Literary Devices in Poetry Day 1 Diction the

Literary Devices in Poetry

Day 1

Diction the writer’s, speaker’s, or narrator’s choice of words Ex: If the speaker of a poem is a child, the author would chose words a child would use, such as “mommy” or “potty”

Denotation The most specific or direct meaning of a word: the “dictionary” definition/meaning of a word Ex: the word cool means: moderately cold; neither warm nor cold No hidden meanings in the words

Connotation The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning; slang meanings; all stereotypes & feelings associated Ex: cool can also mean: great; fine; excellent Words may have hidden or double meanings

Denotation vs. Connotation House vs. Home Girl vs. Woman

Dialect way of speaking for a group of people Ex: I’s jus kiddin’

Dialogue words directly spoken by the character For internal dialogue: words thought by the character Ex: She said, “that will be fine. ” Ex: I would love that she thought

“This is Just to Say” by Williams I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

Last Word by Peter Davison When I saw your head bow, I knew I had beaten you. You shed no tears—not near me— but held your neck Bare for the blow I had been too frightened Even to deliver, even in words. And now, In spite of me, plummeting it came. Frozen we both waited for its fall. Most of what you gave me I have forgotten With my mind but not taken into my body, But this I remember well: the bones of your neck And the strain in my shoulders as I heaved up that huge Double blade and snapped my wrists to swing The handle down and hear the axe’s edge Nick through your flesh and creak into the block.

Excerpt from Violets by D. H. lawrence Sister, tha knows while we was on the planks Aside o' th' grave, while th' coffin wor lyin' yet On th' yaller clay, an' th' white flowers top of it Tryin' to keep off'n him a bit o' th' wet, An' parson makin' haste, an' a' the black Huddlin' close together a cause o' th'

Poem… Internment by Juliet S. Kono (p. 437)

Your assignment 1. Write a poem using only denotative word meanings **at least 20 words 2. Find a published poem that contains connotative word meanings and highlight the words and express the meanings **at least 30 words

In your folder… Table on Contents List all poems and page numbers Page 1 needs to have: ALL definitions in alphabetical order And page number for each example

Next page: Poems labeled “connotation” and “denotation” poems on same or separate pages

Denotation Poem: Connotation Poem: Homework Mirror, Mirror by: Katherine Foreman I come home after school begin working on MY HOMEWORK real “Why? ” I cry, “do we have So much homework? ” I hate homework. My game face is blue. I must put it back on, see How much of my glory was And how much fever. blue=team color and sad back on=literally repaint and figuratively bring back the emotion glory=excitement fever=uncontrollable excitement

Connotation Poem: Mirror, Mirror by: Katherine Foreman blue=team color and sad My game face is blue. must put it back on, see How much of my glory was real literally repaint and figuratively bring back the emotion And how much fever. glory=excitement fever=uncontrollable excitement

Table on Contents page Definitions Denotation Poem Connotation Poem 1 2 2

Day 2

Scene (Setting) tells where & when the poem takes place

Speaker (narrator) The voice talking to us in the poem. (It is not necessarily the author’s voice)

Theme central idea of the poem or story, themes are expressed through storylike examples of that situation Themes should always be written as a sentence Ex: Friendship is more than companionship; it also requires responsibility for another

Author’s Purpose why the author wrote the poem or story, usually a lesson Ex: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee wanted to make people aware of racism and injustice

Poems to read… Po' Boy Blues by: Langston Hughes Southbound on the Freeway by: May Swenson The World is Not a Pleasant Place to Be by: Nikki Giovanni (p. 40)

Po’ Boy Blues by Langston Hughes When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de Whole damn world's turned cold. I was a good boy, Never done no wrong. Yes, I was a good boy, Never done no wrong, But this world is weary An' de road is hard an' long.

I fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. Fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. She made me lose ma money An' almost lose ma mind. Weary, weary, Weary early in de morn. Weary, weary, Early, early in de morn. I's so weary I wish I'd never been born.

