Jasmine Hall
Poetry by Paragraph
Every good poem is created with a combination of several literary features. These features are
presented in poetry by famous poets such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Edgar Allen Poe, Seamus Heaney,
Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou as well as many infamous poets. The most common literary
features include diction, imagery, juxtaposition, theme, tone, rhythm, form, symbolism, and
persona.
Diction is used in poetry and it means the choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, style of
expression, and figurative language that the poet uses. The diction of a poem can be used to show
what kind of person you are talking about in the poem. It can show their background, usually their
culture or ethnic group, and their class. A prominent example of diction is in a poem by Gwendolyn
Brooks entitled “Lovers of The Poor”. In this poem, you could tell that these women that went to
“help” in the black neighborhoods were indeed upper class white women. These women used words
that one does not hear every day such as boulevard, as opposed to street. They used words like
derelict and dullards to describe what they saw. The use of the word swarthy rather than just simply
saying dark shows how fancy they are. They also used phrases that Blacks would not be very familiar
with such as “You had better not throw stones upon the wrens” which simply warns children to not
throw rocks at the birds. Diction is a very important device in literature that any good poet should
have a familiarity with.
Imagery in poetry can be defined as the use of words or phrases that appeal to more than one
of your senses and help create a vivid picture of the poem. Imagery uses descriptive and figurative
language to create mental pictures. The use of imagery is a very efficient way for a poet to
communicate with the audience or readers. It can significantly increase the worth of a poem and
capture and hold the readers’ attention. Imagery is presented in “The Bean Eaters” very frequently.
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The first example is in the descriptive phrase “old yellow pair” which lets you know that these
people are up in age and have probably grown old together. Another example is in “plain chip ware”
and “tin flatware” which signifies that this is not a couple of fancy people; they are the type to have
things that are practical rather than decorative. “Plain and chipping wood” is imagery that tells the
audience that the people are not rich by any means. They have a place to live, a home, but not a
fancy one. “Rented back rooms” and the descriptors that are used give readers a sense of things
that are important to this couple. It has a deeper meaning which is that you can be happy with one
another by enjoying the simpler things in life.
Juxtaposition can be referred to the arrangement of multiple ideas, characters, actions, settings,
or phrases side by side for the purpose of comparison or contrasting. It can be used to help develop
a character and also for rhetorical effects. Juxtaposition is one of the most common comparison
tactics that Gwendolyn Brooks uses in her poetry. In the poem “To the Diaspora” juxtaposition is
used to compare Black people to Africa. She says “you did not know you were Afrika” and “The Black
continent that had to be reached was you”. This just means that while the people are longing for
Afrika, they fail to realize that it isn’t the country, but actually the people and what is within them
that makes them African. Afrika is known to “evoke diamonds”, and the diaspora didn’t really realize
that they are those diamonds. Juxtaposition is a creative way to compare two or more ideas in
literature and is found in many great poems.
Theme is the main idea or statement that controls the entire piece of literary work. The theme
of a poem is the lesson or piece of information that the author wants you to take from a poem.
Every completed poem has a theme, in some cases it is obvious, in other cases it isn’t. In the poem
“My Last Duchess” the theme is that men with power often become controlling and jealous as it
pertains to their women. The Duke in the poem was not only telling a story to his soon to be father
in-law, but he was warning him to make sure his daughter stays in line. “That's my last Duchess
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painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive” which clearly states that his last wife is no longer living. The quote “She
had a heart — how shall I say? — Too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er she
looked on, and her looks went everywhere” told that his last wife was very nice and like of gullible
and he noticed that she had a wandering eye. This is a sign of jealousy. He did this in a very gentle
and subtle way but it was definitely a warning. Themes often times come in subtle fashions but are
very important in any form of literary works.
The tone of a piece is the mood or feeling that the author intends to create in a piece. The tone
of a piece is very important in interpreting the meaning of a poem. It lets you know how you should
feel after reading the poem and it helps you to understand the theme of it. The poem “The Ballad of
Rudolph Reed” has a serious tone throughout the entire piece. In the beginning we learned that
“Rudolph Reed was a very oaken man, his wife was oaken too and the little girls…oakened as they
grew” which set the serious tone for this piece. From the determination in the phrase “All I know is I
shall know it,
And fight for it when I find it” shows the determination that Rudolph Reed had to find a house that
was not in the ghetto and that helped emphasize the tone. The end of the poem where “Her oakeyed mother did nothing But change the bloody gauze” shows the audience that she was a serious,
strong woman and had to reason to fret over her family’s misfortune. Tone is one of the most
important literary devices used in poetry.
The variety of speed, volume, intensity, pitch, and expressiveness of words in a piece of literary
work can be used to define the rhythm. Rhythm gives you a sense of what kind of poem you are
working with and helps interpret the tone. Rhythm is the stressing and unstressing of syllables at
equal intervals in lines of poetry, not to be confused with meter. In the poem Sadie and Maud, the
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rhythm is very sing-songy yet simple. The rhythm of a poem is a very important literary device when
you are trying to analyze a poem.
The form of a poem is the shape or organizational mode. It is often displayed to match the
content of the poem. The form is significant because it can give even more meaning to the poem
and unlock ideas that you would not initially understand. Form, in some poems, consists of number
of lines, rhyme scheme, and a set meter for each line. In the poem by Gwendolyn Brooks entitled
“We Real CooL” the form of the poem is one of the most dominant features of it. The title has the
ending letter purposely capitalized which lets the audience know that they might want to pay
attention to the ending of things. The end of each line in the last stanza has the word “we” even
though it was the beginning of a new sentence. The seven occurrences of “we” represented the
seven pool players together. But the form changes in the last line of the poem “die soon”. This is
actually form-matching content because when you die there is no more “we”, you are alone. The
form is very important in literature because it helps develop the theme.
Symbolism can be defined as the use of words, places, characters, or objects that have a
meaning more than just the literal meaning. Symbolism can be used to decipher meanings of words,
entire phrases, stanzas, or even the entire poem. In the poem “Digging” by Seamus Heaney, he uses
the word digging as a symbol. It can be used to mean writing, which is the reason behind him being
pen in hand. This entire poem symbolizes the Irish change from rural to industrialism. Potatoes were
the vegetable that allows the audience to know we are talking about Irishmen. Symbolism is an
important literary term and if you fail to understand the symbols you will miss out on the theme of
the poem.
The persona can be defined as the narrator of the poem or the person telling the story in a
literary piece of work. The persona is not always easy to figure out and can often be misinterpreted.
In the poem by Gwendolyn Brooks entitled “The Riot” it is evident that the persona is a third party
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that is probably watching the riot take place. The riot is against John Cabot. The persona is revealed
by the line “…and they were coming toward him”, which let us as readers know that this person is
neither a part of the riot nor is this person John Cabot. Persona is a literary feature that is not always
present in a poem, sometimes there is just no persona.
Imagery can be defined as the use of words or phrases that appeal to more than one of the
senses. Using imagery in a poem is one of the best ways for an author to communicate with his
audience. This can allow the author to precisely describe what the author wants you to know and to
help set the tone for the piece. In Langston Hughes’ poem “April Rain Song,” he uses imagery in the
phrases “let the rain kiss you” which is going to be gentle because there is a gentle tone to this
piece. The word choice is very particular so the tone stays in place. Another example within this
poem is in the phrase “plays a little sleep song on our roof at night” which is something that only
that choice of words and that particular use of imagery can describe. Imagery is so vital in a well
written piece of literature.
In conclusion, the use of literary features such as diction, imagery, juxtaposition, theme, tone,
rhythm, form, symbolism, and persona are very important in poetry. They are used to help enhance
the communication between the author and the audience or readers. These features are used by
famous poets as well as everyday poets and are very valuable to know and recognize.

