences/paragraphs of a short story
    • Use of sound
    • Sometimes includes rhymes
    • Imagery
    • Figurative language
    • Can be relatively concise and yet complex
  • Purpose of poetry ( implied by the focus on these elements ): to evoke sensory experiences, emotions, and ideas through compact, crafted language

What is Poetry?

  • Poetry is a form of writing characterized by several features (from the slide content):
    • Form composed of lines, not sentences/paragraphs
    • Emphasis on sound (sound patterns, rhythm, and musicality)
    • Sometimes employs rhyme (end rhymes or internal rhymes)
    • Imagery (sensory details that create pictures in the mind)
    • Figurative language (comparisons, symbolism, and other non-literal uses of language)
    • Potentially concise yet capable of complex ideas
  • Page 2 content notes:
    • The slide appears to be a collage of vocabulary fragments and multilingual cues related to poetry (e.g., references to sounds, senses, and imagery across languages). These fragments reflect the broad range of terms and ideas that poetry touches (sound, sense, imagery, mood, etc.).
    • This page also hints at sensory and linguistic elements (e.g., aroma, imagery, sense-related terms) that poets often deploy to create vivid effects.

How to Break Down a Poem (Steps/Rounds)

  • Round 1: Number Your Poem
    • Number each line
    • Number each stanza
    • Consider what kinds of stanzas you have (e.g., single-line stanzas, couplets, tercets, quatrains, etc.)
  • Round 2: Rhyming
    • Mark any end rhyme and label it with corresponding letters (A, B, C, …)
    • Mark any internal rhymes and connect them with dotted lines to show rhyme relationships
  • Round 3: Repetition
    • Mark any words that repeat
    • Mark any refrains (repeated lines or phrases across the poem)
    • Mark any alliteration (repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words)
  • Round 4: Figures of Speech
    • Identify and label:
    • Similes
    • Metaphors
    • Hyperbole
    • Personification
    • Rhetorical Questions
    • Allusions
  • Round 5: Imagery
    • Identify imagery across senses:
    • Visual (sight)
    • Taste
    • Smell
    • Touch
    • Sound

How to Break Down a Poem (General Guidelines)

  • Lines
    • Endings: Lines end where the poet chooses; not always full sentences
  • Stanzas
    • A stanza is a grouped set of lines separated by breaks from other groups of lines
  • Round 1 (reiterated):
    • Number lines and stanzas
    • Consider stanza types (e.g., couplets, tercets, quatrains, free verse stanzas)

Rhyming

  • End Rhyme: Rhyme at the end of a line
  • Internal Rhyme: Rhyme within a line
  • Rhyme Scheme: A pattern of rhymes across the lines of a poem (e.g., ABAB, AABB, etc.)
  • Round 2: Rhyming (practical approach)
    • Mark end rhymes with letters and connect internal rhymes with dotted lines to show relationships

Repetition and Sound Devices

  • Repetition (types)
    • Alliteration: Repetition of initial sounds of adjacent or closely spaced words
    • Word repetition: Repeating a word to emphasize a point or theme
    • Refrain: A line or a group of lines that is repeated, often at regular intervals (e.g., at the end of a stanza or section)
  • Round 3: Analysis prompts
    • Highlight repetition in one color
    • Highlight alliteration in a different color (same initial sound in nearby words)

Figures of Speech

  • Common figures of speech to identify:
    • Simile: A comparison using like or as
    • Metaphor: A direct comparison without like or as
    • Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds
    • Personification: Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things
    • Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis or effect
    • Rhetorical Questions: Questions posed without expecting an answer
    • Allusions: Casual references to people, places, or events
  • Round 4: Italicize any figures of speech (as a stylistic cue to emphasize them)

Imagery

  • Imagery focuses on sensory experiences in poetry
  • Senses covered:
    • Visual (sight)
    • Taste
    • Smell
    • Touch
    • Sound
  • Round 5: Imagery brackets
    • Place brackets around any imagery corresponding to the five senses: Visual, Taste, Smell, Touch, Sound

Message / Theme

  • Central question: What is the poem about, and what is the poet’s stance or attitude toward that subject?
  • This involves identifying the poem’s subject, perspective, tone, and underlying purpose

Summary of Practical Analysis Toolkit (Collected from all pages)

  • Understand what poetry is by focusing on form, sound, imagery, figurative language, and conciseness/complexity
  • Break down a poem step-by-step using the rounds to systematically analyze structure, sound, repetition, figurative devices, and imagery
  • Map the poem’s rhymes, stanza forms, and line patterns to reveal musicality and form
  • Identify and classify devices (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, rhetorical questions, allusions) and mark their presence
  • Examine imagery across all five senses to understand mood, atmosphere, and meaning
  • Determine the poem’s message or stance to articulate its argument or perspective
  • Use explicit labeling and color-coding as a study technique to organize observations

Cross-Reference and Practical Tips for Exam Prep

  • When given a poem, first note its form: number lines and stanzas, identify stanza types if possible
  • Next, scan for rhymes and note rhyme scheme; distinguish end rhymes vs internal rhymes
  • Then, look for repetition and refrains; identify where alliteration appears
  • Proceed to figure out figures of speech and italicize/underline for quick reference
  • Finally, analyze imagery by assigning each image to one of the five senses and bracket it
  • Conclude with a concise statement of the poem’s message or stance, supported by up to three key examples from your analysis

Quick Reference Glossary (from the slides)

  • Poem: a form built from lines and often stanzas; relies on sound, imagery, and figurative language
  • End rhyme: rhyme at the end of lines
  • Internal rhyme: rhyme within a line
  • Rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhymes across a poem
  • Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds
  • Refrain: repeated lines or phrases
  • Simile: comparison using like or as
  • Metaphor: direct comparison without like or as
  • Hyperbole: exaggerated statement for effect
  • Personification: giving human traits to nonhuman things
  • Onomatopoeia: words that imitate sounds
  • Allusions: indirect references to people, places, or events
  • Imagery: language that evokes sensory experiences across sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound
  • Message/Theme: the central subject and the speaker’s stance toward it