Literary Devices in Poetry

Literary Devices in PoetryLiterary Devices in Poetry

Day 1Day 1

DictionDiction

the writer’s, speaker’s, or narrator’s choice of words

Ex: If the speaker of a poem is a child, the author would chose words a child would use, such as “mommy” or “potty”

Denotation Denotation

The most specific or direct meaning of a word: the “dictionary” definition/meaning of a word

Ex: the word cool means: moderately cold; neither warm nor coldNo hidden meanings in the words

ConnotationConnotation

The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning; slang meanings; all stereotypes & feelings associated

Ex: cool can also mean: great; fine; excellentWords may have hidden or double meanings

Denotation vs. ConnotationDenotation vs. Connotation

House vs. Home

Girl vs. Woman

DialectDialect

way of speaking for a group of people

Ex: I’s jus kiddin’

DialogueDialogue

words directly spoken by the characterFor internal dialogue: words thought by the character

Ex: She said, “that will be fine.”Ex: I would love that she thought

“This is Just to Say” by William Williams

“This is Just to Say” by William Williams

I have eaten the plumsthat were inthe iceboxand whichyou were probably saving for breakfast

Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold

Last Word by Peter DavisonLast Word by Peter Davison

When I saw your head bow, I knew I had beaten you.

You shed no tears—not near me—but held your neck

Bare for the blow I had been too frightenedEven to deliver, even in words. And now,In spite of me, plummeting it came.Frozen we both waited for its fall.

Most of what you gave me I have forgottenWith my mind but not taken into my body,But this I remember well: the bones of your

neckAnd the strain in my shoulders as I heaved

up that hugeDouble blade and snapped my wrists to

swingThe handle down and hear the axe’s edgeNick through your flesh and creak into the

block.

Excerpt from Violets by D.H. lawrence

Excerpt from Violets by D.H. lawrence

Sister, tha knows while we was on the planks Aside o' th' grave, while th' coffin wor lyin' yet On th' yaller clay, an' th' white flowers top of it Tryin' to keep off'n him a bit o' th' wet,An' parson makin' haste, an' a' the black Huddlin' close together a cause o' th' rain, Did t''appen ter notice a bit of a lass away back By a head-stun, sobbin' an' sobbin' again!

Poem…Poem…

Internment by Juliet S. Kono (p. 437)

Your assignmentYour assignment

1. Write a poem using only denotative word meanings

**at least 20 words

2. Find a published poem that contains connotative word meanings and highlight the words and express the meanings

**at least 30 words

In your folder…In your folder…

Table on ContentsList all poems and page numbers

Page 1 needs to have: ALL definitions in alphabetical orderAnd page number for each example

Next page:Poems labeled “connotation” and “denotation” poems

on same or separate pages

Denotation Poem: Connotation Poem:

Homework Mirror, Mirror by: Katherine Foreman

I come home after school My game face is blue. begin working on I must put it back on, seeMY HOMEWORK How much of my glory was real“Why?” I cry, “do we have And how much fever.So much homework?”I hate homework. blue=team color and sad

back on=literally repaint

and figuratively bring

back the emotionglory=excitement

fever=uncontrollable excitement

Connotation Poem:

Mirror, Mirrorby: Katherine Foreman

blue=team color and sadMy game face is blue. must put it back on, see literally repaint and figuratively

bringHow much of my glory was real back the emotionAnd how much fever.

glory=excitementfever=uncontrollable

excitement

Table on Contents page

Definitions 1Denotation Poem 2Connotation Poem 2

Day 2Day 2

Scene (Setting)Scene (Setting)

tells where & when the poem takes place

Speaker (narrator)Speaker (narrator)

The voice talking to us in the poem.

(It is not necessarily the author’s voice)

Theme Theme

central idea of the poem or story, themes are expressed through story-like examples of that situation

Themes should always be written as a sentence

Ex: Friendship is more than companionship; it also requires responsibility for another

Author’s PurposeAuthor’s Purpose

why the author wrote the poem or story, usually a lesson

Ex: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee wanted to make people aware of racism and injustice

Poems to read…Poems to read…

Po' Boy Blues by: Langston HughesSouthbound on the Freeway

by: May SwensonThe World is Not a Pleasant Place to Be

by: Nikki Giovanni (p. 40)

Po’ Boy Blues by Langston Hughes

Po’ Boy Blues by Langston Hughes

When I was home deSunshine seemed like gold.When I was home deSunshine seemed like gold.Since I come up North deWhole damn world's turned cold.

I was a good boy,Never done no wrong.Yes, I was a good boy,Never done no wrong,But this world is wearyAn' de road is hard an' long.

I fell in love withA gal I thought was kind.Fell in love withA gal I thought was kind.She made me lose ma moneyAn' almost lose ma mind.

Weary, weary,Weary early in de morn.Weary, weary,Early, early in de morn.I's so wearyI wish I'd never been born.

