Poetry – Lesson #1
What is poetry?
 A type of literature
that expresses
ideas, feelings, or
tells a story in a
specific form
(usually using lines
and stanzas)
My dog chewed up my homework
By Bruce Lansky
I'm glad to say my homework's done.
I finished it last night.
I've got it right here in this box.
It's not a pretty sight.
My dog chewed up my homework.
He slobbered on it, too.
So now my homework's ripped to shreds
and full of slimy goo.
It isn't much to look at,
but I brought it anyway.
I'm going to dump it on your desk
if I don't get an A.
Why write poetry?
People write poetry for
many different
reasons:
• To express feelings
• To share ideas
• To say what they can’t
say out loud
• To tell a story
• To set a mood
Mood and Feeling
People write poems when
they’re in a lot of different
moods to express a lot of
different feelings.
Just like you have many
moods- happy, sad, angry,
funny- poetry expresses
many different moods and
feelings.
Poems can be happy, sad,
angry, romantic, or even
funny
Point of view in poetry
POET
• The poet is the author
of the poem.
SPEAKER
• The speaker of the
poem is the “narrator”
of the poem.
Poetry Form
• FORM – the way the Line
words look on the
page
• LINE - a group of
Stanza
words together on one
line of the poem
• STANZA - a group of
lines arranged together
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
{
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Title
Poet
Poetic Devices
What are poetic devices?
• Poets use poetic devices to make their
poetry sound more interesting.
• Poetic devices include:
•
•
•
•
•
Rhythm
Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Repetition and Refrain
Rhythm
• The beat created by
the sounds of the
words in a poem
• Rhythm can be created
by using poetic
devices.
Rhyme
 Poems do not have to
rhyme, but many do
 Words sound alike
because they share the
same ending vowel
and consonant sounds.
 (A word always
rhymes with itself.)
LAMP
STAMP
 Share the short “a”
vowel sound
 Share the combined
“mp” consonant sound
End Rhyme
• A word at the end of one line rhymes with a
word at the end of another line
Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string.
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
Here’s an example in Spanish…
From “Versos Sencillos” by José Martí
Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma.
Yo vengo de todas partes,
Y hacia todas partes voy:
Arte soy entre las artes,
En los montes, monte soy.
Yo sé los nombres extraños
De las yerbas y las flores,
Y de mortales engaños,
Y de sublimes dolores.
See how the words at
the end of every
other line rhyme?
This is end rhyme!
Internal Rhyme
• A word inside a line rhymes with another
word on the same line.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.
From “The Raven”
by Edgar Allan Poe
Near Rhyme
• a.k.a imperfect
rhyme, close rhyme
• The words share
EITHER the same
vowel or consonant
sound BUT NOT
BOTH
ROSE
LOSE
 Different vowel
sounds (long “o” and
“oo” sound)
 Share the same
consonant sound
Rhyme Scheme
• A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhyme (usually
end rhyme, but not always).
• Use the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds
to be able to visually “see” the pattern. (See next
slide for an example.)
Let’s have a look….
SICK by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today.“
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
a
I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash, and purple bumps
b
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry
I’m going blind in my right eye.
c
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I’m sure that my left leg is broke.
d
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a splinter in my thumb.
e
a
b
c
d
e
Onomatopoeia
• Words that imitate the sound they are
naming
BUZZ
• OR sounds that imitate another sound
“The silken, sad, uncertain, rustling of
each purple curtain . . .”
Alliteration
• Consonant sounds repeated at the
beginnings of words
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers, how many pickled peppers did
Peter Piper pick?
Sally sells seashells by the sunny seashore.
Alphabet Alliteration
• Every single word in the sentence begins
with the same LETTER.
Aardvarks attack anthills anxiously.
Chimpanzees chatter cheerfully.
Purple pandas paint pretty peculiar pictures.
Repetition and Refrain
 A sound or word
repeated regularly in a
poem is called
repetition
 A phrase repeated
regularly in a poem is
called refrain
“Quoth the raven,
‘Nevermore.’ ”
Example of Refrain from Edgar Allen
Poe’s “The Raven”