POETRYEnglish Honors 11

Mrs. Jones

Figurative Language

Literal Language

IMAGERY

Concrete Imagery

A well-composed poem uses concrete imagery to give the reader a descriptive picture to imagine. Abstract words are the opposite of this, providing an intangible feeling or concept that often cannot stimulate the same response in a reader. This is often called showing instead of telling readers what is happening.

Couplet

If turkeys gobble,Do pilgrims squabble?

Alliteration

Rabbits running over roses

Rhyme

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King's horses, And all the King's menCouldn't put Humpty

together again

HYPERBOLE:

SIMILE:

PERSONIFICATION:

ALLUSION:

METAPHOR:

Onomatopoeia

BUZZ ZIP

HISS

BOOM

OXYMORON

The girl is pretty ugly.

assonance

The June moon loomed over us.

Ezra Pound…does not tell us that the Chinese girl named

Rafu is beautiful; he shows us the effect her beauty has on the men that see her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And when men going by look on Rafu

They set down their burdens, They stand and twirl their

moustaches

CHAUCER…does not tell us that a certain individual is a hypocrite. He shows

us:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The smiler with the knife under the cloak.

PRACTICEOur job as readers (apart from simply enjoying the writing, which is job #1) is to extract the idea from the imagery.

“To you our swords have leaden points.”• IDEAS:

“I am a feather for each wind that blows.”• IDEAS:

“Wherever we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles.”• IDEAS:

“O, full of scorpions is my mind.”• IDEAS:

“Men shut their doors against a setting sun.”• IDEAS:

“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is To have a thankless child.”• IDEAS:

PersonificationThe Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Personification

Because I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,And I had put awayMy labour, and my leisure too,For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,Their lessons scarcely done;We passed the fields of gazing grain,We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemedA swelling of the ground;The roof was scarcely visible,The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries; but eachFeels shorter than the dayI first surmised the horses' headsWere toward eternity.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death – Emily Dickinson

a) What is personified?

b) Who are the characters (there are four), and what do each represent?

c) Find an example of alliteration in the poem:

d) What are the strongest images you see?

Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk endsAnd before the street begins,And there the grass grows soft and white,And there the sun burns crimson bright,And there the moon-bird rests from his flightTo cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows blackAnd the dark street winds and bends.Past the pits where the asphalt flowers growWe shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,And watch where the chalk-white arrows goTo the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,For the children, they mark, and the children, they knowThe place where the sidewalk ends.

Find an example of each of the following in this poem:

1)Hyperbole

2)Personification

3)Metaphor

4)Simile

5)Symbolism

Annabel Lee Edgar Alan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of ANNABEL LEE;And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,In this kingdom by the sea;But we loved with a love that was more than love-I and my Annabel Lee;With a love that the winged seraphs of heavenCoveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful Annabel Lee;So that her highborn kinsman cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,Went envying her and me-Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,In this kingdom by the sea)That the wind came out of the cloud by night,Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf those who were older than we-Of many far wiser than we-And neither the angels in heaven above,Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyesOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,In the sepulchre there by the sea,In her tomb by the sounding sea.

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The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere 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.

a)According to the narrator, what is the biggest enemy of success?

b)Discuss symbolism used in the poem:

c)What is an example of imagery in this poem?

d)What is personified?

Dreams DeferredLangston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry upLike a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.

Or does it explode

1)What does deferred mean?

2)What is the subject of the poem?

3)What is Hughes saying about the subject?

4)What literary techniques does he use to convey his

meaning?5)What techniques does Hughes use in the last line? How

is it different from the rest?

6)The poem was originally entitled “Harlem.” Does that

change your understanding of the poem? Which title do

you prefer and why?

Tunnel of LoveBruce Springsteen

Fat man sitting on a little stoolTakes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over youHands me the ticket smiles and whispers good luckCuddle up angel cuddle up my little doveWell ride down baby into this tunnel of love

I can feel the soft silk of your blouseAnd them soft thrills in our little fun houseThen the lights go out and it's just the three of usYou me and all that stuff were so scared ofGotta ride down baby into this tunnel of love

There's a crazy mirror showing us both in 5-dI’m laughing at you you're laughing at meThere's a room of shadows that gets so dark brotherIts easy for two people to lose each other in this tunnel of love

It ought to be easy ought to be simple enoughMan meets woman and they fall in loveBut the house is haunted and the ride gets roughAnd you’ve got to learn to live with what you can't rise above if you want to ride on down in through this tunnel of love

Find as many examples of figurative language as you can in these lyrics. Write the term and the explanation next to each line of the song.

Excerpt from “Preludes” by T.S. Eliot

IThe winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o'clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower wraps The grimy scraps Of withered leaves about your feet And newspapers from vacant lots; The showers beat On broken blinds and chimneypots, And at the corner of the street A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps. And then the lighting of the lamps. II The morning comes to consciousness Of faint stale smells of beer From the sawdust-trampled street With all its muddy feet that press To early coffee-stands.

With the other masquerades That times resumes, One thinks of all the hands That are raising dingy shades In a thousand furnished rooms.

“Preludes” is a poem in which Eliot is telling us about life in a modern city.

Choose four images (phrases OR lines) from each stanza, (highlight them or

underline) then write a short paragraph explaining what Eliot is suggesting about

modern city life.

Concretepoetry forms a shape, the appearance on the page is just as important as the text.

Acrostic: poem made using the initial letters of a word or

phrase

CandyCharleston Chew

Almond JoyNestle's Crunch

Dots Yummy

Limerick: a five line stanza, humorous poem

A flea and a fly in a flueWere caught, so what could they do?

Said the fly, "Let us flee.""Let us fly," said the flea.

So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

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Assignment1)With a partner, find three poems online

written by American authors. The poems can be from various times in history, and may be written in any style. Copy and paste the poems into an MSWord document. (Try to get all three poems on one or two pieces of paper). Print the document out. With your partner, find as many examples of figurative language as you can in each poem. Then, write a short paragraph for each that details the author’s message or theme for each poem.

Assignment2) This assignment will be completed ON YOUR

OWN. Find lyrics to one of your favorite songs (any

genre is fine). Copy and paste the lyrics to an MS Word Document. Censor any inappropriate language with asterisks or dashes. Find as many examples of figurative language as you can, and write it down right next to the line it corresponds to on your lyric sheet.Make sure you write down what message/theme the author is trying to tell us.

Assignment3) Write a poem in a style you have learned about, or

in a style that you create on your own. It can be based on any theme, or tell any “story” that you like.

Make sure you use at least three types of figurative language in your poem.

Your final poem must by typed and given a title.

DUE Date: Friday, October 25, 2013