Your assignment…Your assignment…

Write a poem from the perspective of an unusual speakerIdentify the speaker at the end of the poemMust be at least 30 words

Take a famous poem and identify the:

ThemeAuthor’s purposeSpeaker Scene

Within the poemMust be at least 20 words

Awakeby: Katherine Foreman

speaker: My last night as a full-time childauthor I didn't want to sleep, for fear of

Waking up in a rustle of too-crisp sheets scene: And a creak of inadequate bedsprings

bedroom With a lightly snoring virtual stranger eight feet away.

And also I didn't want it to be tomorrow,Because then it would be time to do whatI've denied for three weeks of subsistenceAnd oblivion--ignoring is bliss.And I saw everything I never didLying around me, pieces and steps of theSuccess I never got, reminders thatWhatever I planned, I never got far.But in the middle of these broken promisesTo myself, I could see for the first timeThat I have not been broken.

Author’s And I must keep myself, all that is real,purpose: As daybreak does, and nightfall.Show change I exist to others, but all I need is me.From child to I will be the last promise, when all is saidadult And kept.

Theme: The change from childhood to adulthood is when you realize responsibility and

anticipate your actions.

Day 3Day 3

MoodMood

feeling WE, the reader or listener, get from the poem

Ex: words describe mood: happy, excited, sad, scary, intense, sweet, etc.

Tone Tone

the writer’s or speaker’s attitude about the subject, character, or audience

Ex: words to describe tone: sarcastic, teasing, critical, serious, admiring, ironic, etc

ConflictConflict

Internal ConflictExternal Conflict

Human vs. HumanHuman vs. SocietyHuman vs. NatureHuman vs. Technology

Winter Garden by unknown poetWinter Garden by unknown poet

Stark naked flower stalksStand shivering in the wind.The cheerless sun hides its black lightBehind bleak, angry clouds,While trees vainly tryTo catch their escaping leaves.Carpets of grass turn brown,Blending morosely with the dreary day.Winter seems the death of life forever.

Spring Garden by unknown poetSpring Garden by unknown poet

Stunningly dressed flower stalksStand shimmering in the breeze.The cheerful sun hides playfullyBehind white, fluffy, cotton-ball clouds,While trees whisper secretsTo their rustling leaves.Carpets of grass greenly glowBlending joyfully with the day.Spring brings life to death.

Comparisons…Comparisons…



Poems…Poems…

My Father is a Simple Manby Luis Omar Salinas (p. 62)Forgive my Guiltby Robert P. Tristram Coffin (p. 128)


Write two poems that contain opposite moodsHighlight the words that create the differing moodsEach poem must contain at least 40 words

• At least 10 words must be contrasting moods

Mood PoemsMood PoemsWinter GardenBy: unknown author


Spring GardenBy: unknown author


Day 4Day 4

ImageryImagery

Use of single words or phrases that appeals to our senses

see, hear, touch, taste, smell

Cliché Cliché

overused, warn-out expression or phrase, not unique

Ex: worn blue jeans, strong as an ox

Try NOT to use clichés unless you purposely want to

Fresh ImagesFresh Images

helps us see the world in a new or unusual way, new and different ways of describing something

Ex: e. e. cummings writes: mud-luscious

The LOVE poemThe LOVE poem

I love you more than anything I've known.And now my life will never be the same. Every day is heaven in your arms.

The BREAK-UP poemThe BREAK-UP poem

You tore my heart with hands of fire,and ran me through the shredder of desire.Our life together was a song.I thought you loved me -- was I wrong

The TEENAGE ANGST poemThe TEENAGE ANGST poem

No one understands me.Death and skulls.I'm ugly and people hate me --but I hate them and I don't care.My brain has pain. It cuts like a knife. End my life.

The NATURE poemThe NATURE poem

The birds are cheering the rainbow sunset,The beautiful blue dayAnd children dance on the grass.

Catalogue PoemCatalogue Poem

poem that lists daily activities

PoemsPoems

Woman Work

by Maya AngelouDaily

Naomi Shihab NyeIn Just

by: e. e. cummings (p. 414)


1. Write a catalogue poem about your day a. You must list at least 10 itemsb. You must use each of the five senses at least once

Highlight each time you use one of the five senses

Catalog Poem:

My Day by: Ms. Wellmeyer

Every morningI wake up To the constant buzzing Of my alarm clock And it reads5:30 in bright red numbers.I smell the fresh coffee brewing In the kitchenAnd I feel the cold wood floorsAs I step out of bed.

Day 5Day 5

Irony Irony

the contrast between expectation and reality

Verbal ironyVerbal irony

the writer or the speaker says one thing but really means something different

Ex: calling a clumsy basketball player Michael Jordan

Situational IronySituational Irony

describes an event that is not just surprising, but contrary to what we expect

Ex: You stay up all night studying for a test. When you go to class, you discover the test is not until the next day.

