Aspects of Poetry:
SENSE
A. MEANING OF WORDS
▪ Denotation – dictionary meaning of the
word.
▪ Connotation – the suggested or implied
meanings.
B. IMAGERY – the use of sensory details or
descriptions that appeal to two or more of the
five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell;
senses of the mind.
▪ Visual Imagery – most frequent type of
imagery used to recreate a certain
image.
▪ Auditory
Imagery
–
mental
representation of any sound it is vital in
imagining and feeling a situation.
▪ Kinesthetic Imagery – broader term
used to describe the senses of
movement or tension.
▪ Olfactory Imagery – related to smell and
this imagery helps summon and deliver
the smell to the reader.
▪ Tactile Imagery – appeals to the senses
of touch by presenting attributes like
hardness, softness or hot and cold
sensations.
▪ Gustatory Imagery – illustrates and
recreates the tastes of food and many
other things.
SOUND
A. Repetition of Single Sounds
▪ Alliteration – repetition of similar and
accented sounds at the beginning of
words.
▪ Assonance – repetition of similar and
accented vowel sounds.
Consonance – repetition of similar
consonant sound typically within or at
the end of words.
B. Rhyme – repetition of the same stressed vowel
sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or
more words.
▪ Internal – rhyme within a line.
▪ Terminal – rhyme found at the end of
line.
▪ RHYME SCHEME – pattern of rhyme
form that ends a stanza or poem.
C. Repetition of Words
D. Repetition of Sentences on Phrases
▪
RHYTHM – pattern of beats created by the arrangement
of stressed and unstressed syllables, which gives musical
quality and adds emphasis to certain words and thus helps
convey the meaning of the poem. The effect is derived
from the sounds employed, the varying pitches, stresses,
volumes, and durations.
METER – a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed
syllables that give a life of poetry a more or less
predictable rhythm. Its unit of measure is termed as “foot”
which usually contains an accented syllable and one or two
accented syllables.
FOOT – basic unit of meter consisting of a group of two
or three syllables.
STRUCTURE – the manner in which words are arranged
and parts are organized to form a whole poem; also refers
to the way the poem is organized.
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Word and its Order
Syntax
Ellipsis
Punctuation
Also talks about:
POEM APPRECIATION – not just achieved when
there is comprehension but when attitude and feeling
are conveyed in the text are captured.
TONE – writer’s attitude toward his subject, mood
and moral view; the feeling that the poem has created
in the reader.
SYMBOL – an image that becomes so suggestive that
it takes on much more meaning than its descriptive
value.
Types of Poetry:
NARRATIVE – poem that tells a story.
LYRIC – where the poet is concerned mainly with
presenting a scene in words, conveying sensory richness
of his subject.
DRAMATIC – where a story is told through the verse of
dialogue of the characters and a narrator.
Types of Figures of Speech:
ALLUSION - a figure of speech that makes a reference to
or a representation of people, places, events, literary
work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by
implication.
a.
b.
“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” –
“Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo,
a passionate lover of Juliet, in “Romeo and Juliet”.
The rise of poverty will unlock the Pandora’s box
of crimes.
ANAPHORA - a rhetorical device that consists of
repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of
neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis.
a.
b.
“Buying nappies for the baby, feeding the baby,
playing with the baby: This is what your life is
when you have a baby.”
“She looked to the left, she looked to the right,
she looked straight ahead.”
ANTITHESIS - a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of
contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses. Creates
a balance between opposite qualities and lend a greater
insight into the subject.
a.
b.
“All the joy the world contains has come through
wishing happiness for others. All the misery the
world contains has come through wanting
pleasure for oneself.” –Shantiva
“…ask not what your country can do for you, ask
what you can do for your country. My fellow
citizens of the world: ask not what America will
do for you, but what together we can do for the
freedom of man”. –John F. Kennedy
APHORISM - a statement of truth or opinion expressed
in a concise and witty manner. It is necessary for a
statement to contain a truth revealed in a terse manner.
Aphorisms often come with a pinch of humor, which
makes them more appealing to the masses.
a.
b.
