Identify and analyze an author’s
use of imagery and figurative
language in poetry
Interpret works of modern
poetry, specifically in regards to
their use of imagery and
figurative language
 Most contemporary poems lack consistent rhyme,
a common structure, constant meter… This
means that readers often can’t:
 Do a scansion or focus on typical forms
 Analyze how structure matches content
 Then what makes it poetry? Well, it’s still:
 Structured like a poem (it’s not prose)
 Contains poetic techniques
 Where does a reader begin?
“Genuine
poetry can
 There is always theme, tone, the speaker, diction
communicate
 Plus, MOST modern poems will contain:
before it is
 Imagery
understood.”
 Figurative Language
T. S. Eliot
Grab a copy of Sound and Sense
 Read pages 56-59
 Read the following poems:
 “Living in Sin” by Rich (pages 63-64)
 “The Forge” by Heaney (page 64)
 For each of the two poems above, identify words/
phrases that evoke vivid images (do this in your R.J.):
1. Classify each word/phrase by the sense it evokes
(visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory [smell], and taste)
2. Note any trends related to your sensory findings
3. Answer this: What aspect(s) of the poem does the
imagery enhance?
 “Living in Sin” by Rich (pages 63-64)
 What words/phrases evoke images?
 What trends, related to your sensory findings, do you see?
 What aspect(s) of the poem does the imagery enhance?
 “The Forge” by Heaney (page 64)
 What words/phrases evoke images?
 What trends, related to your sensory findings, do you see?
 What aspect(s) of the poem does the imagery enhance?
Language is figurative when it varies from the
norms of literal language, and therefore no
longer means what says. Also known as the
“ornaments of language,” figurative language
“If you read
forces the reader to make an imaginative leap quickly to get
in order to comprehend an author’s point or
through a
a speaker’s words. It often involves a
poem to what
comparison between two things that may not, it means, you
at first, seem to relate to one another.
have missed
Figurative language facilitates understanding
the body of
because it relates something unfamiliar to
the poem.”
something familiar.
M. H. Abrams
 Simile
 Extended simile
 Metaphor
 Extended metaphor








Personification
Apostrophe
Metonymy
Synecdoche
Symbol
Allegory
Hyperbole
Litote
 Paradox
 Paradoxical Situation
 Paradoxical
Statement
 Verbal Paradox
 Irony
 Verbal Irony
 Situation Irony
 Dramatic Irony
NEW TERM
 Zeugma
the use of a word to
modify/govern two or
more words, although
it is only grammatically
or logically correct
with one
Examples:
SOMETIMES Fig. Lang.
“She looked at the object
with suspicion and a
magnifying glass.”
Charles Dickens
 Onomatopoeia, Pun,
Alliteration
“…losing her heart or
her necklace at the ball.”
Alexander Pope
 Satire
 Once terms are noted you need to first look for commonalities,
consistencies/inconsistencies, and extent of use
 All fig. lang. techniques used have to do with nature…
 Personification only happens with the rope…
 When death is the topic no fig. lang. is used, but it’s used in numerous other
parts of the poem…
 Metonymy is used once, whereas hyperbole and zeugma are used more often…
 Then, identify how these terms—specifically their commonalities,
consistencies/inconsistencies, and extent of use—impact the work as a
whole.
 Possible questions to ask yourself:
BASIC
COMPLEX
• How does
enhance the meaning of the poem?
• How does
reflect the tone of the poem?
• How does
connect to the theme of the poem?
• How does
embrace the speaker’s perspective? …the subject matter?
…the era in which it’s set? …the historical period in which it was created?
by John Ashbery (b. 1927)
This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you.You look out a window
Or pretend to fidget.You have it but you don’t have it.
You miss it, it misses you.You miss each other.
1. Read the
poem.
2.Identify uses
of figurative
language in
the poem.
3.Note how
the use of
fig. lang.
enhances
the work.
The poem is sad because it wants to be yours, and cannot.
What’s a plain level? It is that and other things,
Bringing a system of them into play. Play?
Well, actually, yes, but I consider play to be
A deeper outside thing, a dreamed role-pattern,
As in the division of grace these long August days
Without proof. Open-ended. And before you know
It gets lost in the steam and chatter of typewriters.
5
10
It has been played once more. I think you exist only
To tease me into doing it, on your level, and then you aren’t there
Or have adopted a different attitude. And the poem
15
Has set me softly down beside you.The poem is you.
Complete the
worksheet.
 You may interact with
the text on the
handout itself (it is
yours to keep), but
answer all questions in
your R.J.
This is due
tomorrow
 “A Blessing” by Wright
 How does Wright utilize imagery and to enrich the tone?
 Support it!
 “The Teachers Pass the Popcorn” by Smith
 How does Smith utilize figurative language and imagery to
help establish the impact the film has on the students?
 Support it!
 “Digging” by Heaney
 How does Heaney employ literary techniques, such as
imagery and metaphor, to shape the work’s distinct symbol?
 Support it!
The same rules apply:
 A “6” earned by the end
of the quarter = 100%
 You will have a week
between each draft
 5% is deducted for each
missed deadline / for each
draft that shows too little
growth
Due dates:
 Your first thesis attempt is
due Monday, Nov. 24th
 All thesis statements must
be completed by
Wednesday, Dec. 3rd
 The final day to turn in an
draft is Monday, Jan. 12th