Poetry & Lyrics
Introduction to Genre Studies
Journal Prompt
 Brainstorm a list of terms related to poetry.
 Play around with your list – can you create
groups of related terms?
Unit Overview
 Inquiry Question: How do the words of artists (poets
and musicians) speak to social injustice?
 Unit Project – Song Lyric Analysis
 You will choose a song with strong lyrical quality that
speaks to you social justice issue. You will analyze the
lyrics using the five step poetry analysis process we
will learn and practice in class. For the portfolio,
include a clean copy of your lyrics and the written
four paragraph analysis of the song.
Poetic Form & Structure
 Poetic form: the form or type of poem, i.e.:
lyric poem, free verse, sonnet, ballad, ode,
elegy, haiku
 Stanza: group of consecutive lines that form a
single unit in a poem
 Line: a single line of words in a poem
 Punctuation: indicates where reader is to
pause
Poetry: Figurative Language
 Imagery: language that appeals to our five
senses and creates images in our minds
 Simile: makes a comparison between two
unlike things using a connective word (like, as,
than, resembles)
 Metaphor: makes a comparison between two
unlike things without using a connective word
 Personification: attributing human qualities to
a nonhuman thing or abstract idea
Poetry: Sounds
 Meter: a generally regular pattern of stressed
and unstressed syllables in poetry
 Rhyme: repetition of the accented vowel
sound and any sounds in words close together
 Free verse: poetry that does not have a
regular meter or rhyme scheme
 Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds
in words that appear close together
Reading a Poem Like a Pro!
 T0 read a poem like a pro:
 Find punctuation showing where sentences
and complete thoughts begin and end
 Paraphrase lines or stanzas
 Read the poem aloud, slowly and clearly,
stopping when punctuation indicates a pause
 Visualize the descriptive words and phrases
Reading a Poem Like a Pro!
 T0 read a poem like a pro:
 Find punctuation showing where sentences
and complete thoughts begin and end
 Paraphrase lines or stanzas
 Read the poem aloud, slowly and clearly,
stopping when punctuation indicates a pause
 Visualize the descriptive words and phrases