The Language of PoetryEnglish 10

Special Effects

When you hear the term special effects what comes to mind?

Movie-makers have their own bag of tricks to make idea’s seem real or fantastic.

However, moviemaking is not the only genre to use special effects.

Special Effects

Many people feel that poetry is the most effective of all genres for making unreal things seem real.

Poets use imaginative language to evoke intense emotion to help readers visualize improbable scenes and to glorify even common objects.

In poetry, language is the medium for creating special effects.

Special Effects

Which picture makes the impossible seem real?

How is the girl in this picture like the butterfly?

What makes this photograph of the butterfly special? In what way is each image

inspirational?

Language of Poetry

In this unit, you will see how the language of poetry creates special effects.

You will learn to recognize and use these techniques – gaining a greater appreciation for this genre

What poems do you remember?

Let’s practice – I’ll say a line, you finish the poem.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to….

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was…

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall…

Why do these nursery rhyme poems linger in our memory?

We heard them over and over again as children.

What else makes them special?

Qualities that make poetry unforgettable.

Rhyme

Fun wording

Song-like verses

Repetition

The pictures/visuals these poems put in our heads

Remember….

All of the qualities that made those nursery rhyme poems unforgettable can be found in the poems we are going to study.

Continue to find those qualities, those special effects, that make these poems great.

Questions???

Do you have any questions so far?

Let’s take some notes then.

Part 1 – Poetry Form

Form refers to a poem’s structure, or the way the words are arranged on the page.

All poems are made up of a series of lines.

The length of the lines, where they break, and how they are punctuated all contribute to a poem’s rhythm and meaning.

In many poems, lines are grouped into stanzas, which function like paragraphs in prose.

Each stanza plays a part in conveying the overall message of the poem.

Poems come in a variety of forms, but are usually talked about in two categories.

TRADITIONAL

Characteristics: Follow fixed rules, such

as a specified number of lines

Has a regular pattern of rhythm and/or rhyme

Forms: Epic, Ode, Ballad,

Sonnet, Haiku, Limerick

Example:

Surgeons must be very careful

When they take the knife!

Underneath their fine incisions

Stirs the Culprit -- Life!

-- by Emily Dickinson

Forms defined

Epic: a long, narrative poem, ex. Odyssey

Ode: a meditative or commemorative lyric poem

Ballad: a narrative poem written to be sung or recited

Sonnet: a 14-line poem having a set pattern of rhythm and rhyme

Haiku: a form of Japanese poetry having a set number of lines and syllables

Limerick: a light or humorous poem with a particular rhyme scheme.

Category # 2

ORGANIC Characteristics:

Does not follow established rules for form

Does not have a regular pattern of rhythm and may not rhyme at all

May use unconventional spelling, punctuation, and grammar

Forms:

Free verse, concrete poetry

Example:

we’re everyanything more than believe

(with a spin

leap

alive we’re alive)

we’re wonderful one times one

-- from “If Everything Happens That Can’t Be Done”

by E. E. Cummings

Forms defined…

Free verse: poetry that does not have regular meter

Concrete: poetry that conveys meaning visually through the arrangement of letters and words

Traditional form: Model 1

For centuries, poets have written sonnets that explore everything from unrequited love to the mysteries of nature. There are several types of sonnets, but all of them have 14 lines and are written in a strict pattern of rhythm and rhyme

Traditional Form: Model 1 Pretty Words – by Elinor Wylie

Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:

I love smooth words, like gold-enamelled fish

Which circle slowly with a silken swish,

And tender ones, like downy-feathered birds:

Words shy and dappled, deep-eyed deer in herds,

Come to my hand, and playful if I wish,

Or purring softly at a silver dish,

Blue Persian kittens, fed on cream and curds,

I love bright words, words up and singing early;

Words that are luminous in the dark, and sing;

Warm lazy words, while cattle under trees;

I love words opalescent, cool, and pearly,

Like midsummer moths, and honied words like bees,

Gilded and sticky, with a little sting

Questions:1. How many

lines make up the 1st stanza? 2nd stanza?

