English Communications 11
 Each of you has been given 1 quote about poetry
 These have been written by famous poets, authors,
historic figures and everyday people
 Read your quotes aloud to the class
 Now… what is your definition of poetry?
 A form of writing that means more than ordinary
speech can communicate
 It uses figurative language, sound devices, imagery, and
emotions to paint a descriptive picture for its readers
 Poetry may appear to mean very different things to
different readers
 Each interpretation is valid
 There may be much more in a poem than the author was
aware of
 The Dead Poets Society
 Book Ripping Scene
 Narrative:
 Tells a story about a tragic event, popular legend, courageous act, or
great love
 Lyric:
 Emphasizes the personal thoughts and feelings of the poet
 Dramatic:
 The poet adopts the persona (“mask”) of another person
 Social Commentary:
 Comments on society, criticizes social habits, customs, attitudes
and problems to promote changes in the individual or society
 Poetry makes use of:
 Figurative Language
 Metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, irony,
overstatement (hyperbole), understatement, oxymoron,
paradox, pun, symbol
 Sound Devices
 Alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia,
meter, refrain, rhyme, stanza
 Imagery
 The representation through language of sense
experience; language that appeals to the senses
 Figurative Language in Poetry
 Analyze poetry as a class and in small groups in order to
determine use and purpose of figurative language
 Look for the following elements of figurative language
in the provided Poem
 Metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, irony,
overstatement (hyperbole), understatement, oxymoron,
paradox, pun, symbol
 Sound Devices in Poetry
 Analyze poetry as a class and in small groups in order to
determine use and purpose of sound devices
 Look for the following elements of sound devices in
the provided Poem
 Alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia,
meter, refrain, rhyme, stanza
 Gymnopeid
 1. Listen to the video and, while you watch, write down
adjectives that describe the images and sounds before
you
 Gymnopeid
 1. Listen to the video and, while you watch, write down
adjectives that describe the images and sounds before
you
 2. Choose 5 of your favorite adjectives and list tehm
vertically
 1. Listen to the video and, while you watch, write down
adjectives that describe the images and sounds before
you
 2. Choose 5 of your favorite adjectives and list tehm
vertically
 3. Write a sentence beginning with each of those 5
adjectives
 Your end result is a prose style poem!
 Prose: non-rhyming speech in everyday language
 Cinquain
 Non-rhyming
 5 line poem
 ______,
 ______, ______,
 ______, ______, ______,
 ______, ______, ______, ______,
 ______
 Cinquain
 Non-rhyming
 5 line poem
 1 Subject or noun,
 2 Adjectives that describe line 1,
 3 Action verbs that relate to line 1,
 4 Feelings or a complete sentence that relates to line 1,
 1 Word synonym of line 1 or a word that sums it up
 Hamburgers,
 thick, juicy,
 Delicious, scrumptious, yummy,
 Better still with relish,
 Hamburgers
Create one Cinquain of your own on any topic!
 Hawk
 Powerful, free
 Soaring, swooping, sailing,
 Always searching for prey
 hawk
 Individually create a poem about some of the events in
Hold Fast
 Include at least 3 Sound Devices & 3 Figurative
Language elements
 Highlight/Color Code each of these Sound Devices &
Figurative Langauge elements in different colors