POETRY

IMAGERY

When language is used to create an image that is vivid and “real” for the reader.Example: “The liquid was green and gooey, and

it smelled like a bag of apples that had been left in the sun to rot.”

Gross!

MOOD TONEMood is the general atmosphere created by the authors words. It is the feeling the reader gets from reading those words

Tone is the author’s attitude toward the writing and the readers. Tone is set by the setting, choice of vocabulary and other details.

SPEAKER

In poetry, the narrative “voice “ that is telling the reader about his or her feelings or the situation they are in.

FIGURATIVELANGUAGE

SIMILE

A comparison of two things using “like, as than,” or “resembles.”

“She is as beautiful as a sunrise.”

METAPHOR

A direct comparison of two unlike things “All the world’s a stage, and the men and

women merely players.”- William Shakespeare

EXTENDED METAPHOR

A metaphor that goes several lines or possible the entire length of a work.

IMPLIED METAPHOR

The comparison is hinted at but not clearly stated.

“The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town swelled and puffed with the pressure of it.”

- from The Pearl- by John Steinbeck

PERSONIFICATION9

An animal given human-like qualities or an object given life-like qualities.

from “Ninki”by Shirley Jackson

“Ninki was by this time irritated beyond belief by the general air of incompetence exhibited in the kitchen, and she went into the living room and got Shax, who is extraordinarily lazy and never catches his own chipmunks, but who is, at least, a cat, and preferable, Ninki saw clearly, to a man with a gun.

APPROXIMATE RHYME

a.k.a imperfect rhyme, near rhyme, close rhyme, slant rhyme

The words share EITHER the same vowel or consonant sound BUT NOT BOTH

ROSE LOSE

Different vowel sounds (long “o” and “oo” sound)

Share the same consonant sound

RHYME SCHEME

A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme. Rhyming usually occurs at the end of a line of

poetry. This is call end rhyme. Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds

to be able to visually “see” the pattern. (See next slide for an example.)

SAMPLE RHYME SCHEME The Germ by Ogden Nash

A mighty creature is the germ, Though smaller than the pachyderm.

His customary dwelling place Is deep within the human race.

His childish pride he often pleases By giving people strange diseases. Do you, my poppet, feel infirm? You probably contain a germ.

aabbccaa

STANZA

A stanza is a “paragraph” in poetry.

Stanzas are used to group similar ideas, images, or rhyme schemes.

Stanzas can be of various length. Some poems do not have stanzas.

The Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

His vision is so weary from the passing barshe cannot see anything else.To him it is as if there are a thousand bars; and behind a thousand bars no world.

The soft pace of sinuous, forceful steps that in ever smaller circles move,is like a hypnotic dance round a centerin which a mighty will stands trapped.

Only at times, the curtains of the eyeslift quietly--. A spirit enters in,rushes through the tensed, still muscles,plunges into the heart and dies. 

ONOMATOPOEIA

A word that stands for a sound:– “Shhh!”– “Hissssss, went the snake.”

ALLITERATION

When a consonant sound is repeated in poetry or prose for emphasis.

“Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore.”

ASSONANCE

Repetition of vowel sounds in poetry or prose to create internal rhyming.

“The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe is an example of assonance."Hear the mellow wedding bells"

DENOTATION

The dictionary definition of the word.

Skinny means to have a body that doesn’t have a lot of fat on in.

CONNOTATION

The positive, negative, or neutral meaning that most people associate with a word.

Skinny has a negative connotation. Someone who has little body fat may prefer to be called thin, healthy, fit, or slim.