“A proverb is no proverb to you till life illustrated
it.” –John Keats
“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and
wise too late.” –Benjamin Franklin
APOSTROPHE - a figure of speech in which some absent
or non-existent person or thing is addressed as if present
and capable of understanding or replying.
a.
“Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about
to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation
and memory; let me become as nought; but if
not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.” –
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818
HYPERBOLE - involves an exaggeration of ideas for the
sake of emphasis.
a.
b.
I am dying of shame.
She shed a flood of tears.
IRONY - refers to how a person, situation, statement, or
circumstance is not as it would actually seem. Many times,
it is the exact opposite of what it appears to be. It can be
situational, dramatic, or verbal.
a.
b.
I enjoyed the movie as much as getting a root
canal.
Exclaiming “oh great” after failing an exam.
LITOTES - a figure of speech consisting of an ironical
understatement in which affirmative is expressed by the
negation of the opposite. This is mainly done through
double negatives.
a.
b.
“Not too bad” for “very good” confirms a
positive idea by negating the opposite.
Einstein is not a bad mathematician.
METAPHOR - an implied comparison between two unlike
things that actually have something important in common.
a.
b.
The world’s a stage.
He has a lion in battle.
METONYMY - a figure of speech in which one word or
phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely
associated.; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing
something indirectly by referring to things around it.
a.
b.
“The pen is mightier than the sword”. (Pen
stands for thought and reason, while sword
represents physical warfare.)
Malacanang will be announcing the decision
around noon today. (Malacanang- in place of the
president)
OXYMORON — a figure of speech in which two
opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.
a.
b.
Awfully pretty
Bittersweet
PARADOX - from the Greek word “paradoxon” that
means contrary to expectations, existing belief or
perceived opinion. It is a phrase or statement that seems
to be impossible or contradictory but is nevertheless true,
literally or figuratively.
a.
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
b.
Ignorance is strength
-George Orwell, 1984
Save money by spending it.
PESONIFICATION - a figure of speech in which an
inanimate object, an animal or idea is endowed with
human qualities or abilities.
a.
b.
The fire swallowed the entire forest.
The wind whispered through dry grass.
SIMILE - a stated comparison (usually formed with “like”,
“than,” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar or
unlike things that have certain qualities in common.
a.
b.
He is as cunning as a fox.
The water well was as dry as a bone.
SYNECHDOCHE- a figure of speech in which a part is
used for the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for
the general, the general for the specific, or the material
for the thing made from it.
a.
b.
Twenty sails came to the harbor. (sails refer to
the ships, naming the part to mean the whole)
The word “Coppers” often refers to coins.
SYNESTHESIA - refers to a technique adopted by writers
to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner
that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing,
seeing, smell, etc. at a given time.
a.
b.
The sound of her voice was sweet. (Sweet has
something to do with taste and not sound.)
“loud colors”, “frozen silence”, etc.
UNDERSTATEMENT - a figure of speech in which a
writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem
less important or serious than it is.
a.
“treehugger” for environmentalist
calling the Atlantic Ocean “the pond”
I, HIGAONON
▪
Telesforo S. Sungkit Jr.
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From Sumilao, Bukidnon
A farmer and a natural farming advocate
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HIGA – living
GAON – mountains
▪
ONON – people
HIGAONON – people living in the mountains
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They can be found in the northern and central
regions of the island of Mindanao
Least known ethnic groups that inhabit the
hinterlands of Northern-Central Mindanao
DATUS – an elder of the community which is
trained in spirituality and education.
KALAMURA – native language for activity
MIGBAYA – God of nature
CROOKED ENGLISH – represents the natives as
uneducated or as who/how oppressors see
them.
Theme: Sense of Identity or Rebellion
Ethnocentrism, discrimination against religion,
and discrimination against language
Shows that Christians are self-centered
Kills without mercy and includes innocent people
Shows oppression
Talks about democracy hence stops people from
talking
Their belief in their culture is stronger than the
oppressor’s
“Protect them for they are few”
THE BUS DRIVER WHO WANTED TO BE GOD
Etgar Kerret (1967)
Israleli, Polish writer known for his short stories,
graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and
television.
