Intro to Poetry

1. Intro to Poetry

2. po·et·rynoun \ˈpō-ə-trēWhat is it? • writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm • In other words…writing that uses techniques and devices to focus on “experiences” and creating emotions.

3. Emma’s explanation of poetry: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaLmRElp1AI

4. Poetic Terms/Devices to Know: • Simile • Metaphor • Personification • Hyperbole • Alliteration • Allusion • Onomatopoeia • Rhyme Scheme • Narrative poetry • Lyric poetry • Sonnet • Haiku • Free Verse • Stanza • Blank Verse • Ballad

5. Why Write Poetry? • One argument goes back to Aristotle, and his famous look at poetry. • To him poetry was the truest “imitation” of life. By using language and rhythm he felt that one is able to not just tell a story, but also express the emotions we all experience.

6. Why Write Poetry? II • A second argument borrows the approach of the Postmodernists, who claimed that that our mind tries to understand its own version of reality through language.  • The claim is greatly exaggerated, since we all have experiences not readily conveyed in words (riding a bike, our first kiss, etc.) • Our experiences are not attached to only words, but language undoubtedly does colour how we see things (our perceptions) and modify how we react to things. • Words are therefore not neutral entities but are tools to be used, and their histories of usage sway our emotions and interpretations.

7. Why write Poetry? III • the ordinary language of everyday speech is a stunted, stripped down and abbreviated shadow of what poetry should achieve. • In other words…poetry is using words to their potential!

8. How do I write Poetry? • Watch good poets and read good poems. • Shayne Koyczan • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppwowTJg0mI • Taylor Mali • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Tea2vqDCw • Saul Williams • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJHquOEChRg

9. How do I write Poetry? II • Just do it! • Writing activities. • Writing Activity #1= “Firsts…” • Make a list of “firsts” • Ex. First time at home alone, first time kissing a crush, first day of high school… • Add an emotion or description to each “first” • Ex. The first time I was home alone I waited by the window and longed for the return of Mom and Dad. • Start each line with “The first time…”

10. Writing Activity #2= “Columns of Metaphors” • This is an activity to help you create interesting imagery. • Make 3 columns • Use one word from each column to create an interesting image • Ex. The dark warehouse of loneliness.

11. Focus on Allusion and hyperbole

12. Allusion • Allusion= a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. • Examples: • Barack Obama= "I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the Planet Earth.“ • “The girl's love of sweets was her Achilles heel” • “I thought the software would be useful, but it was a Trojan Horse.”

13. Hyperbole • is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech • It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. • Examples: • "Here once the embattled farmers stoodAnd fired the shot heard round the world."Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Concord Hymn • "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this bloodClean from my hand? No. This my hand will ratherThe multitudinous seas incarnadine,Making the green one red." William Shakespeare, Act II, Scene II of Macbeth

14. Writing Activity: Intro activity…then watch: • Be sure to watch for examples of allusion and hyperbole! • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3w2MTXBebg&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7-fVtT16k • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeNYDwbm9qw&feature=fvwrel • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_hKLfTKU5Y&feature=relmfu

15. Focus on Simile, Metaphor, and Alliteration

16. Alliteration • What= a series of words in proximity have the same first consonant sound • Why= • adds an interesting aesthetic touch, is fun to read • retrieves similar sounding words and phrases from a person's memory, making it a useful tool for poetry comprehension and memorization • Can be used to link together words, lines, or ideas in a poem (when the reader, or listener, sees/hears the alliteration a connection is made between the words • Example= “Tim’s took tons of tools to make toys for tots.”

17. Simile • What= a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words “like” or “as” • Why= to explain, to express emotion, to make writing more vivid and entertaining • Example= • My passion is as mustard strong;I sit all sober sad;Drunk as a piper all day long,Or like a March-hare mad.

18. Metaphor • What= a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness • Why= used to encourage the reader to draw a comparison between two seemingly unrelated things, and find similarities between them • Examples: • “Drowning in money” • “One Direction is chicken soup for my soul.”

19. I’m Bad • In the song “I’m Bad” LLCool J uses poetic devices to add impact and effect. • Find examples of: • Allusion • Hyperbole • Alliteration • Simile/metaphor • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDfyc2lh4Q

20. More terms! • Personification- an inanimate object or abstraction is given human qualities or abilities. • Examples: • The wind stood up and gave a shout • Unseen, in the background, Fate was quietly slipping the lead into the boxing gloves • Fearknocked on the door. Faithanswered.

21. Onomatopoeia- is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes • Examples: • Oink, squeek, ding, snap, crack…

22. Rhyme Scheme- the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. • The following stanza has a rhyme scheme of ABAB. • Bid me to weep, and I will weep (A) While I have eyes to see; (B) And having none, and yet I will keep (A) A heart to weep for thee. (B)

23. Rhythm= the pattern(s) of sounds • Sounds are naturally broken down into some sort of pattern, in poetry you can put specific thought into the pattern to create effect. • Use rhythm to: • Create flow, a musical quality • A change in rhythm can be used for emphasis

24. Form in poetry: • Form, in poetry, can be understood as the physical structure of the poem: the length of the lines, their rhythms, their system of rhymes and repetition. • In this sense, it is normally reserved for the type of poem where these features have been shaped into a familiar pattern. • The familiar patterns (form) include RHYME SCHEME, and RHYTHM. • Not so obvious patterns (form) in poetry include: • acrostic poems- use the first letters of each line to spell out a word or phrase • Cento- A poem consisting only of lines from other poems. • Sight poems- where the poem literally creates an image

25. Form continued… • Examples of poems that rely on form: • Sonnet (14 lines of iambic pentameter with a set rhyme scheme) • Sestina (39 lines, with a set # of lines per stanza, and rhyme scheme) • Villanelle (19 lines, 5 tercets and one quatrain) • blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)