Poetry Studies
Figurative
Language
ELACCL9-10RL4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases
as they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the
language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal
or informal tone.)
Personification
personification
Definition: Personification means giving human traits to nonhuman or abstract things.
Example: "The Wind" by James Stephens
The moon smiles. Fires rage.
The wind vexes the lake and the waves crash angrily.
The wind stood up, and gave a shout;
He whistled on his fingers, and
Kicked the withered leaves about,
And thumped the branches with his hand,
And said he'd kill, and kill, and kill;
And so he will! And so he will!
Stephens' poem personifies the wind as a cruel, abusive man. Though he never says
directly that the wind is a man, it is apparent through his word choice, and the actions
that he attributes to the wind (standing, shouting, whistling, speaking, etc).
Personification tasks
Write an 8-line “Personification Poem” about an object in your book bag. This means
you need to give human characteristics to something that is inanimate (not human).
You might write about a concrete subject (such as a pencil, your lit book, your
homework, etc.) or an abstract subject (mathematics, a concept, etc.)
Consider these questions when creating your poem:
• What is most important about the object you’ve chosen?
• What human thoughts and feelings might this object have? What words or
descriptions show this?
• Which of the object’s characteristics stand out the most? Consider: Size, Speed,
Sound (pitch, quality, and volume), Appearance (color, shape, texture), Motives
(what does this subject want or need?), Emotions, Thoughts
Fill your poem with exciting and vivid personification. (For example, consider this line
from “The Banana Tree”: “The invisible hand of the wind tugged, pushed, and
forcefully restrained him.”)
Imagery
Imagery
Definition: Imagery draws the reader into poetic experiences by touching on the images and
senses which the reader already knows. Any description alluding to one of the five senses: taste,
touch, sight, smell, sound.
Examples:
Visual (seeing) imagery - From "The Widow's Lament in Springtime" by William Carlos Williams
masses of flowers
load the cherry branches
and color some bushes
yellow and some red...
Auditory (hearing) imagery - From "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold
"Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in."
Imagery tasks
In the form of a 10-line poem, answer one of the following prompts.
1. Without using the words “blue” or “cloud”, describe the sky.
2. Describe the emotion of fear without using a really scary story as an
example.
3. Describe your favorite music to someone who cannot hear.
4. Tell someone you love him or her without speaking of touching
them or giving them anything.
Metaphor
Metaphor
Definition: A metaphor is a pattern equating two seemingly unlike objects.
Examples:
drowning in debt; table leg; old flame; chains of poverty; your cheeks are red cherries
With regard to "table leg," we all have experience with legs, so in calling the thing that supports a
table a "leg," we know immediately that it is long, thin, straight, and that it holds the table up,
just as a leg holds up a body.
"Old flame," on the other hand, reflects an emotional knowledge -- the way we experience love
as a burning sensation, or a kind of heat. (And, in fact, many of our metaphors about love involve
the idea of heat: someone's eyes might "smolder;" Johnny Cash sang of a "ring of fire," etc.)
The author does not mean that your cheeks are actually red cherries. Instead, the metaphor
simply conveys that your cheeks are the color of cherries: flushed, bright and red.
Metaphor
"Fame is a Fickle Food" by Emily Dickinson
Fame is a fickle food
Upon a shifting plate
Whose table once a Guest, but not
The seond time, is set.
Whose crumbs the crows inspect,
And with ironic caw
Flap past it to the Farmer's Corn-Men eat of it and die.
In this example, Dickinson's entire poem is a metaphor about fame. She
compares fame to a food that is given to a man only once, and causes death.
She uses all nine lines of the poem to expand her metaphor.
metaphor
Why go through the trouble of understanding metaphors anyway?
When used correctly, metaphors are effective fiction writing tools.
They are one way to vary language and liven up prose. Also, like
shorthand, they can convey a picture or a meaning instantly, with few
words. Of course, like most literary devices, metaphors bomb when
used incorrectly, confusing the reader or drawing attention to the
writer's lack of skill. For instance, in the statement, "Our keyboard will
teach your mind's eye to play by ear," the speaker has mixed two
metaphors, leading to nonsense. A "mind's eye" can't play anything,
and certainly not "by ear."
The trick with using metaphors is to watch out for clichés and avoid
mixing them. Expressions like "the calm before the storm," "Mother
Nature," “stabbed in the back,” or "he's a rat," have been used so
often that they're now clichés.
Metaphor task
Choose a metaphor that describes you as a student. Write a
paragraph that extends the metaphor so that the reader will
better understand your study habits and academic skills.
