1. Become a Poet
And earn more credit for it!
And earn more credit for it!
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2. First, let’s look at what poetry is
...
๏ Poetry is when an
emotion has found its
thought and the
thought has found
words. ~Robert Frost
Quote taken from:
http://www.quotegarden.com/poetry.html
3. How is poetry different from
prose?
Poetry Prose (or writing)
Tries to communicate an emotion,
Tries to communicate information,
an experience, or an idea in as few
ideas, or stories in detailed,
words as possible.
supported, paragraph-writing.
Focuses on choosing the right
Focuses on using a lot of words to
words (and avoiding using
describe your topic.
unnecessary words).
Has sentences that are arranged in
Pays special attention to breaking
paragraphs, sections, or pages.
up thoughts into lines and stanzas.
Uses poetic techniques to create
rhythm and flow (rhyming, imagery,
syllable count, line length, similes,
metaphors, alliteration).
4. The Woman on the Peak
See the differences?
The woman stands upon the barren peak,
Poem
Gazing down on the world beneath.
Prose
Sentences arranged in
The lonely chill seeps from the ground
Into her feet, spreading, upward bound. two paragraphs
Intentional line breaks
The angry wind whistles ‘round her head,
A woman stands on a mountain top with the cold seeping into her
Whipping her hair into streaming snakes, body. There is nothing around her on the mountain top; it’ bare and
Imagery unwelcoming. She looks on the valley below as the wind whips around her.
It’s a strong wind. She wants to go somewhere warmer, but she is unable to
While she watches, wishes, weakly wails.
go to the peaceful beauty below.
Simile In the valley, the sun shines from behind the clouds causing flowers to
bloom. It seems like a much a happier place than the mountain top. A
Two breeze sends quivers through the leaves of trees, but it’s softer than the
stanzas
mountain wind. The water gurgles in a brook. The woman looks at this
Beyond the mountain, sunshine peeks,
beautiful valley and all of the nature inside of it, but all the woman can do is
cry.
Teasing flowers to survive and thrive.
Personification Notice how this prose still uses beautiful
The breeze whispers through the leaves,
language, but the wording is more direct
Causing gentle quivers to sway the trees. and less figurative. The prose gives
Laughter gurgles as the splashing brook more explanation and less feeling.
Playfully tumbles over rugged rocks,
*Content adapted from
While the woman above can only grieve.
5. Question: Why would
the way you write something
matter? In other words, how do
the differences between poetry
and prose affect the meaning that
comes across in the writing? Use
specifics from the last few slides.
Your Answer:
6. Next, let’s see how poets write
poetry. . .
Poets include figurative
language to make their poetry
more powerful.
Figurative language includes:
Metaphor, Simile, Symbolism,
Personification, Allegory,
Irony, Imagery.
Poets also use rhyme, rhythm,
and line length to make a
point.
7. Metaphor
Metaphor - compares two
things that wouldn’t usually be
seen as similar to make a point
(does not use “like” or “as”).
Example:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women
merely players.
- William Shakespeare
The world is compared to a stage.
8. Metaphor Poem
Tranquility
Time slides
a gentle ocean
waves upon waves,
washing the shore,
loving the shore.
- by Star Fields
What is the metaphor in this
poem (what’s being
compared)?
9. Write your own metaphor
Write your own
metaphor. To what
could you compare your
life or yourself?
10. Symbolism
Using something to represent
an idea in poetry (or other
speaking/writing) is
symbolism.
Examples:
A cross represents Christianity.
Green represents environmentally
friendly products.
A heart represents love.
A storm represents trouble.
11. Symbolism in Poetry
“One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker
A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet
One perfect rose.
What does the rose symbolize
(stand for) in this poem?
12. Create Your Own Symbol
What THING might
symbolize your feelings
or ideas?
13. Personification
Giving human traits to
something that is not human.
Example: The wind yelled
through the cracks in the
window pane.
Yelling is a human action, but the
wind is not alive.
14. Personification in a Poem
Anger
Anger sits cracking his whip against the wall
his red face swollen with blood.
He is being eaten up from the inside
and festers alone in the darkness.
His clothes are all torn and his face is all cracked.
He is a volcano ready to explode
with eyes like huge, dark smouldering hollows, just waiting to erupt.
He is bent over and furious
with himself and the world.
• What does the author do make anger seem like it’s
alive? Explain at least three.
15. Your Example of
Personification
Look around you and
choose an object. Describe
it in a way that makes it
“come alive.”
16. Imagery
Descriptions that focus on helping
the reader, see, smell, taste, hear,
or feel what is going on in the
writing.
Example: The sparkling crystal vase
shattered to the floor and scattered
in a million skin-shredding shards of
glass.
17. Imagery in Poetry
The Way I Play Soccer
Sweat streams down my face,
And my skin turns red under the watchful eye of the sun.
The sound of cleats pounding the earth is deafening
As my enemies charge down the field towards me.
I can sense the shooter is going to miss;
All at once, the ball collides into my chest.
Screams of victory roar across the field.
The grass stained, game ball rests
Rests lovingly between my two hands.
Poetry by Natasha Niemi
•What sights, sounds, smells,
feelings, or tastes do you find in
this excerpt?
18. Your Example of Imagery
Your Example: Describe the
room, yard, building, or area
around you in such a way that
people will feel, hear, see,
smell, or taste it.
19. Rhyme
When a word agrees or
sounds like another in the last
sound of the word.
Examples: Arrange =
Exchange, Rose= Clothes,
Line Example:
I can feel your love
Like the sun from above
20. Bear In There by Shel Silverstein
There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
Rhyme in Poetry
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
21. Come up with end rhyme of
your own
How could you rhyme this line:
“If I could have you in an
embrace”
22. Now write your own!
Use at least three poetic
techniques and write a brief
poem of your own.
This site will help you come up
with a topic for your poem.
Use these techniques: Metaphor,
Simile, Symbolism,
Personification, Allegory, Irony,
Imagery, Rhyme, Rhythm, Line
Length, Alliteration, Illusion, etc.
Write your poem on the next
slide.
