POETRY TERMS AND

DEFINITIONS

What is Poetry?

POETRY IS THE WORD USED TO DESCRIBE AN AUTHOR’S VERBAL EXPRESSION OF IDEAS THAT IS ORGANIZED IN A PATTERN AND EXPLAINED IN AN IMAGINATIVE AND UNIQUE WAY.

POETRY IS NOT JUST FOUND IN BOOKS, BUT IT IS AROUND US EVERY DAY! IT IS USED IN ADVERTISING, ENTERTAINMENT, COMMUNICATION, AND CASUAL CONVERSATION.

TAKE A CHANCE TO LOOK AROUND AND SEE WHERE YOU CAN FIND POETRY USED OTHER THAN IN A BOOK OR IN YOUR ENGLISH CLASSROOM.

NOW LIST 5 EXAMPLES OF POETRY FOUND IN EVERYDAY LIFE.

Poetry THE WORD USED TO

DESCRIBE AN AUTHOR’S VERBAL EXPRESSIONS OF IDEAS THAT IS ORGANIZED IN A PATTERN AND EXPLAINED IN AN IMAGINITIVE AND UNIQUE WAY

Prose THE ORDINARY

FORM OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE; ORGANIZED IN SENTENCES WITH NO SPECIFIC FORM

IN-CLASS ACTIVITY

Listen as Ms. Smyers reads the following selections of literature. Your job is to determine whether the pieces you hear are examples of PROSE or POETRY. Write your choice (PROSE or POETRY) on each line that corresponds with the matching selection.

Answers:1. POEM

2. PROSE

3. POEM

4. PROSE

5. POEM

6. POEM

7. PROSE

8. PROSE

9. PROSE

10.POEM

TRUE OR PERFECT RHYME

IDENTICAL SOUNDING SYLLABLES

EXAMPLES: FUN AND RUN, CRY AND TRY, REMEMBER AND DECEMBER

HALF OR SLANT RHYME

SIMILAR SOUNDING SYLLABLES

EXAMPLES: RAIN AND AGAIN, SUPPER AND BUTTER, TROUBLE AND STUMBLE

Rhyme Scheme RHYME SCHEME IS

THE PATTERN FORMED BY THE RHYMING SYLLABLES AT THE ENDS OF LINES OF POETRY.

**REMEMBER** You are matching up words

that rhyme with each other to identify the pattern that is formed by the last words in each line of a poem.

Label at the END of each line Label using LOWER case

letters

Mark the Poem/Homework Read the poem and label

rhyme scheme for “Hope is a thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson

Homework: read and label the rhyme scheme of the two poems

Narrative Poetry Narrative poetry is written in order to tell a STORY.

Narrative Poetry Narrative poems can be

about TRUE OR FICTIONAL PEOPLE OR EVENTS

Many narrative poems are about HEROES or HISTORICAL EVENTS.

Ballad A NARRATIVE POEM

THAT INCLUDES A REFRAIN, OR A PART/PHRASE THAT IS REPEATED

Epic A LONG NARRATIVE

POEM ABOUT THE DEEDS OF GODS OR HEROES

Mark the Poem/Homework Read and label the rhyme

scheme for “Casey at the Bat”

Complete the Homework for the poem

“Casey at the Bat”

http://www.disneymovieslist.com/cartoons/casey-bat.asp

Lyric Poetry Lyric poetry is

written to express the EMOTIONS OF THE AUTHOR.

Lyric Poetry Lyrical poems usually

capture the poet’s feeling towards a specific PERSON, OBJECT, EVENT, or MOMENT IN TIME.

Lyric Poetry The words of lyric poetry often follow a rhythm similar to that of a SONG.

Ode USUALLY A MORE

SERIOUS POEM THAT MAKES YOU THINK; VERY FORMAL

Psalm FOUND IN THE BIBLE

AND ARE TYPICALLY DESIGNED TO BE READ ALOUD BY A PERSON OR GROUP OF PEOPLE

Elegy A POEM THAT

REMEMBERS AND EXPRESSES GRIEF FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS PASSED AWAY

Mark the Poem

Read the poems and label rhyme schemes for “Uphill” and “Piano”

Figurative Language Figurative language

is LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY.

