2. New Term to know- Theme
*3rd period 4th and 7th- has these notes- Review notes/do activity
THEME: A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an
entire literary work.
• The theme can take the form of a brief and meaningful insight or
a comprehensive vision of life; it may be a single idea such as
"order and duty" (in many early Roman works), "seize-the-day"
(in many late Roman works), or "jealousy" (in Shakespeare's
Othello).
• A theme is the author's way of communicating and sharing
ideas, perceptions, and feelings with readers, and it may be
directly stated in the book, or it may only be implied.
*Describe the theme of : *or think of a movie that you watched
-Romeo and Juliet
-Hangover
- A Boy Called It
3. Today’s Objectives
I know:
The literary terms:
• Free Verse
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Imagery
• Alliteration
• Rhythm
• Diction
I can:
-identify these terms in a poem
-use these terms in my own poem
I will learn:
-a new term- theme
-I will review a new poem and practice what I know
- Paragraph structure
4. Pretty Eyes
by J.M.
Her eyes were like the
blue sky.
When I look in her
eyes.
I see pink and
blue butterflies.
I tried and tried
to tell her
How I felt
but every time
I tried
it was like she would
run and hide.
Which terms are used
in this poem?
What is the tone?
Describe the diction.
What is the rhythmic
pattern?
5. Robert Frost Handout
DO NOT WRITE ON THE HANDOUT
1. Quietly read the poem to yourself
2. Let’s listen to the poem and see images
3. Read the poem again
a. Let’s review our terms- what did we find?
4. Poetry Analysis
a. How do we analyze a poem?
b. What does this poem mean?
c. How do you know that’s what it means?
6. TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To 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 there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In 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 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.
Questions
1. Is this a free verse
poem?
2. What terms do you see
(that we learned) in
this poem?
3. What is the theme* of
this poem?
4. Describe the diction of
this poem.
*Hint: use only two or
three words
8. Paragraph structure
Copy the following in your notes
Topic sentence
Lead in sentence
Supporting detail from the poem (line or a few
words in “____”.
Analyze your point
9. Practice paragraph structure:
The Poem’s structure- Identify structure
• The poem
– (Is it a lyric poem? Is it an ode, haiku, sonnet or
some other form you can identify?)
This is a poem that follows a strict rhyme
scheme. For example, the first stanza’s rhyme
scheme is A, B, A, A, B. The rhythmic pattern
is consistent as well. Each line has 9 syllables.
Unlike free verse, this poem follows a rigid
structure.
10. Practice Theme
• Theme
– Propose what the theme is of Robert Frost’s
poem, The Road Not Taken and support/defend
your interpretation.
(The object is to show that you have reached a
reasonable conclusion. Think Romeo & Juliet -How
do you know it was a forbidden love story?)
– What evidence supports your interpretation?
11. Practice Paragraph Structure
The theme of this poem is ____________. For
example, the speaker mentions __________
____________. In addition, the speaker states
_______________. Throughout the entire
poem, the main idea is ___________.
12. Poem traits:
Now you create a paragraph on your own
• Traits and examples/explanations
– This is where you discuss alliteration, allusion,
metaphor, rhythm, rhyme, etc….
– organize this part in a way that best fits your
content.
– For instance, you might want to discuss the sound
traits first, then go on to the figurative traits such
as personification, symbol, metaphor, etc….
13. Review What We Learned
I know:
The literary terms:
• Free Verse
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Imagery
• Alliteration
• Rhythm
• Diction
• Theme
I can:
-identify these terms in a poem
-use these terms in my own poem
-identify theme
- Create an analytical paragraph
