POETRY
Unit 3
Whether the poems live on found paper, or come about through black outbook pages, or accompany pictures I’ve taken, they all try to do two
things:
1. Dissect big things, giant gestures, grand emotions,
into small glimpses, tiny fragments.
2. Take miniature moments, stolen seconds, blinkand-you’ll-miss-them glances, and make them
enormous
the miracle in the mundane, the epic made simple.”
-Tyler Knott Gregson
PROSE VS. POETRY
Part1:Form
FORM
• Form, or structure, refers to the distinctive way words are arranged on the
page.
• Form refers to the length and placement of lines of poetry, also known as
verses, and the way they are grouped into stanzas.
• Similar to a paragraph in narrative writing, each stanza conveys a unified idea and
contributes to a poem’s overall meaning.
• Poems can be traditional or organic in form. Regardless of its structure
though, a poem’s form is often deliberately chosen to echo its meaning.
TRADITIONAL FORM
CHARACTERISTICS
• Follows fixed rules, such as a specified number of
lines.
• Has a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
• Includes the following forms: sonnet, ode, haiku,
limerick, ballad, and epic
ORGANIC FORM
CHARACTERISTICS
• Does not have a regular pattern of rhythm and may not have
rhyme.
• May use unconventional spelling, punctuation, and
grammar.
• Includes the following forms: free verse, concrete poetry,
prose poetry, redacted poetry and chance poetry.
LINES AND LINE BREAKS
• Depending on the number of lines or verses that are grouped together to
form a stanza, the name used for that type of stanza will change.
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One line: verse
Two lines: couplet
Three lines: tercet
Four lines: quatrain
Five lines: quintain
Six lines: sestet
Seven lines: septet
Eight lines: octave
LINES AND LINE BREAKS
• There are also special terms used for where a poet chooses to end
lines of poetry within a poem. Where a line of poetry ends is known
as a line break.
• There are two types of line breaks: end stopped and enjambed.
• When a line of poetry ends at the end of a complete grammatical unit, this
is called an end stopped line.
• When the line of poetry ends in the middle of a grammatical unit, usually to
create a meaningful pause or emphasis, this is called enjambment.
RHYTHM AND METER
• Rhythm changes the way you read a poem. It determines
whether it is read at a brisk pace, or slowly like everyday
conversation.
• The pattern of stressed ( ’ ) and unstressed ( ˘ ) syllables in a line
of poetry is known as rhythm. When this pattern becomes
regular, in a pre-established pattern, it is known as meter.
• Poets use rhythm to bring out the musical quality in language.
RHYTHM AND METER
• In literary terms, a foot refers to two or more syllables that
together make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem.
• For example, an iamb is a foot that has two syllables; in this
type of rhythm unit, one unstressed syllable is followed by
one stressed syllable.
• Note: There are many terms that can be used to describe the
numerous patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in a foot.
RHYTHM AND METER
• Rhythm Foot Meter
• The number of metrical feet in a line are described as follows:
• Monometer=one foot
• Dimeter=two feet
• Trimeter=three feet
• Tetrameter=four
• Pentameter=five feet
• It can go up to eight and beyond, but 1-5 are the most common.
PART2:
POETIC DEVICES
RHYME
• Rhyme is the occurrence of similar or identical sounds at the end
of two or more words, such as suite, heat, and complete.
• There are several types of rhyme: internal rhyme, slant rhyme, and
end rhyme.
• End rhyme is rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines of poetry.
• When a regular pattern of end rhyme occurs, this is called a rhyme
scheme, and is charted by assigning a letter to matching end rhymes.
(always start with “a”)
• Note: You DO NOT start the rhyme scheme over when a new stanza
begins.
SOUND DEVICES
• Sound devices are used to create a specific auditory effect or mood.
• Repetition is a device that can help create an appealing rhythm in
poetry and/or reinforce a particular idea.
• A sound, word, phrase, or line are all things that can be repeated
within poetry for emphasis, unity, or to help create rhythm.
• An onomatopoeia is the use of words whose sounds echo their
meanings, such as buzz, whisper, tick-tock, pow, bam, snap, crackle,
pop, click, boom
SOUND DEVICES
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words.
• “From folk that sat on the terrace and drew out the even long”
• Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end of
words.
• “He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake”
•
• Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
• Gary’s giraffe gobbled gooseberries greedily.
• Sally sold seashells by the seashore.
IMAGERY &
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• Imagery consists of descriptive words and phrases to re-create sensory
experiences. Writers can use the five senses or figurative language to
create vivid details and descriptions.
• Figurative language is language that communicates meanings
beyond the literal meanings of the words. These tools are often used
to symbolize ideas and concepts they would not normally be
associated with.
IMAGERY & FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
• A simile makes a comparison between two unlike things using the
word like or as.
• A metaphor makes a comparison between two things that are
basically unlike but have something in common. Unlike a simile you do
not use like or as.
• Personification occurs when human qualities are given to an object,
animal, or idea.
• A hyperbole is when the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or
humorous effect.
PART3:
TYPES OF POEMS
TRADITIONAL
• Lyric poems are short and tend to have a single speaker who
expresses personal thoughts and feelings on a particular subject.
These poems use imaginative language and have a strong
sense of rhythm.
• An ode is a complex lyric poem that addresses a serious and
dignified topic, such as justice, truth, or the passage of time.
• A sonnet is a 14-line lyric poem written with a strict pattern of
rhyme and rhythm. Traditionally, the subject of sonnets is love.
While there are several types of sonnets, they all share certain
characteristics (a rhyme scheme and 14 lines).
TRADITIONAL
• An narrative poem tells a story or recounts events. A narrative
poem may have many of the elements of a short story.
• A ballad is a story told in song, using the voice and language of
everyday people. Like a work of fiction, a ballad has stanzas,
rhythm, and rhyme. Like songs, a ballad uses repetition and has
regular rhyme and meter.
• A haiku is a form of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are
arranged in three non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. The
rules of haiku are strict. The goal of a haiku is to evoke an
emotional response from the reader. Nature tends to an
important subject and source of inspiration for traditional haikus.
ORGANIC
• Free verse poetry does not contain regular patterns of
rhythm of rhyme.
• Lines in free verse poems often flow more naturally than
rhymed and metrical lines of poetry, thus the rhythm is
that similar to everyday speech.
• Free verse poetry can explore a variety of subjects
and may use multiple types of sound devices and
poetic elements.
ORGANIC
• Prose poetry appears as prose, but reads like poetry.
• It does not have the traditional line breaks associated
with poetry
• It does have a poetic quality because prose poetry
uses many techniques that are commonly found in
traditional poetry such as fragmentation, repetition,
rhyme, sound devices, imagery, and figurative
language.
• Prose poetry, like many forms of organic poetry can
explore various styles and subjects.
CHANCE POETRY
• Chance poetry is generated independent of the
author’s will. Methods for chance poetry can be
almost anything from throwing darts, to rolling
dice, or drawing words out of a bag.
• Most poems created by chance operations use
some original text as their source.
• The purpose of such a practice is to play against
the poet’s intentions and ego, while creating
unusual syntax and images. Example: magnetic
poetry
REDACTED POETRY
• "Redacted" poems are
similar to "chance"
poems, except the poet
crosses-out (or redacts)
words on a page, rather
than pick and place the
words. The page of text
that is used can be from
a variety of sources such
as a magazine,
newspaper, or book.