Figurative Language Figurative language

allows authors to SAY ONE THING WHEN THEY REALLY MEAN ANOTHER.

Figurative Language By using figurative

language, an author has many possibilities for EXPRESSING ONE SINGLE IDEA.

Figurative Language

Figurative language can be used in PROSE, but it is found most often in POETRY.

Hyperbole

AN INTENDED EXAGGERATION

Oxymoron AN EXPRESSION THAT USES WORDS THAT CONTRADICT ONE ANOTHER

Comparisons - Simile A COMPARISON THAT USES LIKE OR AS

Comparisons - MetaphorA COMPARISON THAT USES A DIRECT STATEMENT

Mark the Poem Read the poems and label

rhyme schemes for “Dream Deferred”, “Dreams”, and “The Eagle”

Underline any similes and metaphors in the poems

Personification

Personification is GIVING HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS TO A NONHUMAN OBJECT

Personification Poets often describe

INANIMATE OBJECTS or elements of NATURE as behaving like HUMAN BEINGS.

Create Your Own/Mark the Poem

Create your own examples of personification

Read and label the rhyme scheme for “The Wind” and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

Underline any examples of personification in the poems

Sounds Poetry is often read OUT

LOUD. Because of this, WRITERS often choose words that have a certain EFFECT when HEARD with the EAR as well as SEEN with the EYE.

Alliteration THE REPETITION OF

INITIAL CONSONANT SOUNDS

Examples: SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEA SHORE

PETER PIPER PICKED A PECK OF PICKLED PEPPERS

Onomatopoeia A WORD THAT

SOUNDS LIKE THE NOISE IT REPRESENTS

Examples: BUZZ, PLOP, HISS

Mark the Poem Read and label the rhyme

scheme for “Jabberwocky” Circle 5 nonsense words

that Carroll has created and label their part of speech.

Drawing Based on the description you

read in the poem, draw a picture of what you think the Jabberwocky looks like.

Be sure to use color in your drawing; feel free to use markers and colored pencils to do so.

“Jabberwocky”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm9o6DH_uzE

Sonnet

A sonnet is a poem consisting of FOURTEEN lines of RHYMING poetry. There are TWO types of sonnets and each has a PARTICULAR rhyme scheme.

Types of Sonnets English: Also called a

SHAKESPEAREAN Sonnet

Usually follows the rhyme scheme

ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Types of Sonnets Italian: Also called a

PETRARCHAN Sonnet Usually follows the

rhyme scheme

ABBA ABBA CDE CDE

Mark the Poem Read and label the rhyme

scheme for the three sonnets in the packet

Label them as either English/Shakespearean or Italian/Petrarchan sonnets

Haiku This is a STYLE of

JAPANESE poetry. A haiku consists of

THREE lines of VERSE. The FIRST and THIRD

lines each have FIVE syllables.

Haiku The MIDDLE line has

SEVEN syllables. The topic of a haiku is

usually a PRECISE detail or MOMENT of NATURE or EMOTION.

Create Your Own Write two haiku in your

packet in the space provided.

Be sure to focus on an aspect of nature and stick to the syllable pattern!

Limerick

This style of poetry consists of FIVE lines of VERSE.

The FIRST, SECOND, and FIFTH lines rhyme and consist of EIGHT syllables.

Limerick The THIRD and FOURTH

lines rhyme and consist of FIVE syllables.

These poems are usually intended to be HUMOROUS.

Syllable pattern is 88558

Rhyme scheme is aabba

Create Your Own Write two limericks in

your packet in the space provided.

Be sure to make them humorous and stick to the syllable pattern!

Take a Look As we have studied thus far, an

author’s choice of words, sounds, and use of figurative language and comparisons impacts the meaning and power of the poem.

For example, two authors can write a poem about the same general topic but create very different poems.

Take a Look Read the poems “Fire and

Ice” and “There Will Come Soft Rains”

Mark the rhyme scheme for the poems

Complete the journal entry as directed