Your assignment… Write a poem from the perspective of an unusual speaker Identify the speaker at the end of the poem Must be at least 30 words Take a famous poem and identify the: Theme Author’s purpose Speaker Scene Within the poem Must be at least 20 words

Awake by: Katherine Foreman speaker: author scene: Author’s purpose: Show change From child to adult My last night as a full-time child I didn't want to sleep, for fear of Waking up in a rustle of too-crisp sheets And a creak of inadequate bedsprings bedroom With a lightly snoring virtual stranger eight feet away. And also I didn't want it to be tomorrow, Because then it would be time to do what I've denied for three weeks of subsistence And oblivion--ignoring is bliss. And I saw everything I never did Lying around me, pieces and steps of the Success I never got, reminders that Whatever I planned, I never got far. But in the middle of these broken promises To myself, I could see for the first time That I have not been broken. And I must keep myself, all that is real, As daybreak does, and nightfall. I exist to others, but all I need is me. I will be the last promise, when all is said And kept. Theme: The change from childhood to adulthood is when you realize responsibility and anticipate your actions.

Day 3

Mood feeling WE, the reader or listener, get from the poem Ex: words describe mood: happy, excited, sad, scary, intense, sweet, etc.

Tone the writer’s or speaker’s attitude about the subject, character, or audience Ex: words to describe tone: sarcastic, teasing, critical, serious, admiring, ironic, etc

Conflict Internal Conflict External Conflict Human vs. Society Human vs. Nature Human vs. Technology

Winter Garden by unknown poet Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever.

Spring Garden by unknown poet Stunningly dressed flower stalks Stand shimmering in the breeze. The cheerful sun hides playfully Behind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds, While trees whisper secrets To their rustling leaves. Carpets of grass greenly glow Blending joyfully with the day. Spring brings life to death.

Comparisons… Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever. Stunningly dressed flower stalks Stand shimmering in the breeze. The cheerful sun hides playfully Behind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds, While trees whisper secrets To their rustling leaves. Carpets of grass greenly glow Blending joyfully with the day. Spring brings life to death.

Poems… My Father is a Simple Man by Luis Omar Salinas (p. 62) Forgive my Guilt by Robert P. Tristram Coffin (p. 128)

Your assignment… Write two poems that contain opposite moods Highlight the words that create the differing moods Each poem must contain at least 40 words • At least 10 words must be contrasting moods

Mood Poems Winter Garden Spring Garden By: unknown author Stark naked flower stalks Stand shivering in the wind. The cheerless sun hides its black light Behind bleak, angry clouds, While trees vainly try To catch their escaping leaves. Carpets of grass turn brown, Blending morosely with the dreary day. Winter seems the death of life forever. Stunningly dressed flower stalks Stand shimmering in the breeze. The cheerful sun hides playfully Behind white, fluffy, cottonball clouds, While trees whisper secrets To their rustling leaves. Carpets of grass greenly glow Blending joyfully with the day. Spring brings life to death.

Day 4

Imagery Use of single words or phrases that appeals to our senses see, hear, touch, taste, smell

Cliché overused, warn-out expression or phrase, not unique Ex: worn blue jeans, strong as an ox Try NOT to use clichés unless you purposely want to

Fresh Images helps us see the world in a new or unusual way, new and different ways of describing something Ex: e. e. cummings writes: mudluscious

The LOVE poem I love you more than anything I've known. And now my life will never be the same. Every day is heaven in your arms.

The BREAK-UP poem You tore my heart with hands of fire, and ran me through the shredder of desire. Our life together was a song. I thought you loved me -- was I wrong

The TEENAGE ANGST poem No one understands me. Death and skulls. I'm ugly and people hate me -but I hate them and I don't care. My brain has pain. It cuts like a knife. End my life.

The NATURE poem The birds are cheering the rainbow sunset, The beautiful blue day And children dance on the grass.

Catalogue Poem poem that lists daily activities

Poems Woman Work by Maya Angelou Daily Naomi Shihab Nye In Just by: e. e. cummings (p. 414)

Your assignment… 1. Write a catalogue poem about your day a. b. You must list at least 10 items You must use each of the five senses at least once Highlight each time you use one of the five senses

Catalog Poem: My Day by: Ms. Wellmeyer Every morning I wake up To the constant buzzing Of my alarm clock And it reads 5: 30 in bright red numbers. I smell the fresh coffee brewing In the kitchen And I feel the cold wood floors As I step out of bed.

