Poetry
(also called verse)
Poetry defined:
Poetry is a major type of literature. It
features imaginative and musical
language carefully chosen and
arranged to communicate
experiences, thoughts, or emotions.
Characteristics:
• Poetry differs from prose in that it compresses
meaning into fewer words and often uses
meter, rhyme, and imagery.
• Poetry is usually arranged in lines and stanzas
as opposed to sentences and paragraphs and
it can be more free in the ordering of words
and use of punctuation.
Sound Effects
Alliteration
Rhyme
Rhythm
Meter
Internal rhyme
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme scheme
Consonance
Assonance
Repetition
Repetition
The use of the same words or phrases over
and over
Alliteration
The use of words that begin with the same
sound
Example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.”
Onomatopoeia
The use of words that sound like the thing
they describe
Examples: “hiss,” “boom,” “buzz”
Meter
Meter is a regular rhythmic pattern in poetry.
This pattern is determined by the number of
beats, or stresses, in each line. Stressed and
unstressed syllables are divided into
rhythmical units called feet.
Types of Feet:
• Iambic – an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable (Example: insist)
• Trochaic—a stressed syllable followed by an
unstressed syllable (Example: freedom)
• Anapestic—two unstressed syllables followed
by one stressed syllable (unimpressed)
Types of Feet continued
• Dactylic—one stressed syllable followed by
two unstressed syllables
• Spondaic--two stressed syllables
Terms used to describe the number of
feet in a line:
• Monometer—one foot line
• Dimeter—two-foot line
• Trimeter—three-foot line
• Tetrameter—four –foot line
…continued
•
•
•
•
Pentameter—five-foot line
Hexameter—six-foot line
Heptameter—seven-foot line
Octameter-eight-foot line
• Note: The most common meters are iambic
tetrameter and iambic pentameter.
Types of Rhyme:
• End rhyme—use of rhyming words at
the ends of lines
• Internal rhyme—the use of rhyming
words within lines
• Exact rhyme--rhyming words end with
the same sound as in moon and June
…continued
• Slant rhyme—rhyming sounds are similar but
not identical as in “rave” and “rove”
• Sight rhyme—words are spelled similarly but
pronounced differently, as in “lost” and
“ghost” or “give” and “thrive”
Rhyme Scheme
the pattern of end rhymes designated by
assigning a different letter of the alphabet to
each rhyme
(Ex: ababc)
Poetic Forms:
Lyric (ode, sonnet, ballad, elegy)
Narrative --Shape poem
Epic
--Acrostic
Haiku
Blank verse
Free verse
Limerick
Quatrain
Cinquain
Diamante
Lyric
a highly musical type of poetry the purpose of
which is to expresses the emotions of a
speaker. Lyric poems often uses regular meter
Ode
a poem that’s purpose is to honor or praise
someone or something.
Sonnet
a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually in iambic
pentameter, that follows one of a number of
different rhyme schemes, considered a “little
song,” as sonnet’s purpose is to express
thoughts, ideas, or feelings
Epic
a long narrative poem, usually chronicling the
deeds of a folk hero and written using moth
dramatic and narrative literary techniques.
(The Odyssey, The Iliad, Paradise Lost)
Free Verse
Poetry that does not use regular rhyme,
meter, or stanza division. Free verse may
contain irregular line breaks and sentence
fragments and the purpose of this irregularity
is to mimic the rhythm of ordinary speech.
Most contemporary poetry is written in free
verse.
Darn the electric fence!
Darn
Darn the electric fence!
Haiku
A form of Japanese pattern poetry, usually
consisting of three lines in which the syllables
alternate in a pattern of 5-7-5; Haiku reflects
on some aspect of nature and uses a
“minimalist” (simplified) form.
Haiku Example
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Haiku
Squirrel crossing street
Car comes, he changes his mind
Be wise, not reckless.
--Bonnie Best
Elegy
a poem that’s purpose is to express sorrow
over a loss
Limerick
A short, humorous poem composed
of five lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have
seven to ten syllables and rhyme with
one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five
to seven syllables, and also rhyme
with each other.
Example Limerick
There was an Old Man of Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
His daughter, called Nan,
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
Example Limerick
There was an Old Man with a beard
Who said, “It is just as I feared!
