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Reading and Writing about Poetry

Reading and Writing about Poetry. ENC 1102 Brown 7 /15/2012. What is Poetry?. Undefinable Unmistakable Is Shakespeare poetry? What about “Who Let the Dogs Out”?. What is Poetry?. Uses more concentrated language Requires closer reading than fiction Often helps to read out loud

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Reading and Writing about Poetry

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  1. Reading and Writing about Poetry ENC 1102 Brown 7/15/2012

  2. What is Poetry? • Undefinable • Unmistakable • Is Shakespeare poetry? • What about “Who Let the Dogs Out”?

  3. What is Poetry? • Uses more concentrated language • Requires closer reading than fiction • Often helps to read out loud • Often helps to paraphrase, or rewrite using your own prose

  4. Poetic Devices

  5. Figures of Speech • Denotation = literal meanings • Bird = a type of animal • Connotation = associated meanings • Bird = fragility, vulnerability, the sky, or freedom • Might vary from time, place and culture • Light vs. lite beer • Simile: comparison of two seemingly unlike objects, using “like,” “as,” etc. • Metaphor: like a simile, but without the linking words

  6. Persona • The speaker may or may not be the same as the poet • Sometimes the poet will create a persona, or character (similar to narrator), that tells the poem • Pay attention to how favorably you respond to the persona • Pay attention to the persona’s situation • Pay attention to the persona’s diction • Example: Eminem’s Stan

  7. Diction • Poetic diction • Extremely elevated word choices (e.g. Shakespeare) • Formal diction • Dignified, impersonal and elevated word choices (e.g. wedding invitation) • Middle diction • Less formal word choices (e.g. college paper) • Informal diction • Conversational, and colloquial (slang) word choices

  8. Repetition and Rhyme • Alliteration: repeat letter sounds • Consonance: repeat consonant sounds • Assonance: repeat vowel sounds • Endrhyme and rhyme scheme: pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line

  9. Rhythm and Meter • Rhythm refers to stressed and unstressed syllables • Stressed get more emphasis than unstressed • The pattern of stresses makes up the meter • We measure the meter using scansion • We typically use ͝ to mark unstressed and ʹ for stressed

  10. Units of Meter • A foot is the basic unit of meter, and usually consists of two syllables: • Iamb: ͝͝͝ ʹ • Trochee: ʹ ͝͝͝ • Anapest: ͝͝͝ ͝͝͝ ʹ • Dactyl: ʹ͝͝͝ ͝͝͝ • Spondee: ʹʹ • Iambic feet are the most common in English poetry

  11. Units of Meter • A line is measured by the number of feet it contains • Monometer: one foot • Dimeter: two feet • Trimeter: three feet • Tetrameter: four feet • Pentameter: five feet • Hexameter: six feet • An iambic line of five feet is thus iambic pentameter • Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called blank verse (used in Shakespeare’s plays)

  12. Other things to consider • Setting • Title • Theme(s) • Symbolism • Allusions (i.e. references to other literary works) • Style • Tone • Irony

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