The metaphor you choose can take the form of an animal
(e.g., an elephant, a fox, an ostrich), a machine (e.g., a
bulldozer, a tank, a computer) or something else. Any
metaphor you choose will be correct if you support your
assertion.
Remember to provide detailed support for your metaphor.
Think about specific characteristics of yourself as a student
that compare to the item you have chosen as a metaphor.
simile
simile
Definition: A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as" to draw attention
to similarities about two things that are seemingly dissimilar.
Examples: Your eyes are as blue as the sky.
You eat like a bird.
"Harlem" by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a soreAnd then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar overlike a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Hughes uses five different similes in this poem. He compares unfulfilled dreams to a raisin, a sore, rotten meat,
a syrupy sweet, and a heavy load. Through these similes, Hughes paints a picture of a dream that is cast aside,
and lies rotting and decaying.
Simile task
Think of a topic for your simile poem. Choose something that you can
describe very well (e.g. a pet, a sport, a friend, a season).
Write this topic at the top of your paper.
List at least seven characteristics or personality traits that describe this topic
(e.g., brown eyes, long legs, oval top).
Compare each trait to something that either physically, symbolically, or
emotionally extends the description of the topic. Use the words “like” or “as”
in the comparison.
Complete the poem by putting the comparisons in a logical order and filling in
the “gaps” in the description with other vivid words and phrases. Look again
at Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” for an example.
synecdoche
synecdoche
Definition: a form of metaphor where one part stands for
the whole, or the whole is substituted for one part. In
other words, we speak of something by naming only a
part of it.
Examples:
"Robby got wheels this summer."
"All hands were on deck."
wheels = car
hands = sailors
"the hand that wrote the letter" hand = person
Synecdoche task
Choose a topic for which you can use one part of the item
to describe the whole (e.g., wheels, lenses, ink).
Write a paragraph that describes the part but also alludes
to the whole item (e.g., wheels are shiny, fast, hot). Try
to build a picture of the part that if you were to replace
the name of the part with the name of the whole, the
paragraph would still make sense.
Add vivid words and details to heighten the description.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole
Definition: Hyperbole (overstatement) is a type of
figurative language that depends on intentional
overstatement.
An exaggeration; giving something more or less of a
quality than it really has. This term is usually used
as a put down, or to discredit what someone is
saying. Hyperbole is common in humorous poetry.
Hyperbole can make a point in a light-hearted way.
It can be used to poke fun at someone or
something.
Hyperbole
Examples: tons of money
waiting for ages
a flood of tears
After so many years, he can still feel the sting of his mother's slap.
He cannot literally feel the sting, but the hyperbole conveys that his mother's slap was a deeply
damaging experience.
Note this description of a dull town by Carl Sandburg in "The People, Yes“:
It's a slow burg—I spent a couple of weeks there one day.
This poem by John Ciardi, "Speed Adjustments,“ uses hyperbole in a description of a young boy:
Why does a boy who’s fast as a jet
Take all day—and sometimes two—
To get to school?
Hyperbole can emphasize a truth by exaggerating it as Ralph Waldo Emerson does in "The Concord
Hymn":
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
Hyperbole task
All families have their share of crazy moments, crazy
relatives, or crazy traditions. The use of hyperbole can
exaggerate the abnormality of these moments.
Choose something crazy from your family history and
make it even crazier! Write a paragraph to describe the
incident.
Add at least five hyperboles within the description.
Use vivid words and language throughout the paragraph
in order to make the hyperbole seem acceptable rather
than outrageous or silly.
symbolism
symbolism
Definition: the use of a word or image that signifies something other than what is literally represented; it has both a literal and figurative
meaning. A person, place, or event stands for something other than it is, usually something broader or deeper than it is.
Example: "The Sick Rose" by William Blake
O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Blake uses the rose as a symbol for all that is beautiful, natural and desirable. He uses the worm to symbolize the evil that destroys natural
beauty and love. The poem is more than a description of an infested flower bed. Because of the symbolism, it suggests that all that is
beautiful, natural, and good in the world is being secretly destroyed by something we cannot see. The worm "flies in the night," and then
hides beneath the dirt of the flower bed. This means that we cannot see the evil that attacks the purity in the world, nor do we understand its
reasoning.
However, be aware that the same objects (rose, worm) can be used in many different pieces of literature and can symbolize something
different in each one. For example, the word "rose" can be a symbol for sensual love, spiritual love, youth, natural beauty, vulnerability, etc.,
depending on the author's intention.
Symbolism task
Choose an abstract noun such as liberty, love,
friendship, or freedom. Write a vivid paragraph
describing the concept.
Underline each reference to the concept.
Replace the direct references to the concept
with objects that could stand for (or symbolize)
the concept.