Two owls, and a hen,
Four larks, and a wren
Have all built their nests in my beard!”
--Edward Lear
from A Book of Nonsense
Quatrain
A poem of four lines: lines 2 and 4 must
rhyme; lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme.
Rhyming lines should have a similar number of
syllables.
Example Quatrain
Life is good
In many ways
Just don’t get misunderstood
On hard days
Will Bjordammen
Example Quatrain
What’s wrong with people today?
People are rude,
Or maybe they’re in a mood,
Or maybe it’s just too many attitudes.
Example Quatrain
I had once made a snowman
Handsome as can be
In the snow he melted
A sad sight to see
Sebastian Gusman
Example Quatrain
Apples, pears, cookies too
Tacos, pizza, French fondue
People, racecar, how are you?
Ghost, goblins, zombies, BOO!
Cinquain
Has five lines: Line 1 is one word (the title),
line 2 is two words that describe the title, line
3 is three words that tell the action, line 4 is
four words that express feeling, line 5 is one
word that recalls the title
Example Cinquain
Mules
Stubborn, unmoving
Braying, kicking, resisting
Not wanting to listen
People
by Cindy Barden
Example
Birds
Colorful, poised
Flying, singing, diving
Spirited, peaceful, joyous, free
Dancers
Abby Guinan
Diamante
Has seven lines
line 1 is a one-word subject that is opposite of line 7
line 2 is two adjectives which describe the subject in
Line 1
Line 3 is three verbs relating to the subject in line 1
line 4 is two nouns related to the subject of line 1,
followed by two nouns related to the subject in line 7
(four words total)
line 5 is three verbs related to the subject in
line 7
line 6 is two adjectives which describe the
subject in line seven
line 7 is a one-word subject that is opposite
of line 1
Example Diamante
Tears
Wet, shiny
Sliding, escaping, holding,
Girls, hearts, boys, teeth
Healing, rejuvenating, motivating
Beautiful, emotional
Smile
Alex Lewis
Example Diamante
Society
Imperfect, unestablished
Cheating, lying, stealing
Pollution, economy, life, generations
Greening, blossoming, growing
Beautiful, majestic
Nature
Abby Guinan
Shape Poem
Poetry written in the shape or form of an
object. This is a type of concrete poetry.
Shape poem
It smells like a box.
It looks like a box.
It tastes like a box.
It sounds like a box.
But it’s not a box.
Amy Levy
Acrostic Poem
• A poem that makes a word or message from
the first (usually) letter used in each line
Living
Inside the world
For many years
Everyday we learn something about it
Graphic and Structural Elements
• Line break—the intentional end of a line of
poetry
• Refrain—group of words repeated at key
intervals in poetry
• Stanza—division of a poem composed of two
or more lines characterized by meter, rhyme,
and number of lines
Stanza Lengths
•
•
•
•
•
Couplet—two-line stanza
Triplet—three-line stanza
Quatrain—a four-line stanza
Quintet—a five-line stanza
Sestet—a six-line stanza
Literary Language and Devices
Hyperbole
Metaphor
Extended Metaphor
Apostrophe
Oxymoron
Paradox
Imagery
New Literary Terms
• Enjambment – the running over of a sentence
from one line to the next (chops up the
ideas/reader’s thoughts)
• Antithesis—contrast of ideas by means of
parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or
sentences (Example: “You win some; you lose
some.”)
Apostrophe
addressing an absent person or personified
thing
Oxymoron
a combination of contradictory words, as in
“cruel kindness” or “loving hate”
Paradox
A statement that is seemingly contradictory to
common sense and yet is true
Examples:
I’m alone in a crowd.
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink
I must be cruel only to be kind.
Paradox examples
• I always tell lies.
• We must go to war to make peace.
• I can resist anything except temptation
Imagery/Sensory Details
A description that creates clear pictures in the
reader’s mind; appeal to the five senses.
When you read a description of something
that causes you to imagine the way something
tastes, smells, sounds, feels, or looks like
idiom
• An expression that has a meaning different
from the meaning of its individual words
• Examples— “to go to the dogs”
“a drop in the bucket”
“chip on your shoulder”
“a piece of cake”
“a pat on the back”
“a slap on the wrist”