Poetry

This presentation is an overview of what you will be learning in choice this year. You may not understand everything in this lesson but we will learn it together over the next year so don’t worry!

Let’s have a look at what poetry is...

A piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their sound and the images they suggest, not just for their obvious meanings.

The words are arranged in separate lines, usually with a repeated rhythm, and sometimes the lines rhyme at the end.

When you take a photograph you get an image—a representation of what was before you when you took the picture.

In writing you have to use words to describe the image that you wish to convey to your reader.

When we study literature we look at the words that created the picture.

This is called imagery.

Take the sentence; “He was cold.” Here the writer has simply stated a fact, the reader is told that he was cold.

Now look at the sentence; “The bitterly cold wind blew strongly. He shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him.” The writer here has used adjectives, verbs and adverbs to say the same thing. Imagery has been used.

A writer may use many different devices to create an image. Here are some of the main ones.

Alliteration PersonificationMetaphor

Simile Onomatopoeia

Assonance Sibilance Hyperbole

Oxymoron Description

When we talk about mood we are usually referring to emotions. If you are angry you are in a bad mood. If you are laughing you are generally in a happy, or good, mood.

It is the same in poetry. Mood describes the emotion of the poem.

Watch the following video and see if you can describe the mood of the poem.

Once you have decided what the mood of a poem is, you can work out what tone has been used to create that mood.

Tone often refers to the sound of your voice. If your teacher shouts at you, the tone of his/her voice should warn you that they are in a bad mood.

In writing it is more difficult to know which tone has been used, that is why you have to think about mood first!

Here are some words that you could use to describe tone:

MOOD TONE

Angry Violent, Explosive,

SadPensive, Thoughtful,

Reflective, Nostalgic, Poignant, Sorrowful, Mournful,

Melancholy,

HappyCelebratory, Joyful, Ecstatic,

Excited, Enthusiastic

Cambridge requires that you study a selection of poetry and develop the skills to talk about the poem in a critical way.

You need to understand what the poem is about, what mood the poet wished to create, what tone was used to create this mood and what imagery they used to convey a picture to you, the reader.

You also need to understand a little bit about how the poem was put together. We call this the structure of the poem.

To understand structure we will look at the vocabulary that has been used, the length of the lines, the way that the poem has been written into stanzas (verses), and any patterns that we might find: such as rhyme.

It’s a lot to remember so here is something that I will use throughout the year to help you.

S = SubjectT= ToneI = ImageryF = Form (posh word for structure!)F= Feeling (easy way to remember

mood!) Learn to write about all of these things and

IGCSE Literature will be easy