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Piecing Together the Poetry Puzzle. Important Poetry Terms. So……..You Think Poetry is Hard?. Try Calculus. Prefer the Poetry?. Poetry can be less puzzling if: You understand the terminology You have a reliable approach for analysis You read more of it. Form. Line
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Piecing Together the Poetry Puzzle Important Poetry Terms
Prefer the Poetry? • Poetry can be less puzzling if: • You understand the terminology • You have a reliable approach for analysis • You read more of it
Form • Line • A single line of text in a poem • Not necessarily a sentence • Sometimes one sentence can span across several lines • Stanza • Series of lines grouped together • Couplet (2 lines) • Tercet (3 lines) • Quatrain (4 lines) • Quintet (5 lines) • Sestet (6 lines) • Octave (8 lines)
Example Stanza =one sentence and five lines I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Lyric Poem • Very popular with Romantic Writers • 1st person account • Thoughts and feelings • Usually describes specific moment
Sonnet • Specific lyric poem • Consists of 14 lines • Petrarchan • Octave and Sestet • Abba abba, cdecde or cdcdcd • Shakespearean • Three quatrains and a couplet • Iambic Pentameter • Abab, cdcd, efef, gg
Excerpt from a Sonnet • Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife.
Rhyme • Repetition of similar sounds • Most common is end rhyme • Occurs at the end of two of more lines • Rhyme scheme is noted with lower case letters • New letter=new sound
What is the rhyme scheme? Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small. You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumiousBandersnatch!”
Rhythm • Sound pattern in poetic language • Two parts • Type of foot • Number of feet • Foot= rhythmical unit • Usually 2 or 3 syllables • Stressed = strong or loud syllable • Unstressed= weak or quiet syllable
Types of Feet • Iambic • Unstressed, Stressed • Trochaic • Stressed, Unstressed • Anapestic • Unstressed, Unstressed, Stressed • Dactylic • Stressed, Unstressed, Unstressed
Number of Feet • Two feet = dimeter • Three feet= trimeter • Four feet= tetrameter • Five feet= pentameter • Six feet= hexameter
Identify the Rhythm Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality.
Identify the Rhythm He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
Identify the Rhythm Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Special Terms • Blank Verse • Iambic Pentameter • No Rhyme • Shakespeare’s favorite • Free Verse • No rhythm • No rhyme
Figurative Language • Simile • Comparison using like or as • Metaphor • Comparison of two things not using like or as • Usually more direct comparison • Calling the object something else • Personification • Giving humanlike qualities to an inanimate object
So how do I approach a poem? • Read the poem once for understanding • Focus on the words • Read the poem again • This time look at the structure as well • Mark up the poem, if possible • If not, take notes separately
Approach Continued • Meaning • Underline important words or phrases • Write questions near unfamiliar words or phrases • Answer Who, What, When, Where, Why • Who is the speaker? • What is the speaker talking about? • Look for figurative language
Approach Continued • Form • Examine stanza and line length • Identify rhythm and rhyme • What does the poem look like? • Any interesting punctuation usage?
Let’s Practice • The only way to get “good” at understanding poetry is to read poetry