Poetry

(also called
verse)
Poetry defined:
Poetry is a major type of
literature. It features
imaginative and musical
language carefully chosen
and arranged to communicate
experiences, thoughts, or
emotions.

Characteristics:
Poetry differs from prose in that it
compresses meaning into fewer
words and often uses meter, rhyme,
and imagery.
Poetry is usually arranged in lines and
stanzas as opposed to sentences and
paragraphs and it can be more free in
the ordering of words and use of
punctuation.

Sound Effects
Alliteration
Rhyme
Rhythm
Meter
Internal rhyme
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme scheme

Consonance
Assonance
Repetition

Repetition
The use of the same words or
phrases over and over

Alliteration
The use of words that begin with the same sound
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.

Onomatopoeia
The use of words that sound like the
thing they describe
Examples: hiss, boom, buzz

Meter
Meter is a regular rhythmic pattern in
poetry. This pattern is determined by
the number of beats, or stresses, in
each line. Stressed and unstressed
syllables are divided into rhythmical
units called feet.

Types of Feet:
Iambic an unstressed syllable followed
by a stressed syllable (Example: insist)
Trochaica stressed syllable followed by
an unstressed syllable (Example: freedom)
Anapestictwo unstressed syllables
followed by one stressed syllable
(unimpressed)

Types of Feet continued

Dactylicone stressed syllable
followed by two unstressed syllables

Spondaic--two stressed syllables

Terms used to describe the

number of feet in a line:
Monometerone foot line
Dimetertwo-foot line
Trimeterthree-foot line
Tetrameterfour foot line

continued

Pentameterfive-foot line
Hexametersix-foot line
Heptameterseven-foot line
Octameter-eight-foot line

Note: The most common meters are

iambic tetrameter and iambic
pentameter.

Types of Rhyme:
End rhymeuse of rhyming
words at the ends of lines
Internal rhymethe use of
rhyming words within lines
Exact rhyme--rhyming words end
with the same sound as in moon
and June

continued
Slant rhymerhyming sounds are
similar but not identical as in rave
and rove
Sight rhymewords are spelled
similarly but pronounced differently,
as in lost and ghost or give and
thrive

Rhyme Scheme
the pattern of end rhymes designated
by assigning a different letter of the
alphabet to each rhyme
(Ex: ababc)

Poetic Forms:
Lyric (ode, sonnet, ballad, elegy)
Narrative
--Shape poem
Epic --Acrostic
Haiku
Blank verse
Free verse
Limerick
Quatrain
Cinquain
Diamante

Lyric
a highly musical type of poetry the purpose of
which is to expresses the emotions of a
speaker. Lyric poems often uses regular meter

Narrati

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sto

Ode
a poem thats purpose is to honor or
praise someone or something.

Sonnet
a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually in
iambic pentameter, that follows one
of a number of different rhyme
schemes, considered a little song,
as sonnets purpose is to express
thoughts, ideas, or feelings

Epic
a long narrative poem, usually
chronicling the deeds of a folk hero
and written using moth dramatic and
narrative literary techniques. (The
Odyssey, The Iliad, Paradise Lost)

Free Verse
Poetry that does not use regular
rhyme, meter, or stanza division.
Free verse may contain irregular line
breaks and sentence fragments and
the purpose of this irregularity is to
mimic the rhythm of ordinary speech.
Most contemporary poetry is written
in free verse.

Darn the electric

Dar
fence!
Darn the electric
nfence!

Haiku
A form of Japanese pattern poetry,
usually consisting of three lines in
which the syllables alternate in a
pattern of 5-7-5; Haiku reflects on
some aspect of nature and uses a
minimalist (simplified) form.

Haiku Example
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

Haiku

Squirrel crossing street

Car comes, he changes his
mind
Be wise, not reckless.
--Bonnie Best

Elegy
a poem thats purpose is to express
sorrow over a loss

Limerick
A short, humorous poem
composed of five lines. Lines
1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten
syllables and rhyme with one
another. Lines 3 and 4 have
five to seven syllables, and
also rhyme with each other.