Lecture at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in
Beer Sheva and at Tel Aviv University.
Writing style is lean, using everyday language,
slang, and dialect.
His stories are surreal, but believable so, leaving
you in a curious world much like yours, where
the boundaries of possibility are easily changing.
Characters:
BUS DRIVER
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▪
Round
Disciplined and idealistic, in the end, merciful
Round
Always late, lazy, wasted
Cooks at the Steakaway
HAPPINESS
▪
▪
▪
Flat
Always so sweet
Customer at the Steakaway
Setting:
BACKDROP SETTING
▪
Took place in a normal town, with bus stops and
houses, and restaurants.
Plot:
CLIMAX
▪
▪
Eddie ran to catch the bus because he was
already getting late.
The bus driver felt mercy towards Eddie and let
him in.
FALLING ACTION
▪
Happiness stood Eddie up
DENOUMENT
▪
Eddie was able to ride the bus going home
because the bus driver waited for him.
3rd PERSON
▪
Omniscient POV
Theme:
TIME – man is in constant war with time. (E.g. Eddie
chasing the bus)
HAPPINESS – chasing our happiness may not always have
easy paths and good results.
COMPASSION – no matter how many rules are set, man is
basically good.
LIFE IS CONSTANT – way of life constantly changes as one
goes through experiences.
Conflict:
EXPOSITION
▪
Eddie met Happiness and planned to meet at the
Dolphinarium at five the next day.
Point of View:
EDDIE
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▪
The characters were introduced
RISING ACTION
MAN VS. HIMSELF
Tone:
INSPIRING OR MELANCHOLY
Issues or Dilemmas:
HAPPINESS – pleasing others
BUS DRIVER – sticking to his ideals
EDDIE – time and attitude management.
Role of God and Role of Creation:
GOD – it is his responsibility to watch over his people and
to show mercy and kindness towards them.
CREATION – it is our duty to be the recipient of God’s
mercy and kindness. We are tasked to be considerate
towards others, we need to be genuine by how we feel
towards others and that our personality changes
overtime.
THE WHEEL
Vinda Karandikar (India, 1918-2010)
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Govind Vinayak Karandikar
Well-known Marathi poet, writer, literary critic,
and translator.
Experimentation has been a feature of
Karandikar’s Marathi poems.
He translated his own poems in English, which
were published as “Vinda Poems”
SOMEONE IS ABOUT TO COME BUT DOESN’T. IS ABOUT
TO TURN ON THE STAIRS BUT DOESN’T.
▪ Right from the beginning the author wants to tell
us that an event that may be possibly happening
but doesn’t come true.
▪ The speaker tries to leave the room he’s in but
decided not to do so.
I BUTTON MY SHIRT
COME FROM THE LAUNDRY WITH ALL ITS DAZZLING
BLOTS,
LIKE ONE’S PECULIAR FATE.
▪ This reveals that a person, like those stains on his
shirt, has to reenact a peculiar fate and a peculiar
life; maybe full of stains or maybe not. In his case,
it was full of dark marks and yes, he just has to
live it out because he didn’t have a choice.
I SHUT THE DOOR, SIT QUIETLY.
THE FAN BEGINS TO WHIRL
AND TURN THE AIR INTO A WHIRLPOOL OF FIRE,
MAKING A NOISE BIGGER THAN THE HOUSE.
▪ Literally, the meaning of this is that the noise of
the fan is much louder than the noise that the
household has ever made.
▪ This also depicts a pretty much ‘imagery’
wherein it was a summer time and the
supposedly cool air that the fan should give
becomes a hot humid air.
SOMEONE IS ABOUT TO COME AND DOESN’T.
IT DOESN’T MATTER.
CALMLY I LEAN AGAINST THE WALL,
BECOME A WALL.
▪ This symbolizes that the speaker decided to be
static and do nothing much, like the plain old
wall. He chooses to be immobile. He’s the one to
decide to be unproductive.
