Five Elements of Poetry

Metaphor

/ Metaphor is the brain's way of seeing, by comparing two things to understand how they are alike or different. We say something is like something we know in order to better understand something we don't know. A specific type of metaphor is a simile; a statement that says something is "like" something else or is "as" something else.

Imagery

/ Imagery is language that engages our senses: sight, touch, hearing, smelling, tasting, and even the sense of motion or balance. When a poet creates language that allows us to see,hear, feel, smell, taste, or sway, she has put us into her setting, put us at the time and place of the poem. She has taken us from where we are to where she was. Creating powerful imagery is a matter of choosing the exact word for the task, but it's also important for the poet to be a person who is aware of his world, one who notices the details in all experience.

Sound

/ Sound in poetry is as important as the ideas in poetry. Poetry is language meant to be read aloud, to be heard by the ear as well as by the heart. When a poet uses alliteration, assonance, consonance, and other repetition, he is playing with sounds that make poetry "sing" like music. There is a cadence and a rhythm to language and the poet hears those sounds and brings them to his work. Early poets rhymed the ends of their lines to make them easier to remember because poetry was handed down orally generation-to-generation. Long epic poems, like the Iliad and the Odyssey were more than stories. They were the cultural myths of the people. So rhyming sound was important for storytellers to help them remember and transmit the stories.
Poetry rhymes less and less (in the old traditional way) these days. But it is no less musical. Rhymes tend to be internal rather than end rhymes. Study the poems of contemporary poets to see how they create the sounds of language.

Idea

/ Ideas in poetry are like themes in stories. What are we to know from reading a poem? The greatest poems are like the greatest paintings. They show us who we are, who we were, and who we could be. Ideas in poetry can be simple or complex, and many times, they can be both. Not all poems will mean the same thing to everyone, because as individuals, we bring unique experience to every poem we read. But we also must be careful to honor the poems we read by letting them say to us what they were meant to say. To do this, we must listen to them, really LISTEN to them.

The Right Word

/ One of the things about poetry that separates it from all other written literature is that it is concise. Haiku, for example, are powerful little poems that can be made up of fewer than fifteen words. Even the longest poems contain fewer words than most short stories or novels. Each word must be the right word, precisely chosen for its exact meaning (denotation) and its relative or associated meanings (connotation). The difference between the right word and the almost right word, Mark Twain said, is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.

English Poetry Terms

Fill in definitions for the terms on this sheet.

1.imagery (five kinds)

2.figurative language

3.structure

4.allegory

5.stanza

6.metaphor

7.simile

8.personification

9.meter

-trochaic

-anapest

-dactylic

-spondaic

-pyrrhic

-iambic

10.rhythm

11.iamb

12.iambic pentameter

13.foot

14.scansion

15.free verse

16.blank verse

17.narrative poem

18.connotation

19.diction

20.couplets

21.rhyme

22.rhyme scheme

23.exact rhymes

24.approximate/slant rhymes

25.end rhyme

26.internal rhyme

27.alliteration

28.onomatopoeia

29.tone

30.allusion

31.irony

32.ballad

33.lyric poem

34.haiku

35. heroic couplet

36. denotation

37.speaker

38.epic poetry

39. assonance

40.consonance

Poetry

Poetry is language that drives into the heart instead of the head.

My Poetry Journal Unit Plans:

By the end of our unit, students will

  • Learn the poetry terms, the specific terminology poets use when they talk about poetry; click here for a link to the list of terms you will be responsible for
  • Read poems that illustrate this terminology, a variety of poetic types, and universal themes; we will do this together in class.
  • Complete a variety of assignments to accomplish these goals including a personal poetry journal and one essay
  • Read one favorite poem aloud to the class to reinforce oral reading and presentation skills
  • Show their mastery of poetry terms and elements on a unit test

Assignment Summary:

  • Create 2 original poems (your masterpieces). Being sure to use 3 devices include some kind of rhyme scheme, and a distinct style
  • Read several poems and select 8of your favoritepoems
  • Create a poetry journal
  • Read your favorite poem from this unit to the class

Learn the five main elements of poetry. Also, become familiar with the poetry terms listed by usingapproved poetry sites and literary dictionaries located on the class website.Read several poems of your own choosing. You will need to incorporate 8 poems into your portfolio. Other good sources of poems are our literature book and the library. Do not choose poems that we read together in class.

