Walt Whitman

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Social events
Family events
Daily life
Commerce
School
Rural areas
Urban areas
Legal system

“ Success is Counted
Sweetest ”
“ War is Kind ”
Disruptions Caused by War/
Destructiveness of
War
“ Grass ” “ Patterns ”

Select ONE of the four poems in the poetry packet we have been working with in class ( “ Success is Counted Sweetest ” , “ War is
Kind ” , “ Grass ” , and “ Patterns ” ).
Each student should write a paragraph of at least 50 words that explains (with evidence from the poem) how the poem presents war as a destructive force.
Students should edit and revise the short paragraphs about the poems with a peer editor.
The individuals or partners should be proofreading to ensure that each paragraph accomplishes the following tasks: a) that it clearly explains how war is a destructive force in the poem; b) that it contains specific, accurate references (direct quotes) to the poem that support the thesis ( “ war as a destructive force ” ); and c) that the writer has used correct spelling and grammar throughout the paragraph.

Theme- a common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work.
Purpose- the author ’ s reason for writing
Subject- what the author is writing about

Structure
Figurative Language

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Rhyme
Meter
Figurative Language
Poetic Terms

The repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all syllables that follow (ex. glisten – listen)
When rhyme is found within the same line of poetry, it is internal rhyme
When rhyme is found at the end of lines of poetry, it is end rhyme

The purpose of rhyme is to create a sound cadence for the reader
Poets often create a pattern of end rhyme
This pattern, when identified, is called a rhyme scheme
When determining the rhyme scheme, each rhyming sound is represented by a different letter of the alphabet

Because rhyming is difficult, and to create different effects on the reader, poets also use approximate rhyme
Approximate rhyme is also known as off rhyme, half
rhyme, or slant rhyme
These rhymes can be equated to a sharp or flat note in music

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
Each syllable in a line of poetry is labeled with a stress mark, or an unstressed mark
The purpose of meter is to create a recognizable rhythm through a regular sound pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Metrical patterns, composed of stressed and unstressed syllabic marks, create a foot of meter
Common metrical feet are: iambic, anapestic, trochaic, and dactylic
Each is a different combination of stressed and unstressed syllabic marks

An iambic foot of meter is composed of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
An anapestic foot of meter is composed of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

Foot type Style Stress pattern Syllable count
Iamb
Trochee
Spondee
Iambic Unstressed + Stressed
Trochaic Stressed + Unstressed
Spondaic Stressed + Stressed
Two
Two
Two
Anapest or anapaest
Three
Dactyl Dactylic
Anapestic Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed
Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed Three
Amphibrach Amphibrachic Unstressed + Stressed + Unstressed
Pyrrhic Pyrrhic Unstressed + Unstressed
Three
Two

Using words or phrases to describe something in terms of another thing, with the intent that the description will not be taken literally
The more common figures of speech are simile,
metaphor, personification, and symbol
Conceit is an elaborate figure of speech that is often lengthy, and which compares two startlingly different objects

Sound devices are also a form of figurative language
Some common sound devices are assonance, alliteration, consonance, onomatopoeia
Other figures of speech are
hyperbole- Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
metonymy- A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as
"crown" for "royalty").
Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it, as in describing someone's clothing to characterize the individual.
Oxymoron- A figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side; a compressed paradox .
Synecdoche- A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for
sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for
pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword)

Allusion is a reference to someone of something known from history, literature, religion, sports, science, etc. – allusion is a device also used in other forms of writing
Apostrophe is a technique a poet uses to address an inanimate object, idea, or person who is dead or absent
– apostrophe is also used in other forms of writing
Caesura is a pause or break within a line of poetry
Concrete Poem is a poem in which the words of the poem themselves are arranged in a manner to visually suggest the poem ’ s subject of meaning

Couplet consists of two rhyming lines of poetry
Lyric Poem is a poem that does not tell a story, but expresses the personal thoughts or feelings of the speaker/poet
Octave is an eight line poem, or more often, the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet
Ode is a lyric poem that is usually very long
Quatrain is a poem consisting of four lines that function as a unit of thought

Refrain is a word, phrase, line, or group of lines in a poem that are repeated for effect several times during a poem
Sestet is a six line poem, especially the last six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet
Sonnet is a fourteen line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, and following a Petrarchan or
Shakespearian structure

Create groups based around each of the four poems that you wrote about earlier.
Each group should then subdivide itself, with one subdivision taking on “ elements of poetic structure ” and the other taking on “ elements of figurative language.
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In the smaller groups, identify “ elements of poetic structure ” and “ elements of figurative language ” as they apply to your particular poem.

Add to the paragraph you wrote earlier, two additional paragraphs: one paragraph that explains the poem ’ s structure and one paragraph that cites examples of at least three uses of figurative language from the poem.
Check:
Revise all three a)That the first paragraph clearly explains how war is a destructive force in the poem; that the second paragraph paragraphs:
1. war as a explains the structure of the poem, and that the third paragraph explains the figurative language used in the poem; destructive force,
2. poetic structure, and b)b) that it contains specific, accurate references (direct quotes) to the poem that support the thesis of each paragraph (see list
3. figurative language. to the left); and c)c) that the writer has used correct spelling and grammar throughout the paragraph.