POETRY UNIT I POETRY TERMSCONCEPTS USED IN AP

POETRY UNIT I

POETRY TERMS/CONCEPTS USED IN AP Line of poetry Stanza Structure Imagery/sensory imagery Image/literal image Shifts Closed forms poetry Open forms poetry Meter rhyme Tempo Alliteration Hyperbole Understatement will Alliteration Simile Main subject/comparison subject in simile Metaphor Extended metaphor Personification Allusions Symbols Motif *Although these are the terms used in AP concepts, more terms be studied to better understand the style and structure of poems

Definition of poetry: A type of literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in compact, imaginative, and musical language. Poets arrange words intended to touch readers’ senses, emotions, and minds. Poetry structure Stanza structure Line Structure-where a line of poetry begins and ends Rhythm and meter Sound effects-techniques of sound to enhance poem; can affect mood, tone, etc. Figurative language Form-physical structure of the poem: length of lines, rhythm, meter, system rhymes and repetition, etc.

Stanza Structure A group of lines within a poem. A stanza is like a paragraph in a work of prose 2 -couplet 3 -tercet 4 -quatrain 5 -cinquin 6 -sestet 7 -septet 8 -octave

Line Structure How long are the lines? poets use varying lengths to create effects. Short or one word lines may be used for emphasis Where does the line break or pause? lines of poetry are not like sentences. One sentence or thought can run over many lines and even mid-line, and a new line can begin in the same line. End-Stopped—When there is a break at the end of a line, denoted by a comma, period, semi-colon, or other punctuation mark, that line is end-stopped. The creates a brief pause between the lines. Enjambment-The continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break; the thought runs on from one line to the next. Caesura-A strong pause or stop within a line of poetry. It usually occurs within a line of poetry, but can occur towards beginning or end of the line.

Meter English poetry employs five basic meters, including: Iambic meter (unstressed/stressed) The safest place on planet earth. Trochaic meter (stressed/unstressed) Life is short to hold grudges. Spondaic meter, (stressed/stressed) Be happy, be positive, be you. Anapestic meter (unstressed/ stressed) When you give and accept gratefully, you feel blessed. Dactylic meter (stressed/unstressed) If you know why to live, then you can tolerate anything.

Sound Effects Rhyme- the correspondence of sound between different words Alliteration-repetition of initial consonant sounds Assonance-repetition of vowel sounds Consonance-repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within words. Onomatopoeia-the use of words that create the sound they describe Repetition-the reoccurring use of a sound, a word, a phrase or a line Figurative language-similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, allusion, pun, euphemism- a softer, less offensive way of saying something, synecdoche-part is used to represent a whole, anaphora-the repetition of word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Speaker--The voice that “talks” or “sings” to the reader. The speaker can be ANYTHING in poetry. People, dogs, or even rocks. Tone--The attitude a writer takes toward the audience, subject, or a character I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue and clouds of white The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world. - Louis Armstrong, “Wonderful World” Louis Armstrong has a positive tone in this song, he’s optimistic about the world we live in!

Mood The atmosphere or “feeling” that the literary work creates. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor, " I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door. Only this, and nothing more. " Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” ( one of the most famous poets and poems of all time ) has a chilling and creepy mood to it.

Rhyme Scheme- The pattern of rhymes in a poem. The “poem” below would have a rhyme scheme of ABAB There once was a big brown cat A That liked to eat a lot of mice. B He got all round and fat Because they tasted so nice. A B

FREE VERSE VS BLANK VERSE Blank verse consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter (ten syllables with the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables accented). The form has generally been accepted as the best for dramatic verse in English and is commonly used for long poems whether dramatic, philosophical, or narrative. While blank verse appears easy to write, good blank verse demands more artistry and genius than most any other verse form. The freedom gained through the lack of rhyme is offset by the demands for required variety. Some ways of gaining that variety are as follows: 1. Shifting caesura, or pause, from place to place within the lines. 2. Shifting of the stress among syllables. 3. The use of stanzas to group thoughts together (like paragraphs in prose). 4. Variation in tonal qualities by changing diction from passage to passage. 5. Adaptation of the form to reproduction of differences in the speech of characters in dramatic and narrative verse and in differences of emotional expression. 6. The effective use of poetic devices. Blank verse is not any metrical unrhymed form of verse.

Free Verse-- is poetry that is based on the irregular rhythmic cadence recurring, with variations of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter. In other words, free verse has no rhythm scheme or pattern. However, much poetic language and devices are found in free verse. Rhyme may or may not be used in free verse, but, when rhyme is used, it is used with great freedom. In other words, free verse has no rhyme scheme or pattern. Free verse does not mean rhyme cannot be used, only that it must be used without any pattern. When I heard the learn'd astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lectureroom, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer -

OTHER TYPES OF POEMS Lyric poem is highly emotional poem revels the speakers private thoughts; can be musical and can feature poetic devices like rhyme and meter. Limerick - a five-line witty poem with a distinctive rhythm. The first, second and fifth lines, the longer lines, rhyme. The third and fourth shorter lines rhyme. (A-A-B-B-A). Sonnet- a short rhyming poem with 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. Haiku- This ancient form of poem writing is renowned for its small size as well as the precise punctuation and syllables needed on its three lines. It is of ancient Asian origin. Haiku's are composed of 3 lines, each a phrase. The first line typically has 5 syllables, second line has 7 and the 3 rd and last line repeats another 5. In addition there is a seasonal reference included. Narrative - A narrative poem tells the story of an event in the form of a poem

Shifts Rarely does a poet begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. Discovery of a poet’s understanding of an experience is critical to the understanding of a poem. Trace the feelings of the speaker from the beginning to the end, paying particular attention to the conclusion. Look for the following to find shifts: * Key words (but, yet, however, although) *Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipses) *Stanza division *Changes in line or stanza length or both *Irony (sometimes irony hides shift) *Effect of structure on meaning *Changes in sound (rhyme) may indicate changes in meaning

‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost Where is the shift? Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer 5 To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. 10 The only other sounds the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, 15 And miles to go before I sleep.