  • For this unit, please read only published poems and not poems written by friends or other students.
  • Anonymous poems are also not allowed for the poetry journal. (unless taken from class texts)
  • You may only include 1 poem written for children (i.e. Shel Silverstein).
  • You may not use song lyrics (except for Jill Scott, TupacShakur, Ashanti, & Alicia Keys)
  • Most poems from .com sites are not to be used for this assignment. When in doubt, check with me. (approved sites are:
  • Do not use more than 2 of the same poet’s poems.
  • Record the urls for the poems you'll include in your poetry journal by copying and pasting them into Word.Put urlon a separate pages\ labeled“References”(ex. Title of piece, author/URL )

Your own masterpieces:

  • You will create 2 poems of any style using any 3 devices, and any rhyme scheme
  • On a separate page you will discuss your devices, rhyme scheme, and style (be sure you support your theories)
  • Ideally, you should try to use different devices, rhyme schemes, and style.

The poetry journal:

Your poetry journal is your own collection of favorite poems (for this class). It's your own anthology. In it, you will list all eight of the poems you read for this unit, including the title and the poet. You must also include 2 poems written by you! Your poem must fit one of the 57types of poetry (a list can be found at )

Then, for three of the eight poems, you will write a journal entry. For each of these three poems, write why you like the poem or what it means to you. Be specific with this. Give reasons and examples to support what you say. Also, point out something specific in the poem that connects to one of the five elements of poetry found in your notes. For example, if you found a metaphor in the poem, write it down and explain it. Or if there is a great image in the poem, show what it is.

  • Each journal entry must be no shorter than 150 words and no longer than one page.
  • Please see Poetry Journal Grading Rubric for further information

Oral reading. Choose your favorite of these 10 (a poem of at least 14 lines long to read to the class). Introduce this poem to us by giving us an idea about what it means to you and why you chose it. Then give us the title of the poem and the name of the poet.What you wrote about in your journal will help you prepare for this reading.

Unit Test (possible)

  • Study your list of poetry terms.
  • Know the five elements of poetry.

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Billy Collins
The Apple that Astonished Paris
University of Arkansas Press
Copyright © 1988 by Billy Collins.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission. / How To Be a Poet
(to remind myself)
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill — more of each
than you have — inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your work,
doubt their judgment.
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
There are only sacred places
And desecrated places.
~ Wendell Berry ~
Poetry Journal/Grading Rubric
Student: ______/ 10
Goes beyond expectations; attention to detail shows care and pride / 9-8
Meets expectations, could be a little more precise or polished / 7
Deviates from expectations, needs attention to accuracy, detail, quality / 6-5
Deviates from expectations to a great degree / 0
Is not done or is done so poorly it is unscorable
The journal is formatted according to directions. (x 1)
2 Personal Masterpieces: has 3 devices used, clear distinct rhyme scheme, and a specific style (x2)
The poetry journal lists the titles of ten poems you read along with the poet’s name. All poems used fit the qualifications given in the directions for the project. (x 1)
You have written a journal entry for three of the ten poems. For each poem say why you like the poem and/or what it means to you. You must also make some connection to one of the five elements of poetry. Additional comments and ideas can be answers to questions found on the Questions about Literature page. You must support what you say with reasons and examples. Ideas should be fully developed. All entries have been edited for conventions and sentence fluency. Minimum length for each entry is 150 words. (x 3)
Totals: / ______/70
Comments:

This is the order in which you will create your portfolio. Be sure to read this thoroughly and complete the project to the best of your ability. Remember the poems you select are ones that you find interesting not what you think I will like.

1. Title page

My Poetry Journal

--be as creative with your title as you want, but it should have at least those 3 words in it.

--please no personal photos of yourself on your cover!!!!

2. Table of Contents

--you should make a table for your selections.

--be as creative as you want just be sure it has the basics (i.e page numbers of each poem, title and author of each poem.)

3. Poetry Terms

--be sure they are complete; they may be typed or neatly written

4. The two introductory poems

--they will be given out before we start the project

5. Ten poems of your choice

--Each poem should be typed or photocopied and on its own page. All pages must be numbered.

