Poetry Study Guide

Poetry--a type of writing that "says more in less space" than prose

Key elements in poems:

     *word choice

     *line breaks

     *rhythm

     *style or form

     *figurative language

     *sound devices

Poetic License--you can break the rules as long as you have a good reason

Literal--the usual or actual meaning 

Figurative--the meaning that is implied; not the actual meaning 

So, if Fred said he was so hungry he could eat a cow, FIGURATIVELY, we know he was really hungry. LITERALLY, he would be in for a long night (and he better hope it was a tiny cow).

Sound Devices--the use of a sound or musical quality to achieve a certain effect

1.  Alliteration--repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words somewhat close together

2.  Assonance--repetition of vowel sounds in the middle of words somewhat close together

3.  Consonance--repetition of consonant sound in the middle of words (somewhat close together)

4.  Onomatopoeia--words that sound like the sounds they are describing

5.  Rhyme--words that have the same end sound

• End--end of the line
• Internal--within the line
• True--exact
• Approximate--pretty close

6.  Refrain--a word, phrase, or line repeated in a poem for a reason (not just accidentally)

Figurative Language--the opposite of literal, using one thing to describe another

1.  Simile--comparing two things using like or as

2.  Metaphor--comparing two things directly without using like or as

3.  Personification--giving human characteristics to a non-human thing

4.  Hyperbole--exaggeration for effect

5.  Symbol--something that stands for itself and something more too

Line Breaks--how you decide to divide up your poem; IMPORTANT!

Stanza--a paragraph in a poem

• Couplet--a two line stanza
• Triplet--a three line stanza
• Quatrain--a four line stanza
• Can you figure out what stanzas with more lines would be called?