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What is poetry?
POETRY VOCABULARY
Structure & Language
! End rhyme
! Repetition
! Alliteration
! Onomatopoeia
! Personification
! Assonance
! Consonance
! Simile
! Metaphor
! Stanza
Types of Poetry
! Dream Poems
! If I were Poems
! Found Poems
! List Poems
! Alliteration Poem
! Ekphrasis poetry
! Free Verse


http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html
What is Style?
! The way an author chooses words,
arranges them in verse, and
develops ideas and actions with
description, imagery, and other
literary techniques.
! Form vs. Content
! Voice who is talking/whose
perspective
What is Imagery?
! Creating images in the mind for
the reader show dont tell
! Examples: the imagery of light and
darkness or morning and night to
show happiness or sadness.
! Your turn
What are Simile and Metaphor?
! Similes are comparisons that use like or
as.
Her eyes are as green as emeralds.
Clouds soft and fluffy like marshmallows.

! Metaphors are comparisons that say one
thing is another.
My fathers anger is a volcano about to blow.
What is Onomatopoeia?
! Onomatopoeia is the use of words that
imitate sounds.
! Wham! Splat! Pow! I am in trouble now!
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What is Personification?
! The endowment of inanimate
objects or abstract concepts with
animate or living qualities.
! An example: "The yellow leaves
flaunted their color gaily in the
breeze." Wordsworth's "I wandered
lonely as a cloud" includes
personification.
What is Free Verse?
! Free verse is poetry that has neither a
particular beat or rhyme pattern. It usually
does have rhythm, however.
Dream Poems
My Bed is Like a Sailing Ship
My bed is like a sailing ship-
when I'm tucked in, I take a trip.
I leave behind my busy day
and sail to places far away.
I sail past beaches, gleaming white,
with palm trees swaying in the night.
I watch the waves break on the shore,
and then I see my bedroom floor!
I blink my eyes, I scratch my head-
my ship is home, I'm back in bed.
My ships goes sailing every night
and sails home in the morning light.




1996 by Bruce Lansky, reprinted from
Sweet Dreams with permission of Meadowbrook
Press
! rich in creative
imagery
! written in a stream of
consciousness style
! or "wouldn't it be
great if..." wish lists
! pleasant dreams,
nightmares, day
dreams, reoccurring
dreams
Lets write together
Found Poems
Out of Control

"The president will come to town..."
"The price of beans is coming down..."
"I'll love you till the end of time..."
"But shooting ducks should be a crime..."
"We've never had a better sale..."
"We'll have to break them out of jail..."
"The Pope arrived to lead the prayers..."
"The Dallas Cowboys beat the Bears..."
"The temperature is three below..."
"These vitamins will help you grow..."
What's going on? Well, bless my soul!
Baby's got the remote control.
Bruce Lansky
Found Poems
Where's the Hospital Zone When You Need It?
Men Working
Slow
Weak Shoulders
Bruce Lansky

Don't Stop At This Restaurant
Next Exit
Taco Bell
Food
Gas
Bruce Lansky
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How do I write a Found Poem from
a car ride?
! Take a pencil and notebook the next time you go
on a long car ride or are just walking down the
street.
! Write down as many road signs as you can.
! Pick out only those road signs that you can use to
tell a story of some sort.
! To have the story make sense, the road signs have
to be arranged in exactly the right order.
How do I write a Found Poem with a
newscast?
! Watch an evening newscast.
! Write down interesting lines that you hear.
! Write down as many as you can in 10 minutes.
! Pick out only those that you can use to tell a story
of some sort.
! To have the story make sense, the lines have to be
arranged in exactly the right order.
How do I write a Found Poem with a
newspaper or magazine?
! Flip through a newspaper or magazine.
! Cut out or write down interesting lines that
you see.
! Pick out only those that you can use to tell
a story of some sort.
! To have the story make sense, the lines
have to be arranged in exactly the right
order.
What is Patterned Poetry?
! Patterned poems
usually do not rhyme!
! They follow a
specific pattern.
! Examples include
haiku, cinquain,
acrostic, initial, and
concrete poetry.
If I were Poems
If you were a shining star
And I were your midnight,
Id let you shine above me,
Youd be my only light.
If you were a scoop of ice cream
And I were an ice cream cone,
Id put you on my shoulders
And hold you for my own.
If you were a grand piano
And I were a sweet love song,
Id let your keys tickle and tease
My melody all day long.
If you were the pages of my book
And I were reading you,
Id read as slow as I could go
So I never would get through.
If I were Poems
! The If-You-Were and If-I-Were Poems consist of
4 lines (quatrain) and 2 rhymes (lines 2 & 4).
Each poem contains 2 comparisons (metaphor),
one for the I of the poem and one for the
you.
! Instructions: Think of a person you like. Compare
that person to some thing (inanimate object).
Now compare yourself to some thing associated
with the first object.
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What is Repetition?
! Repetition is used to make an impact on the
poems tone. Words or phrases are
repeated throughout the poem.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Chirping robin, budding rose.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Gentle showers, summer clothes.
By Shel Silverstein
What is Alliteration?
! Alliteration uses the same beginning word
sounds over and over, like a tongue twister.
My beautiful bubbles burst and then,
I simply blow some more again.

The setting sun slipped slowly down,
Making room for the milky moon.
Alliteration Poems
An alliteration poem uses sound to create a special effect.

To create an alliteration poem,
! choose words that begin with the same sound
! Try writing three lines of poetry with alliteration in each
line.
! The trick is to make all the words start with the same
sound.

Terrible, taunting Tom
Took the test
Two times two.
What is Consonance?
! a poetic device characterized by the
repetition of the same consonant two or
more times in short succession.

As in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals
named Sam are clammy"
What is Assonance?
! The repetition of similar vowel sounds
in a sentence or a line of poetry or
prose.
"I rose and told him of my woe." Whitman's
"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"
contains assonantal "I's" in the following
lines: "How soon unaccountable I became
tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I
wander'd off by myself."
WHAT IS RHYME?
! Rhyme is used in
many poems. Using
words that sound
alike makes poetry
fun to read and write.
! Examples:
drink & stink
world & hurled
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What is Stanza?
! In poetry, a stanza is a grouped set of
lines within a poem, usually set off from
other stanzas by a blank line or
different indentation.
What is verse?
! writing arranged with a metrical rhythm,
typically having a rhyme
List Poems
In a list poem the first line is the title and consists of a word or phrase
stating the main idea. Then there are several short statements that tell
the authors feelings about the main idea.


What makes me happy
Reaching my goals,
Making others smile,
Being accepted for
who and what I am,
Ice cream sundaes
on a hot summer day,
Having others call me friend.
What is an Ekphrasis Poem?
! A poem based on a picture or work of art.

Mary Jo Bang described her own approach to ekphrastic
poems: "I am taking an existing work of art and rewriting
over it. I'm imposing a new narrative on it, one that is
partially suggested by the artwork itself and partially by
something that comes from within. Sometimes that thing
is an autobiographical moment, sometimes it's a larger
concern, social or political or intellectual." - See more at:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/
20581#sthash.a8j9lVED.dpuf
How do I write an Ekphrasis Poem?
! Write a poem in three stanzas that is based on an
image or work of art.
! In the first stanza, focus solely on description.
! In the following stanzas, take your own approach:
! you can continue to describe,
! impose a narrative on the scene,
! reveal something about yourself or the artist.
! represent all of the senses in your description.
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
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Ekphrasis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=oxHnRfhDmrk&authuser=0