--the heading for each poem should look as follows

  1. Title, poet (this should be your original poem)
  2. Original masterpiece description #1
  3. Title, poet (this should be your original poem)
  4. Original masterpiece description #2
  5. Title, poet
  6. Title, poet
  7. Title, poet
  8. Title, poet
  9. Title, poet
  10. Title, poet
  11. Title, poet
  12. Title, poet

6. Next are your three favorites of those eight and your ideas about them.

Poem #1 (This is a heading only! Do NOT put the poem here).
Title, poet
Response goes in this cell: Write it in a paragraph. The bulleted list below is just to make the directions clear for you.
  • Write why you like the poem or what it means to you. What is this poem about? How do you know? Be specific with this. Give reasons and examples to support what you say.
  • Also, point out something specific in the poem that connects to one of the five elements of poetry. For example, if you found a metaphor in the poem, write it down and explain it. Or if there is a great image in the poem, show what it is.
  • Each journal response (entry) must be no shorter than 150 words.

(Repeat a table like the one above for the next two poems. You DO NOT have to put this in a table. It would look nicer, but you do not have to do it this way.)

7. Works Cited page: for all poems except the ones you wrote you will complete a bibliography.

8. Your rubric should be the last page in your portfolio

*****BE *******CREATIVE*******WITH******YOUR******PROJECT!!!!*****

Specifics:

#All poems must be typed or copied in some manner. No hand-written poems are allowed.

$You may be as creative with fonts and colors as you want just be sure it is readable.

%Be sure to put your portfolio either in a three-pronged folder or other suitable binding. (Please no large binders).

*Above and beyond creativity is a plus and will garner you extra credit! NEATNESS COUNTS!!!!

Reader Response Questions:

Some of these questions are from You Gotta Be the Book by Jeffrey Wilhelm

For poems/stories/novels:

  1. What are you thinking about as you read the first paragraphs or stanzas?
  2. What do you think the author/poet wants you to know?
  3. What are you imagining might happen next?
  4. What do you know that is helping you understand what you are reading? What might you need to know more about to help you understand?
  5. What clues do you have to the character's/speaker's personality?
  6. Do you like the character?
  7. What are the character's problems?
  8. How is the character like anyone you know or even like you?
  9. What information did the author/poet leave out? What's happening behind the words or scenes? How did you fill them in?
  10. What other works have you read that are similar in some way to this one? What sticks out as the most important connection between the two?
  11. Will you tell your friends about this work? What do you want them to know?
  12. What did you like most/least about this poem/story/novel?
  13. Was there anything you didn't understand? What was it?
  14. What idea was the author trying to explore in this work? How important is that idea?
  15. If you were to make a movie of this story, who would be in the movie? What would you change to make the movie fit two hours? What kind of setting would you choose?
  16. Who was telling the story (or who was the speaker of the poem)? Does it make a difference? What if someone else were telling it?
  17. How do you recognize when literary elements are being used? (symbol, metaphor, foreshadowing, etc.)
  18. Do you agree with how the author/poet sees the world? In what ways?
  19. How do you feel about the way the story was told? Is there anything you enjoyed or were irritated with about the way the book is written?
  20. What do you feel is the most significant passage/word/event from the poem/story/novel?

Literary Terms Definitions

  1. Plot: the events of a story or narrative with a variety of sequencing patterns. The plot is what happens in the story.
  2. Exposition: the background information of a story, the story before the story.
  3. Conflict: the struggle between two forces, one generally being the protagonist of the story. The antagonist can be the self, another person, animal, nature, technology/machine, society, or the supernatural
  4. Climax: the point in the story where the conflict is at its peak, when the conflict has reached its crisis and one of the two forces "wins."
  5. Resolution: the conclusion of the story, the unfolding of the theme, the "happy ending," the tying together; what occurs in the resolution depends on the kind of story and the author's purpose.
  6. Foreshadowing: clues in the writing that lead the reader to predict what will happen later in the story.
  7. Suspense: the author intentionally leaves information out, or doesn't answer questions to prompt the reader to wonder, often anxiously, about what will happen next.