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Transformation refers to the concept of complete change.
Transformation in this unit involves the personal growth or
evolution of authors, readers, and the audience through the
composition, reading, and/or presentation of a literary work.
Poetry is a written form of
expression characterized
by figurative and/or
imaginative language, as
well as other
characteristics.
Some poetry may illustrate
emotion, while others may
not. Some poetry is written
within strictly-defined
rules of structure: these
include lines, stanzas,
sound devices, rhyme,
and/or meter.
Other poems (more
common in modern
poetry) are free of rules.
All poetry, however, is
written as a response to a
revelation about human
existence.
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Narrative Poetry is defined as poetry that tells a story.
Sharing the same elements as a story, a narrative poem
has characters, setting, plot, and point of view.
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Lyric Poetry is poetry that expresses a speaker’s personal
thoughts and feelings. They may be rhymed or free verse,
but these poems are usually short and musical.
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Dramatic Poetry is defined as poetry that
demonstrates the elements of drama. Characters can
speak to each other, to themselves, or to the reader.
Some type of intense conflict or emotional situation is
usually being discussed.
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A sonnet is defined as lyric
poem composed of fourteen
lines, usually written in iambic
pentameter organized in strict
patterns of stanza division and
rhyme.
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Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that is written in three lines
and seventeen syllables. The first and third lines of this poetry are usually
composed of five syllables while the middle line has seven syllables. This
form of poetry is written to express a moment of personal insight and
reflection during an observation of nature.
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A limerick is defined as a poem written in five lines with an
AABBA rhyme pattern. The first, second and fifth lines
consist of three metrical feet while the third and fourth lines
possess of two metrical feet. A limerick is usually
humorous and ribald in nature.
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Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed vowel sounds and
sounds that follow in two or more words. End rhyme involves the
repetition of sounds in syllables at the end of line while internal rhyme
involves repetition of sound within a single sound. A rhyme scheme is
the pattern of end rhyme. The pattern is identified by letters of the
alphabet assigned to each specific end rhyme.
A refrain is the repetition, at
intervals, of a line or lines.
Refrains are usually found
after stanzas in songs or
poems.
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Rhythm is the pattern of language in text. Instead of matching
percussion, as with music, in poetry Rhythm refers to the
arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.
The author uses these rhythmical patterns to emphasize certain
words or ideas. Rhythm also instills a musical quality into
poetry. Poetry can either possess a regular, predictable pattern
of rhythm or have no regular patter at all.
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Blank Verse is the term applied to dramatic verse written in
unrhymed iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is defined as
meter composed of five iambic feet to a line of verse in the pattern
of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. William
Shakespeare wrote many plays using blank verse.
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A figure of speech is defined as a specific figurative language device
prominent in poetry. This type of language moves the reader to accept
statements that may not be literally true, but which reveal some truth at a
deeper level. Similes, metaphors, hyperboles, and personification are all
considered to be figures of speech that enhance the writer’s literary work
and bring the poetry to life.
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A simile is a figure of speech in which the author makes a
comparison of two or more unlike things using the words
like or as.
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A metaphor is an implied comparison of two or more
things without using the words like or as. An extended
metaphor continues the implied comparison
throughout a paragraph, stanza or an entire literary
work.
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Personification is a figure of speech in which
human qualities are given to inanimate objects,
animals, or ideas.
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A hyperbole is another
figure of speech that uses
exaggeration to make a
point, to stress an
emotion, or to create
humor.
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Sound devices refer to methods used by an author to emphasize
specific sounds in poetry. This is where the author works with the
actual sounds of language—making the poem pleasing or harsh
to the ear.
Sound devices help to create rhythmical patterns and add musical
quality to the literary piece. Alliteration, assonance, consonance,
and onomatopoeia are all types of sound devices.
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Alliteration is considered a sound device used in
poetry. It is usually defined as the repetition of
sounds at the beginnings of words.
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Consonance is also defined as a sound device.
However, consonance is the repetition of consonant
sounds before or after different vowel sounds—that is, in
the middle or end of the word.
Thus, the vowels do not rhyme, but the repetition of the
consonants allows the reader to hear a similar syllable
sound.
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Assonance is a sound device in which similar
vowel sounds are repeated within the middle or
end of words that do not rhyme.
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Onomatopoeia is defined as the use of words to
mimic sounds associated with the subject of a line of
poetry.
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