DESCRIPTIVE POETRYUnit 4

IMAGERY

Pg. 82

Poems can often describe things, if they do imagery is a useful tool.

What is Imagery?The use of words to appeal to the 5 senses:

Site, sound, smell, taste, touch

Connotation vs. DenotationConnotation = cultural or suggested meaningsDenotation = literal meanings

Home vs HouseSame denotation = residenceConnotation is different,

home = warmth, security and family House = the actual building

SMELLS

Pg. 82

1 Why is it that poets tell

So little of the sense of smell?

There are odors I love well:

The smell of coffee freshly ground;

5 Or rich plum pudding, holly crowned;

Or onions fried and deeply browned.

The fragrance of a fumy pipe;

The smell of apples, newly ripe;

And printer’s ink on leaden type.

10 Woods by moonlight in September

Breathe most sweet; and I remember

Many a smoky camp-fire ember.

Camphor, turpentine, and tea,

15 The balsam of a Christmas tree,

These are whiffs of gramarye…

A ship smells best of all to me!

PUPUSAS

An original by Miss Rachael

Sweat sticking to your faceThe slapping of maseca resoundsScents of loroco waft through the air.

Finally, the arrival of the golden discs.The sensation of heat upon your hands,Cooled by the soft chilled curtido and salsa.

Transferred delicately from plate to palletA plethora of flavors imbibed insatiablyThe result, Utter ecstasy.

A LONELY PINE

Pg. 88

A lonely pine is standingIn the North where high winds blow

He sleeps; and the whitest blanketWraps him in ice and snow.

He dreams- dreams of a palm-treeThat far in an Eastern land,

Languishes, lonely & drooping,Upon the burning sand.

1

5

What literary device is being used throughout this poem?Personification

A comparison in which human qualities are given to an inanimate object or animal

Give me an example of personification from the following linesLine 1:

standing

Line 3: sleeping

Line 5: dreaming

Line 7: lonely & drooping

EXAMPLES OF PERSONIFICATION FROM THE BIBLE

“Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.”

- Psalm 6:6

“Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.”

-Psalm 42:3

THE STORY TELLER

Pg. 93

He talked, and as he talked

Wallpaper came alive;

Suddenly ghosts walked,

And four doors were five;

Calendars ran backward,

And maps had mouths;

Ships went tackward

In a great drowse;

1

5

Trains climbed trees,

And soon dripped down

Like honey of bees

On the cold brick town

He had wakened a worm

In the world’s brain,

And nothing stood firm

Until day again.

10

15

What literary device is being used throughout this poem?Hyperbole

An exaggeration

Give me an example of hyperbole from the following linesLine 2:

wallpaper came alive

Line 6: Maps had mouths

Line 10: Trains climbed trees

Which stanza uses a simile? Stanza 3

EXAMPLES OF HYPERBOLE FROM THE BIBLE

“I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.”

- Psalm 6:6

“My tears have been my meat day & night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?”

-Psalm 42:3

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Robert FrostPg. 96

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claimBecause it was grassy and wanted wear,Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I marked the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to wayI doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.

1

5

10

15

20

What literary device is being used throughout this poem?Symbolism

The symbol has meaning in itself but also represents something beyond itself

What do the two roads symbolize?Good & evilHeaven & hellThe easy life & the difficultThe normal & the risky

EXAMPLES OF SYMBOLISM FROM THE BIBLE

“Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.”

- Psalm 55:5-7

Jesus is symbolized as the lamb of God.The cross is a symbol of Christ and salvation.The dove is a symbol of the holy spirit.

CLASS ACTIVITY Write one example of each (must be original,

not one of the examples used in class): Personification Hyperbole Symbol

Trade papers with a neighbor

Choose your favorite from your neighbors paper and put a star by it.