Example Limerick
There was an Old Man of Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
His daughter, called Nan,
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

Example Limerick
There was an Old Man with a beard
Who said, It is just as I feared!
Two owls, and a hen,
Four larks, and a wren
Have all built their nests in my beard!
--Edward Lear
from A Book of Nonsense

Quatrain
A poem of four lines: lines 2 and 4
must rhyme; lines 1 and 3 may or
may not rhyme. Rhyming lines
should have a similar number of
syllables.

Example Quatrain
Life is good
In many ways
Just dont get misunderstood
On hard days
Will Bjordammen

Example Quatrain
Whats wrong with people today?
People are rude,
Or maybe theyre in a mood,
Or maybe its just too many attitudes.

Example Quatrain
I had once made a snowman
Handsome as can be
In the snow he melted
A sad sight to see
Sebastian Gusman

Example Quatrain
Apples, pears, cookies too
Tacos, pizza, French fondue
People, racecar, how are you?
Ghost, goblins, zombies, BOO!

Cinquain
Has five lines: Line 1 is one word (the
title), line 2 is two words that
describe the title, line 3 is three
words that tell the action, line 4 is
four words that express feeling, line
5 is one word that recalls the title

Example Cinquain
Mules
Stubborn, unmoving
Braying, kicking, resisting
Not wanting to listen
People
by Cindy Barden

Example
Birds
Colorful, poised
Flying, singing, diving
Spirited, peaceful, joyous, free
Dancers
Abby Guinan

Diamante
Has seven lines
line 1 is a one-word subject that is
opposite of line 7 line 2 is two adjectives
which describe the subject in Line 1
Line 3 is three verbs relating to the subject
in line 1 line 4 is two nouns related to the
subject of line 1, followed by two nouns
related to the subject in line 7 (four words
total)

line 5 is three verbs related to

the subject in line 7
line 6 is two adjectives which
describe the subject in line
seven
line 7 is a one-word subject that
is opposite of line 1

Example Diamante
Tears
Wet, shiny
Sliding, escaping, holding,
Girls, hearts, boys, teeth
Healing, rejuvenating, motivating
Beautiful, emotional
Smile
Alex Lewis

Example Diamante
Society
Imperfect, unestablished
Cheating, lying, stealing
Pollution, economy, life, generations
Greening, blossoming, growing
Beautiful, majestic
Nature
Abby Guinan

Shape Poem
Poetry written in the shape or form of an
object. This is a type of concrete poetry.

Shape poem
It smells like a box.
It looks like a box.
It tastes like a box.
It sounds like a box.
But its not a box.
Amy Levy

Acrostic Poem
A poem that makes a word or message from
the first (usually) letter used in each line

Living
Inside the world
For many years
Everyday we learn something about
it

Graphic and Structural

Elements
Line breakthe intentional end of a
line of poetry
Refraingroup of words repeated at
key intervals in poetry
Stanzadivision of a poem
composed of two or more lines
characterized by meter, rhyme, and
number of lines

Stanza Lengths

Couplettwo-line stanza
Tripletthree-line stanza
Quatraina four-line stanza
Quinteta five-line stanza
Sesteta six-line stanza

Literary Language and

Devices
Hyperbole
Metaphor
Extended Metaphor
Apostrophe
Oxymoron
Paradox
Imagery

New Literary Terms

Enjambment the running over of a
sentence from one line to the next
(chops up the ideas/readers thoughts)
Antithesiscontrast of ideas by means
of parallel arrangements of words,
clauses, or sentences (Example: You
win some; you lose some.)

Apostrophe
addressing an absent person or
personified thing

Oxymoron
a combination of contradictory words,
as in cruel kindness or loving hate

Paradox
A statement that is seemingly
contradictory to common sense and yet
is true
Examples:
Im alone in a crowd.
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to
drink
I must be cruel only to be kind.

Paradox examples
I always tell lies.
We must go to war to make peace.
I can resist anything except
temptation

Imagery/Sensory Details
A description that creates clear
pictures in the readers mind; appeal
to the five senses. When you read a
description of something that causes
you to imagine the way something
tastes, smells, sounds, feels, or looks
like

idiom
An expression that has a meaning
different from the meaning of its
individual words
Examples to go to the dogs
a drop in the bucket
chip on your shoulder
a piece of cake
a pat on the back
a slap on the wrist