THE BARE BONES
OF POETRY
THE BASICS
I CAN USE EXAMPLES FROM THE POEM TO SUPPORT
MY ANSWER RL7.1
I CAN DETERMINE THE THEME OR LESSON FROM A
POEM RL7.2
I CAN DETERMINE HOW WORDS ARE USED IN A POEM
USING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE RL 7.4
“I CAN” STATEMENTS
Poetry is a type of
literature, or artistic
writing, that attempts
to stir a reader's
imagination or
emotions.
Poetry isn’t “throw away writing” like a
newspaper. It requires more thought,
and it offers more with each reading.
MEANING
“You never really
understand a
person until you
consider things
from his point of
view... Until you
climb inside of
his skin and walk
around in it.”
Empathy is the
ability to
understand and
share the feelings
of another.
The Speaker
is the voice
(or narrator)
of the poem.
The Poet is the
writer (or
author) of the
poem.
VS.
From “In Flanders Fields”
Poet: John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
FLANDERS FIELD
A Line refers to an arrangement of words
(on a single line)
No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
LINE
LINE
LINE
A Stanza is a group of
lines that create a
verse (the poetry
version of a paragraph)
A Stanza Break is a
space left in between
stanzas
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
The Subject is the surface appearance of
the poem. What does the poem look like it
is about “at first glance”
The Theme is the
lesson that the poet
wants you to learn by
reading their poem.
How can this lesson
apply to the BIG
WORLD around you?
"Cowards die many times before their
deaths; The valiant never taste of death
but once. Of all the wonders that I yet
have heard. It seems to me most strange
that men should fear; Seeing that death,
a necessary end, Will come when it will
come.” From Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
The Tone is the
speaker’s attitude
toward the subject or
the theme of the
poem.
Denotation is the
dictionary definition of
a specific word.
Connotation is the
feeling created by the
word itself.
The kid that sits in the back of the
classroom is a very unique individual.
These are synonyms for each other,
but dramatically change the feeling of the
entire line as it is read.
The kid that sits in the back of the
classroom is a very weird individual.
The girl arrived at the party wearing
vintage clothing.
These are synonyms for each other,
but dramatically change the feeling of the
entire line as it is read.
The girl arrived at the party wearing
old clothing.
Diction is the word
choice made by the
poet.
Word choice can
change the entire tone
of the poem.
"You can choose your friends but you sho' can't
choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no
matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it
makes you look right silly when you don't.“
"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're
entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before
I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.
The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a
person's conscience."
What differences do you notice in the examples???