A WOUNDED BIRD ON MY SHOULDER LAUGHS
RAUCOUSLY,
LAUGHS AT THE SHOULDER IT PERCHES ON!
▪ This pretty much symbolizes the hopelessness
and pity with his situation, that even a ‘wounded
bird’ is so much better than his condition.
MY SOUL OF FLESH AND BLOOD PUTS A LONG THREAD
IN THE NEEDLE’S EYE.
I STITCH A PATCH ON MY SON’S UMBRELLA.
▪ His life is maybe short on years’ time but it was
full of experiences that he used to mend the
future and guide his children to not gone astray
like him.
▪ We believe the author uses the word ‘umbrella’
because it was the one that serves as a
protection to us.
I PICK HIS NOSE AND NAME THE PICKINGS:
I CALL ONE “ELEPHANT” AND ANOTHER “LION.”
SOMEONE IS ABOUT TO COME AND DOESN’T. IS ABOUT
TO TURN ON THE STAIRS AND DOESN’T.
I TICKLE MY CHILDREN,
THEY TICKLE ME IN TURN; I LAUGH,
WITH A WILL; FOR I DO NOT FEEL TICKLED.
▪ Even with the funny names he gave to the
pickings he got from his son’s nose and he seems
to be having fun with his children, he didn’t feel
any happiness or joy from doing so.
IT DOESN’T MATTER.
I SCAN THEIR FINGERS FOR SIGNS:
NINE CONCHES AND ONE WHEEL.
▪ This is a bit of a cliffhanger in this line. He told the
readers that having a petty and unhappy life
doesn’t matter and he doesn’t care. But
foolishly, he still looks for signs. This reveals that
he still has hopes for being happy. Nine conches
and one wheel, in Indian palmistry, is a sign for a
happy life. Now, the question will be if the sign is
for his life or for his children and if he believes on
them and pursue a happy life or he just shrug it
off because yes, it doesn’t really matter.
So now, what is the poem talking about?
✓ The poetry pretty much talks about the
unhappiness one can feel with his life; or maybe
it wasn’t unhappiness, it was the bland,
unsatisfying cycle of life of doing nothing. The
poem calls for how static of a life one could have
because of how he understood life.
✓ But the poem is also a symbol that one should
just not believe that it will be forever raining on
and on their life. The literary piece also signifies
that after a rain is a rainbow. This is where the
title comes in. Just like in the Filipino song that
goes something like this:
Gulong ng palad
Ang kandungan
Ang kapalaran
Kung minsan ay
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Nasa ilalim/ibabaw
Antagonist, round
She is the one who entered the shop and asks for
a blood of a mole to heal her son’s illness
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MAN
✓
✓
✓
This can mean that we may be experiencing hard
times right now, but wait for the wheel of life and
you may be on top again and be happy for real.
Continuing, the ‘wheel’ interpretation, the
‘wheel’ maybe stands for the steering wheel and
you are the driver. The poem may be telling
people to keep on driving life and never give up.
On another note, this can also be a life lesson
that we should be careful of our choices because
our choices are what makes of us. If we choose
to live an unhappy life, then we shouldn’t expect
to lead a happy life. If we choose to have a happy
life, then we should expect that it wouldn’t be
easy, but we know that it will be worth it so fight
on.
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Antagonist, flat
He asked for a mole’s blood for his wife
MOB OF STRANGERS
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Secondary character, flat
They are shouting, asking for blood of a mole
Setting:
FALLING ACTION
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Narrow room
Sleepy, gloomy smell of formalin
Surrounded by frogs, lizards, snakes, and insects
Dark
The woman informed the storekeeper that her
son was able to walk. Consequently, a strange
man came and asked for blood for his ill wife.
EXPOSITION
INTEGRAL
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The woman told the storekeeper that the blood
heals and her son was ill so she needed 3 drops
of mole’s blood. The storekeeper decided to cut
his left wrist and let his blood pour unto a bottle
and gave it to the woman.