Dramatic IronyDramatic Irony

WE know what is going to happen to the character, but the character does not

Ex: While watching a horror movie, YOU, the audience, know that the killer is waiting for the victim in the house…and he/she is attacked.

AllusionAllusion

a reference (usually brief) often casual, occasionally indirect, to a person, event, or condition thought to be familiar to the reader.

Ex: fairy-tale characters in Shrek

His House is Clean and Orderly by unknown poet

His House is Clean and Orderly by unknown poet

Just as he had always hoped,His house was clean and orderly;No dust settled on picturesAnd there was no furniture to clutter the living room.The refrigerator had no moldering vegetablesAnd the tub had no trace of her hairThat used to clump and cluster in the drain.The only thing out of placeWas a piece of paper taped clumsily to the doorIn sloppy handwriting: "ALL YOURS."

Irony by Jennifer T Street, MDIrony by Jennifer T Street, MD

The shards of glass littered the cold, black asphaltlike sparkling stars strewn across the night sky.

Their brilliance catching the corner of my eye,making me slow down, just to look at them a little longer.

In my awe of the sheer beauty of merely broken glass,I couldn't help but think

How someone else's tragedycould be so beautiful to me.

The Workbox by Thomas HardyThe Workbox by Thomas Hardy

See, here's the workbox, little wife, That I made of polished oak.'He was a joiner, of village life; She came of borough folk.

He holds the present up to her As with a smile she nearsAnd answers to the profferer, ''Twill last all my sewing years!'

'I warrant it will. And longer too. 'Tis a scantling that I gotOff poor John Wayward's coffin, who Died of they knew not what.

'The shingled pattern that seems to cease Against your box's rimContinues right on in the piece That's underground with him.

'And while I worked it made me think Of timber's varied doom;One inch where people eat and drink, The next inch in a tomb.

'But why do you look so white, my dear, And turn aside your face?You knew not that good lad, I fear, Though he came from your native place?'

'How could I know that good young man, Though he came from my native town,When he must have left there earlier than I was a woman grown?'

'Ah, no. I should have understood! It shocked you that I gaveTo you one end of a piece of wood Whose other is in a grave?'

'Don't, dear, despise my intellect, Mere accidental thingsOf that sort never have effect On my imaginings.'

Yet still her lips were limp and wan, Her face still held aside,As if she had known not only John, But known of what he died.

Poems…Poems…

The Workboxby Thomas HardyIn Just—by e. e. cummings (p 415)


Diamante PoemDirections to follow

Find a famous poem that contains either irony or allusion(s)

Highlight the phrases that contain the irony or allusionIdentify the type of irony or allusion

Irony Poem

His House is Clean and OrderlyBy: unknown author

Just as he had always hoped,His house was clean and orderly;No dust settled on picturesAnd there was no furniture to clutter the living room.The refrigerator had no moldering vegetablesAnd the tub had no trace of her hairThat used to clump and cluster in the drain.The only thing out of placeWas a piece of paper taped clumsily to the doorIn sloppy handwriting: "ALL YOURS.“

Situational irony

Diamante Poem Diamante Poem

Diamante is a seven-lined contrast poem set up in a diamond shape.

Line 1: Noun or subjectLine 2: Two Adjectives describing the first noun/subjectLine 3: Three -ing words describing the first noun/subjectLine 4: Four words: two about the first noun/subject, two

about the antonym/synonymLine 5: Three -ing words about the antonym/synonymLine 6: Two adjectives describing the antonym/synonymLine 7: Antonym/synonym for the subject

Rain by unknown authorRain by unknown author

Rain

humid, damp refreshing, dripping, splattering

wet, slippery, cold, slushy

sliding, melting, freezing

frigid, icy

Snow

Dreams by unknown authorDreams by unknown author

DREAMS

SUBCONSCIOUS, IMAGINARY

SLEEPING, WISHING,THINKING

FANTASY, ACTUALITY, VISION, GENUINE

BEING, SEEING, KNOWING,

AUTHENTIC, FACTUAL

REALITY

Winter by unknown authorWinter by unknown author

WinterFrosty, Bright

Skiing, Snow Ball Fighting, SleddingIcicles, Snowflakes, Vacation, FamilySwimming, Sun Tanning, Sweltering

Hot, SunnySummer

Football by Johnny B.Football by Johnny B.

FOOTBALL

Cool, tough

Tiring, passing, playing

Helmet, shoulder pads, clubs, cart

Putting, concentrating, driving

Boring, relaxing

GOLF

Energy by Kelly LEnergy by Kelly L

ACTIVE

constant, busy

going, running, doing

functioning, energetic, relaxed, calm

stopping, laying, sleeping

down, lifeless

LAZY

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Literary Devices in Poetry