Poetry

Characteristics of Poetry Poems are usually

divided into lines and then grouped into stanzas

Figurative language states ideas in new, creative ways

Sound devices enhance mood

Figurative Language Metaphor

Personification

Simile

Symbol

Metaphor Describes one thing

saying it is something else as in:

The house was a zoo this morning!

Personification Gives human

qualities to something that is not human, as in:

The cars growled in the traffic.

Simile To use the words

like or as to compare two seemingly unlike things, as in:

He stormed into the meeting like a tornado.

Symbol A symbol is

anything that represents something else, as in:

A dove is a common symbol for peace.

Sound Devices Alliteration is the

repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning of words, as in:

Copying homework begins the swift, slippery slope to academic dishonesty.

Repetition The use of any

element of language—a sound, a word, phrase, clause, or sentence—more than once, as in:

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.

Assonance The repetition of

vowel sounds followed by different consonants in stressed syllables, as in:

Try to light the fire.

Consonance The repetition of

similar consonant sounds at the ends of accented syllables, as in:

I will stand on the beach in the wind and the sand.

Onomatopoeia The use of words

that imitate sounds, as in:

There was a loud crash as the baseball shattered the window.

Rhyme The repetition of

sounds at the ends of words, as in:

Winning the crownwill eliminate your frown!

Meter The rhythmic pattern

in a poem, as in:

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Forms of Poetry Narrative Haiku Free Verse Lyric Ballad Concrete Limerick Rhyming couplets

Narrative Narrative poetry

tells a story. Narrative poems often have elements similar to those in short stories, such as plot and character.

Haiku Haiku is three line

Japanese verse form. The first and third lines have five syllables, and the second line has seven syllables.

Usually nature-themed.

O, foolish ducklings,

you know my old green pond is

watched by a weasel!

Free Verse Free verse poetry

is defined by its lack of strict structure.

It has no regular meter, rhyme, fixed line length, or specific stanza pattern.

once a snowflake fellon my brow and i lovedit so much and i kissedit and it was happy and called

its cousinsand brothers and a webof snow engulfed me theni reached to love them alland i squeezed them and

they becamea spring rain and i stood

perfectlystill and was a flower

Lyrics and Ballads Lyric poetry

expresses thoughts and feelings

Ballads are songlike poems that tell a story, often dealing with romance and adventure

Concrete Concrete poems are

shaped to look like their subjects. The poet arranges the lines of the poem to create a picture on the page

Limericks Limericks are

humorous, rhyming, five-line poems with a specific rhythm pattern and rhyme scheme.

There once was a girl from Troy

She always tried to annoy

She looked like a moose

She laughed like a goose

She’s the kid we all should avoid!

Rhyming Couplets Pairs of rhyming

lines, usually of the same meter and length

I cannot go to school today

Said little Peggy Ann McKay

I have the measles and the mumps

A gash, a rash, and purple bumps!

The End