Unfamiliar words
o
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“Old Man” means grandfather in
this poem
“Cross” by Langston Hughes
o
living environment
My old man's a white old man
and my old mother's black.

Symbolism
o
If ever I cursed my white old man
“Big house” symbolizes wealth
and power
I take my curses back.
o
If ever I cursed my black old mother
Old to a black person has a more
negative connotation than
And wished she were in hell,
I'm sorry for that evil wish
“Shack” is a torn or rundown
white.

And now I wish her well
Tone
o
Repetitive “I’m sorry” lets the
audience know that this poem
My old man died in a fine big house.
has an apologetic tone.
My ma died in a shack.
o
I wonder where I'm going to die,
Being neither white nor black?
“I wonder” lets us know that the
tone is unknowing.

Theme
o
The theme of this is that biracial
individuals oftentimes feel left in
the middle and don’t really know
how to be defined.

Form Matching Content- The poem is
written in three quatrains. They are separate
but they all are in the same person’s point of
view. This is probably because the persona
feels that they are one person composed of
more than one type of thing.

Persona- In this poem the persona is
someone that is dealing with the inner
turmoil of being biracial.
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“Dreams” by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
Unfamiliar Words
o Barren means empty, lifeless, and
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
without fruit in this poem

Symbolism
That cannot fly.
o Broken Winged Bird- life with no
Hold fast to dreams
meaning
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
o Die- Are lost or not followed
Frozen with snow.

Tone
o Warning tone

Theme
o The theme of this poem is that if you
don’t follow your dreams, life is
meaningless.

Persona
o The persona of this poem is probably
an older person that has experienced
life.

Form Matching Content
o This poem has a rhyming, kind of
predictable form and is about life.
Sometimes life and dreams get sort of
predictable.
o This poem is not separated into
several stanzas because you told to
hold on to dreams, hence the form of
a chunk.