Poetry
ENGL 202
Dr. Sandra Ruiz
Guidelines for reading poetry
 Read a poem more than once to understand it better.
 Keep a dictionary with you to look up the meanings of words you do not understand.
 Read so as to hear the sounds of the words in your mind.
 Study imagery carefully in order to better understand the poem.
Distinction between prose and poetry
 Every day writing is usually prose.
 The language of prose is generally
straightforward without much
decoration.
 There are comparisons, but prose
takes its time when it is describing
something.
 It uses as many words as it needs
to say something as clearly and
precisely as it can.
 Poetry is typically reserved for
expressing something special in a
specific way.
 The language of poetry tends to be
more expressive. It tends to say
more with fewer words.
 It contains more comparisons.
 It often has rhyme or rhythm.
 It often forces the reader to create
his or her own meaning.
Examples of Prose and Poetry
Poetry
Prose
A woman stands on a mountain top with the
cold seeping into her body. She looks on the
valley below as the wind whips around her. She
cannot leave to go to the peaceful beauty
below.
In the valley, the sun shines from behind
the clouds causing flowers to bloom. A breeze
sends quivers through the leaves of trees. The
water gurgles in a brook. All the woman can do
is cry
The Woman on the Peak
The woman stands upon the barren peak,
Gazing down on the world beneath.
The lonely chill seeps from the ground
Into her feet, spreading, upward bound.
The angry wind whistles ‘round her head,
Whipping her hair into streaming snakes,
While she watches, wishes, weakly wails.
Beyond the mountain, sunshine peeks,
Teasing flowers to survive and thrive.
The breeze whispers through the leaves,
Causing gentle quivers to sway the trees.
Laughter gurgles as the splashing brook
Playfully tumbles over rugged rocks,
While the woman above can only grieve.
© Copyright 2003 Vivian (vzabel at Writing.Com)
Lines and Stanzas
Most poems are
written in lines.
A group of lines in
a poem is called a
stanza.
Stanzas separate
ideas in a poem.
They act like
paragraphs.
This poem has two
stanzas.
March
March
A blue
A blue
dayday
A blue
A blue
jayjay
And
And
a good
a good
beginning.
beginning.
One
One
crow,
crow,
Melting
Melting
snow
snow
– –
Spring’s
Spring’s
winning!
winning!
By Eleanor
By Eleanor
Farjeon
Farjeon
Figurative Language:
Imagery
Descriptive words or phrases that appeal
to the 5 senses: sight, sound, touch,
taste, and smell- creating a picture in
the reader’s mind.
What is the mental picture or image you
are left with after reading the
passage from “The Most Dangerous
Game”
Imagery
 “He leaped upon the rail and balanced himself there, to get greater elevation; his pipe,
striking a rope, was knocked from his mouth. He lunged for it; a short, hoarse cry came
from his lips as he realized he had reached too far and had lost his balance. The cry was
pinched off short as the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea closed over his head.”
“He struggle up to the surface and tried to cry out, but the wash from the speeding yacht
slapped him in the face and the salt water in his open mouth made him gag.”
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
Simile
 A comparison that uses “like” or
“as”
Examples: “I’m as hungry as a
wolf,” or “My love is like a rose.”
Metaphor
 An INDIRECT comparison where
one thing is given
characteristics of another.
Examples:
“He’s a rock”
“I am an island”
Practice Exercise:
Identify the Simile
or Metaphor
1. The cat’s fur was a blanket of
warmth.
2. The lamp was a beacon of sunshine.
3. The fireworks were a lantern in the
sky.
4. John slept like a log.
5. Mary was as sweet as pie.
6. Gwen sings like an expert.
Personification
Giving inanimate object
human characteristics.
Examples: “The flames
reached for the child
hovering in the corner.”
Practice Exercise:
Identify the
personifications
Our house is an old friend of ours.
Although he creeks and groans with every
gust of wind, he never fails to protect us
from the elements. He wraps his arms of
bricks and mortar around us and keeps us
safe. He’s always been a good friend to
us, and we would never leave him.
Alliteration:
Repetition of consonant sounds usually at the beginning of
words.
Example: In the summer season, when soft was the
song…
(notice the repetition of the s sound)
Assonance Definition
 Refers to repetition of sound
produced by vowels or very
similar vowels sounds near one
another within a sentence or
phrase
Onomatopoeia
 Onomatopoeia is the attempt
to echo or imitate sounds with
words.
Example
Bow-wow (dog)
Oink (pig)
Tic-Tac (clock)
Howling (dog, wolf)
ONOMATOTODAY
In the morning
yawn, stretch
to the bathroom
scratch, blink
in the shower
scrub, splash
to the closet
whisk, rustle
down the hall
thump, creak
in the kitchen
clank, clink
to the car
click, slam
on the road
honk, screech
at the office
tick, ring
out to lunch
munch, slurp
return home
thug, moan
on to bed
shuffle, snore
Cathy Christensen
 An exaggeration which may be used for
emphasis and humor. Hyperboles are used in
speaking and writing for effect or to make a
poetry more interesting.
 Examples:
 “I have been waiting for a million
years”.
Hyperbole
 “I am so hungry I could eat a horse”.
 “If I can’t get a Smartphone, I will die”.
Practice
exercises:
Types of Poetry:
Shaped poetry
 Visual form of the poem is used to convey meaning.
 Lines form a physical pattern.
 Usually related to the subject of the poem.
tes.com
Cinquain
 Poem written in five lines that do not rhyme.
 Traditional cinquain has five lines containing 22 syllables in the
following pattern:
Line 1 – 2 syllables
Oh, cat
Line 2 – 4 syllables
are you grinning
Line 3 – 6 syllables
curled in the window seat
Line 4 – 8 syllables
as sun warms you this December
Line 5 – 2 syllables
morning?
By Paul B. Janezco
Diamante
 A diamante is a seven-line poem written in the shape of a
diamond.
Diamante Pattern
 Does not rhyme.
Line 1 – Your topic (noun)
 Follows pattern.
Line 2 – Two adjectives
 Can use synonyms or antonyms.
Line 3 – Three “ing” verbs
Line 4 – Four nouns or short phrase linking
topic (or topics)
Line 5 – Three “ing” verbs
Line 5 – Two adjectives
Line 7 – Your ending topic (noun)
Synonym Diamante
Monsters
Creepy, sinister
Hiding, lurking, stalking
Vampires, mummies, werewolves and more
Chasing, pouncing eating
Hungry, scary
Creatures
Line 1 – Your topic (noun)
Line 2 – Two adjectives
Line 3 – Three “ing” verbs
Line 4 – Four nouns or short phrase linking topic (or topics)
Line 5 – Three “ing” verbs
Line 5 – Two adjectives
Line 7 – Your ending topic (noun)
Haiku
 A haiku is a Japanese poem with
3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
(Total of 17 syllables.)
 Does not rhyme.
 Is about an aspect of nature or
the seasons.
 Captures a moment in time.
Little frog among
rain-shaken leaves, are you, too,
splashed with fresh, green paint?
by Gaki
Acrostic
In an acrostic poem the first
letter of each line, read
down the page, spells the
subject of the poem.
Type of free verse poem.
Does not usually rhyme.
Loose brown parachute
Escaping
And
Floating on puffs of air.
by Paul Paolilli