Day 5

Irony the contrast between expectation and reality

Verbal irony the writer or the speaker says one thing but really means something different Ex: calling a clumsy basketball player Michael Jordan

Situational Irony describes an event that is not just surprising, but contrary to what we expect Ex: You stay up all night studying for a test. When you go to class, you discover the test is not until the next day.

Dramatic Irony WE know what is going to happen to the character, but the character does not Ex: While watching a horror movie, YOU, the audience, know that the killer is waiting for the victim in the house…and he/she is attacked.

Allusion a reference (usually brief) often casual, occasionally indirect, to a person, event, or condition thought to be familiar to the reader. Ex: fairy-tale characters in Shrek

His House is Clean and Orderly by unknown poet Just as he had always hoped, His house was clean and orderly; No dust settled on pictures And there was no furniture to clutter the living room. The refrigerator had no moldering vegetables And the tub had no trace of her hair That used to clump and cluster in the drain. The only thing out of place Was a piece of paper taped clumsily to the door

Irony by Jennifer T Street, MD The shards of glass littered the cold, black asphalt like sparkling stars strewn across the night sky. Their brilliance catching the corner of my eye, making me slow down, just to look at them a little longer. In my awe of the sheer beauty of merely broken glass, I couldn't help but think

The Workbox by Thomas Hardy See, here's the workbox, little wife, That I made of polished oak. ' He was a joiner, of village life; She came of borough folk. He holds the present up to her As with a smile she nears And answers to the profferer, ''Twill last all my sewing years!' 'I warrant it will. And longer too. 'Tis a scantling that I got Off poor John Wayward's coffin, who Died of they knew not what.

'The shingled pattern that seems to cease Against your box's rim Continues right on in the piece That's underground with him. 'And while I worked it made me think Of timber's varied doom; One inch where people eat and drink, The next inch in a tomb. 'But why do you look so white, my dear, And turn aside your face? You knew not that good lad, I fear, Though he came from your native place? '

'How could I know that good young man, Though he came from my native town, When he must have left there earlier than I was a woman grown? ' 'Ah, no. I should have understood! It shocked you that I gave To you one end of a piece of wood Whose other is in a grave? ' 'Don't, dear, despise my intellect, Mere accidental things Of that sort never have effect On my imaginings. '

Yet still her lips were limp and wan, Her face still held aside, As if she had known not only John, But known of what he died.

Poems… The Workbox by Thomas Hardy In Just— by e. e. cummings (p 415)

Your assignment… Diamante Poem Directions to follow Find a famous poem that contains either irony or allusion(s) Highlight the phrases that contain the irony or allusion Identify the type of irony or allusion

Irony Poem His House is Clean and Orderly By: unknown author Just as he had always hoped, His house was clean and orderly; No dust settled on pictures And there was no furniture to clutter the living room. The refrigerator had no moldering vegetables And the tub had no trace of her hair That used to clump and cluster in the drain. The only thing out of place Was a piece of paper taped clumsily to the door In sloppy handwriting: "ALL YOURS. “ Situational irony

Diamante Poem Diamante is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape.

Line 1: Noun or subject Line 2: Two Adjectives describing the first noun/subject Line 3: Three -ing words describing the first noun/subject Line 4: Four words: two about the first noun/subject, two about the antonym/synonym Line 5: Three -ing words about the antonym/synonym Line 6: Two adjectives describing the antonym/synonym

Rain by unknown author Rain humid, damp refreshing, dripping, splattering wet, slippery, cold, slushy sliding, melting, freezing frigid, icy Snow

Dreams by unknown author DREAMS SUBCONSCIOUS, IMAGINARY SLEEPING, WISHING, THINKING FANTASY, ACTUALITY, VISION, GENUINE BEING, SEEING, KNOWING, AUTHENTIC, FACTUAL REALITY

Winter by unknown author Winter Frosty, Bright Skiing, Snow Ball Fighting, Sledding Icicles, Snowflakes, Vacation, Family Swimming, Sun Tanning, Sweltering Hot, Sunny Summer

Football by Johnny B. FOOTBALL Cool, tough Tiring, passing, playing Helmet, shoulder pads, clubs, cart Putting, concentrating, driving Boring, relaxing GOLF

Energy by Kelly L ACTIVE constant, busy going, running, doing functioning, energetic, relaxed, calm stopping, laying, sleeping down, lifeless LAZY