A mob of strangers started asking for mole’s
blood and kept shouting “blood of a mole”
Conflict:
MAN VS. SELF: Storekeeper
MAN VS. MAN: Woman
BLOOD OF A MOLE
Point of View:
Theme:
Zdravka Evtimova (1959)
1st PERSON
THOU SHALL NOT ABUSE ONE’S CAPABILITY
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Contemporary Bulgarian writer.
Born in Pernik, Bulgaria, where she lives and
works as literary translator from English, French,
and German.
Also, a literary translator in Koln, Germany, and
in Brussels, Belgium.
Characters:
STORE KEEPEER
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Protagonist, flat
He is the one who voluntarily cut his wrist to
offer a bottle of blood on replacement of a
mole’s blood
WOMAN
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Store keeper’s
Dillema:
Plot:
STOREKEEPER – to cut his wrist or not
DRAMATIC OR PROGRESSIVE
WOMAN – ask for mole’s blood or let her son be disabled
forever.
EXPOSITION
▪
Introduces the character and setting
RISING ACTION
▪
CLIMAX
There was a woman who was asking if there were
moles inside, however, the storekeeper said that
they never sell mole’s blood.
Tone:
OBJECTIVE
Mood:
SCARY
Why MOLE?
▪
It is into dark places and lives underground (just
like the store description)
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Practiced isolation
Can survive underground for it tolerates higher
levels of CO2 than other mammals.
SHORT STORY – fictional work or prose that is shorter in
length than a novel; can be read in just one setting.
ODE TO GARLIC for Janice
CHARACTERS – any personality who is involved in the plot
of the story.
Genevieve Mae Aquino
Types:
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Born in Manila but calls Davao her home.
Has a clutch of diplomas in molecular biology and
genetics.
A fellow for Poetry in English at several national
creative writing workshops.
Currently a university researcher at the
University of the Philippines.
ONION
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Pale skin and purple highlights
Does sly manipulations
Drama queen
GARLIC
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Self’s own leading lady
Doesn’t need a knight in armor or Viking prince
or Scot in a kilt or any odd alpha males
No weakling
Bulbous heroine of the kitchen
Nightingale of the World Wars
The gold that spices up this bland world
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PROTAGONIST – main character, good guy, hero,
strives to solve the conflict.
ANTAGONIST – bad guy who creates conflict
Classifications:
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FLAT – static; doesn’t change
ROUND - dynamic; changes
SECONDARY CHARACTERS – not involved in the central
conflict.
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GARLIC – symbolizes the girl
ODE – poem to address a particular subject
Elements of Poetry:
PLOT – meat of the story
Types:
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DRAMATIC – consists of exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, denouement
EPISODIC – series; shorter than parallel
PARALLEL – 2 or more dramatic
FLASHBACK
CONFLICT – what prevents the main character from
getting what they want.
Traits:
Types:
i.
ii.
iii.
What the character does
What the character says
What the character says and does about the
other character
What the author states directly
iv.
SETTING – when and where the story happens; creates
the mood and atmosphere.
Types:
Talks about a woman comparing herself to her
man’s new girl.
Describes the dependent and independent
woman of a man’s life
2ND PERSON – talking to the audience
3RD PERSON – all characters are described using
pronouns; one character is closely followed
o OMNISCIENT – narrator knows the
thoughts and feelings of all the
characters
o LIMITED – only knows the thoughts and
feelings of one character
FOIL CHARACTER – does the opposite of the main
character.
Story:
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INTEGRAL - vivid
BACKDROP – vague
POINT OF VIEW – mode of narration
Types:
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1ST PERSON – one character at a time; talks about
his/her experiences
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INTERNAL – man vs. self
EXTERNAL
Man vs. man
Man vs. society
Man vs. environment/nature
Man vs. fate
Man vs. technology
Man vs. supernatural
THEME – highlights the main idea; the message the author
is conveying
!!!: not all short stories have a theme; some are just for
entertainment.
TONE – author’s emotional attitude towards the subject
matter, not just the mood of the characters.
MOOD - reader’s emotional attitude