• Alliteration: the repetition of initial
consonant sounds.
•Example: The Cute Cuddly Kitten hid in the
pantry.
• Allusion: reference to a well-known person,
place, literary work or work of art.
•Example: I compared myself to Toni Braxton,
thought I would never catch my breath.
• Figurative Language: Writing or speech not
meant to be interpreted literally.
•Example: Donny was so angry flames of fire
came out of his mouth.
• Metaphor: Speaking of a person place or
thing as if it is something or someone else.
•Example: Life is a broken winged bird that
cannot fly.
• Extended Metaphor: continuing a
metaphor over many lines or an entire poem
or essay.
•Example: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem
“Sympathy”
• Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sound.
•Example: The bacon sizzled in the pan.
• Personification: Giving human
characteristics to non-human things.
•Example: When I sat down, the chair wrapped
its arms around me comfortingly.
• Rhyme: Repetition of sounds at the end of
words or the end of a line of poetry.
•Example: now I lay me down to sleep. / I pray
the Lord my soul to keep.
• Repetition: Restating a word or phrase
multiple times.
•Example: Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a
Dream”
• Simile: Comparing two items using “like” or
“as.”
•Example: Float like a butterfly sting like a
bee.
Previewing the poem
Title:
Poet:
Background information:
Sympathy
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Dunbar was the son of slaves who escaped using the Underground Railroad. He worked as a writer and published many poems and short stories. Dunbar explored the themes of slavery and life in the South.
Previewing the poem Subject of poem:
Repeated words and phrases:
Structure of the poem:
Rhyme Scheme:
A caged bird
I know why; caged bird; first
3 stanzas with 7 lines in each
abaabcc
After we read What I liked about the poem:
What the poet is saying:
The mood of the poem:
Why does he repeat the phrase “I know why the caged bird”?
It is easy to read
He seems to be comparing a caged bird to a human slave
Sad in some parts and angry in others
He wants the reader to know that he too has felt this way
Thoughts and feelings
“I know what the caged bird feels, alas”
“Till its blood is red on the cruel bars”
“But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings”
Alas makes me think that he has been a caged bird too
Speaker seems to be getting angrier because his images are getting more violent
„caged bird‟ seems very desperate to fling a prayer upward
Connect to the poem When I read this poem, I felt:
I felt this because:
How does the speaker feel about slavery:
I know this because:
Confusion first, then sadness and then sympathy
Once I figured out that bird was a metaphor for slaves, it was sad to think about how they wanted to get away but couldn‟t.
He thinks that slavery is horrible. The slaves/birds are locked up and can‟t get free even though they keep trying to get away
Paraphrase
“When the first bird sings and the first bud opes”
Birds are singing songs of Spring and flowers are blooming
Paraphrase
“I know why the caged bird beats his wing/ Till its blood is red on the cruel bars”
Speaker understands the bird‟s frustration. Bird knows that escape is impossible but it still beats its wings against the bar, trying to get away.
Paraphrase
“It is not a carol of joy or glee./ But a prayer that he sends from his heart‟s deep core.”
The songs that the bird is singing are not happy ones; they are a sad pleading for freedom.
Literary Devices from poem Alliteration
when the wind stirs soft through the springing grass
Simile
the river flows like a stream of glass
Metaphor
Caged bird = slaves or African Americans who are not FREE
Rhyme
Alas, grass and glass
Imagery
first bird sings (hearing) and the first bud opes (sight), and the faint perfume from (smell)
Repetition
I Know what the caged bird feels
Top Related