Poetry Terms
General Terms
Stanzas
Groups of
lines in a
poem.
How many stanzas
are in this poem?
3
The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
There are different
types of Stanzas…
Stanzas
with 4
lines are
called
quatrains.
1 The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
2 For—put them side by side—
3 The one the other will contain
4 With ease—and You—beside—
1 The Brain is deeper than the sea—
2 For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
3 The one the other will absorb—
4
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
1 The Brain is just the weight of God—
2 For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
3 And they will differ—if they do—
4
As Syllable from Sound—
There are different
types of Stanzas…
We Real Cool
1 We real cool. We
2 Left school. We
1 Lurk late. We
2 Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
What do you
think stanzas
with two lines
are called?
They are
couplets
Subject- who or what the poem
is about
Speaker- the imaginary voice
assumed by the writer of the
poem. It can be a person,
animal, thing, or abstraction.
Tone- the poet’s attitude
towards the subject (ex: sad,
angry)
Theme- the overall message of
the poem
“Nancy”
Comes to school
dressed in no one cared clothes,
Her hands and face
Are dirty before the day begins.
Always alone
But not by choice,
With her around
No one else fears being teased or ridiculed.
We sit across
from one another at lunch,
Sometimes I think
I’m all she’s got.
And I am not nearly enough.
Figurative Language
-language that expresses
ideas or feelings in a fresh
way
Metaphor
Compares two
unlike things
without the
words “like” or
“as”
Ex: Minnie may look sweet,
but she is a snake.
Simile
Compares two
unlike things
using the
words like or as
My uncle is like a rooster; he is
always up at the crack of dawn.
Personification
Language that
attributes
human qualities
to nonhuman
things.
The alarm danced on the dresser.
My computer wasn’t feeling
well, so I couldn’t type my
paper.
Imagery
Language that creates a word
picture by using details
related to the senses.
Work Cited
Last name, first name. “Title of
Story.” Title of Book. City of
Publication: Publisher, year of
publication. Print.
Parenthetical Citation

Short Quote:
– “Words from story” (Last Name, page #)

Long Quote:
– (Tabbed in twice and no quotation marks)
– Words from story. (Last Name, page #)