2. In the 1st stanza, each group of end-rhyming words is highlighted in the same color. Identify the end-rhyming words in the 2nd stanza.

3. Compare the ideas expressed in the 1st stanza with those in the 2nd one.

Organic Form – Model 2

Poems written in free verse, like this one, do not adhere to a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme

from Beware: Do Not Read This Poem by Ishmael Reed

the hunger of this poem is legendary

it has taken in many victims

back off from this poem

it has drawn in yr feet

back off from this poem

it has drawn in yr legs

back off from this poem

1. Identify three characteristics that make this poem unconventional.

2. Even though the poet does not use punctuation, this poem has a natural rhythm. Read the poem aloud, using the rhythm you this is appropriate.

Any Questions?

Any questions about traditional or organic form?

Who can tell me what the difference is between the two?

Part Two: Poetic Elements

For a poet, deciding on a subject and form is just the beginning.

Will the poem hum along to a beat?

Will the poem charge ahead with a bold rhythm?

What images or sounds will convey a mood?

Using sound devices and language, poets can convey meaning, make music, and tap into the senses.

Sound Devices

Rhythm – in poetry the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each is what creates the rhythm

Rhyme – enhances the musical quality of a poem Internal rhyme occurs within line

End rhyme – occurs at the ends of lines

Meter – a regular pattern of rhythm

Rhyme scheme – a regular pattern of rhyme

Sound Devices

Scansion – this is the way meter is charted. Stressed syllables are marked with a

Unstressed syllable are marked with a ˘

A rhyme scheme is charted by assigning a letter of the alphabet to matching end rhymes. Check out the example on the next slide.

Sound Devices

Example from “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti:

My heart / is like / a sing / ing bird a

Whose nest / is in / a wa / tered shoot: b

My heart / is like / an ap / aple-tree c

Whose boughs / are bent / with think / set fruit; b

Sound Devices

Repetition – a sound, word, phrase or line that is repeated for emphasis and unity

Example:

back off from this poem

it has drawn in yr feet

back off from this poem

Alliteration – repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words.

Example:

Which circle slowly with a silken swish

Sound Devices

Assonance -- repetition of vowel sounds in words that don’t end with the same consonant.

Example:

Words shy and dappled, deep-eyes deer in herds.

Consonance – repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of word

Example:

Whose nest is in a watered shoot.

Poetic Elements pertaining to Meter

Foot – consists of one stressed syllable and one or two unstressed one.

Types of feet –

Iamb – unstressed/stressed

Trochee --stressed/unstressed

Spondee – stressed/stressed

Meter continued

Number of feet –

Trimeter – 3

Tetrameter – 4

Pentameter -- 5

After you’ve determined the type of feet you have and how many you have, you need to name the pattern. Combine the feet and number to name the pattern.

Example: Iambic Pentameter or trochaic trimeter

Imagery and Figurative Language

Explain how imagery works in fictional pieces.

Figurative language – takes imagery a step further. It uses the literal meaning of words to evoke a deeper image into our brains.

Example: Literal: He was angry.

Figurative: He burned with anger.

Let’s practice…

For each literal statement, create a figurative statement.

Her hair was a mess.

He was tall.

The snow was deep.

Types of figurative language

Simile – a comparison between two unlike things, containing the words like, as, or as if

Example:

My heart is like a singing bird.

Metaphor – a comparison between two unlike things without the words like or as.

Example:

Poets make pets of pretty, docile words.

Types of figurative language

Personification – a description of an object, an animal, a place, or an idea in human terms

Example:

it [this poem] has taken in many victims

Hyperbole – an exaggeration for emphasis or humorous effect

Example:

The hunger of this poem is legendary

Let’s Practice – identify the figure of speech in each of the following:

March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb.

He’s got a heart of stone.

The stack of bills was a mile high.

The morning sun smiled upon our arrival