Poetry 8
Study Guide
Study the terms in the study guide. These terms will be useful in assignments, projects and tests.
Each lesson will focus on some literary and/or sound devices. You will be asked to know definitions. You should be able to recognize the literary terms when used in poetry as well. |
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Analysis and interpretation of Poetry
Analysis is the act of examining all of the 'parts' of a poem individually, then discovering how they all fit together to create the meaning of the poem.You will be expected to comment on the literary devices and the effect they have on your understanding of the poem. Often, you will be asked to discuss the impact or the effect that a literary device has, which means you should be able to show that an understanding of a literary device will deepen your understanding of the poem as a whole.
Interpretation is the act of explaining what a poem means, based on all of your observations of literary devices and considering the possible meanings. There are often many possible interpretations - no one interpretation is correct, but some are more easily supported with evidence. You will be expected to explain the meaning of poems throughout this unit. 5-Step Instructions Identify the Speaker
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Writing Poetry
It has been said that poetry is the most accessible art form - all you need is a pen. That being said, writing poetry well is an art that can be refined, tuned, honed, sharpened, etc; A strong writer will be able to consider and control possible interpretations of their work, and will intentionally create effects through the use of literary devices.
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Performance
Words live double lives - their formal lives, lived on the page, permanent and inflexible, and their casual lives, lived in speech patterns and emotional expressions. We write when we want to leave our thoughts and experiences for people in distant times and places; we speak in the immediate moment. This may well be the strongest reason to perform poetry. When we perform, we address our audience with our experience in a direct way, in a shared moment; In other words, we connect with each other.
Spoken, or performance poetry uses Oral Language skills to communicate clearly and effectively. There is an emphasis on the sounds of words, using sound devices, such as puns, alliteration, repetition, etc; to enhance the emotional content of the poem. Effective performers use the volume, tone, and clarity of their voice to emphasize or de-emphasize moments within a poem to create an intentional, emotional effect.
See the videos below for some examples:
Spoken, or performance poetry uses Oral Language skills to communicate clearly and effectively. There is an emphasis on the sounds of words, using sound devices, such as puns, alliteration, repetition, etc; to enhance the emotional content of the poem. Effective performers use the volume, tone, and clarity of their voice to emphasize or de-emphasize moments within a poem to create an intentional, emotional effect.
See the videos below for some examples:
Poems
(Title Withheld for Educational Reasons) Robert Pinsky Any body can die, evidently. Few Go happily, irradiating joy, Knowledge, love. Many Need oblivion, painkillers, Quickest respite. Sweet time unafflicted, Various world: X=your zenith. QUESTIONS and TASKS
A Few of My Favourite Things - Richard Rodgers Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings These are a few of my favorite things Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes Silver white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things When the dog bites When the bee stings When I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don't feel so bad QUESTIONS and TASKS
THE TYGER (from Songs Of Experience) By William Blake Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire? And what shoulder, & what art. Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 1794 QUESTIONS and TASKS
On Turning Ten The whole idea of it makes me feel like I'm coming down with something, something worse than any stomach ache or the headaches I get from reading in bad light-- a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche, a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul. You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two. But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit. At four I was an Arabian wizard. I could make myself invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way. At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince. But now I am mostly at the window watching the late afternoon light. Back then it never fell so solemnly against the side of my tree house, and my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it. This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my sneakers. It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number. It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed. Questions
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