ELEMENTS OF POETRY

Figurative Language Terms

 

450

Figurative Language

Definition:

 

 

 

Pg

Figurative Language Elements

Definition

Example from Reader’s Handbook

 

Examples from Poetry Books

467

Symbol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

449

Exaggeration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

452

Idiom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

455

Metaphor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

464

Simile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

459

Personification

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

Sound Element Terms

 

Pg

Sound Elements

Definition

Example from Reader’s Handbook

Examples from Poetry Books

447

Alliteration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

458

Onomatopoeia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

460

Repetition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

461

Rhyme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

462

Rhyme Scheme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

463

Rhythm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry Elements Group Presentation

Figurative Language

Group Members:___________________________________________________________

 

Directions:  Choose two examples of Figurative Language that you found during the Poetry Elements Search.  Copy them below, decide on how to illustrate it, and explain what effect your group thinks the element has on the poem.  This information will be placed neatly on a poster for presentation to the class.  THIS PAPER WILL BE TURNED IN.

 

Element

Example

What will you draw?

Explanation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grading Rubric

Criteria

Explanation of Criteria

Possible Points

Points Earned

Example

The poetry element example provided is correct

 

 

Illustration

The illustration connects to poetry element

 

 

Explanation

The explanation reflects an attempt to explain how this element helps the group to understand or visualize the poem better

 

 

Appearance

The poster is neat, colorful, and eyecatching.

 

 

 

Poetry Elements Group Presentation

Sound Elements

Group Members:___________________________________________________________

 

Directions:  Choose two examples of Figurative Language that you found during the Poetry Elements Search.  Copy them below, decide on how to illustrate it, and explain what effect your group thinks the element has on the poem.  This information will be placed neatly on a poster for presentation to the class.  THIS PAPER WILL BE TURNED IN.

 

Element

Example

What will you draw?

Explanation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grading Rubric

Criteria

Explanation of Criteria

Possible Points

Points Earned

Example

The poetry element example provided is correct

 

 

Illustration

The illustration connects to poetry element

 

 

Explanation

The explanation reflects an attempt to explain how this element helps the group to understand or visualize the poem better

 

 

Appearance

The poster is neat, colorful, and eyecatching.

 

 

 

Identify the Words and Meaning of

Metaphors and Similes

 

Directions: 

*Read the sentence and find the simile or metaphor (similes start with like or as; metaphors don’t)

*Write it down.

*Next, write the words being compared

*Last, write the meaning of the simile or metaphor based on the context of the sentence

 

  1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

Like an octopus

Baby and octopus

The baby was grabbing so fast that it was like he had a lot of arms.

 

2.  As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, “This class is like a three ring circus!”

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  I feel like a limp dishrag.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  The fluorescent light was the sun during the test.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.  No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.  Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.

Simile or Metaphor

Words being compared

Meaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry Examples for Analysis of Figurative Language

 

Hope  (Partner Poem)

 

Hope, like a gleaming taper’s light,                    Thinking Questions:

Adorns and cheers our way;                             What’s it like to have a light in the darkness?

And still, as darker grows the night,                   What’s it like when you don’t have a light?

Emits a brighter ray                                           How does the light in the dark compare to hope?

 

-Oliver Goldsmith

 

 

Dreams (Individual Poem)

 

Hold fast to dreams                                                      Thinking  Questions:

For if dreams die                                                          What is life like for a bird that can’t fly?

Life is a broken-winged bird                                         How does this  relate to the life or a person 

That cannot fly.                                                 who has let their dreams die?                                           

           

Hold fast to dreams                                                      How would you describe a barren field

For when dreams go                                                     frozen with snow?  How does this compare

Life is a barren field                                                                        with a life without dreams?

Frozen with snow.

 

-Langston Hughes 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Figurative Language Analysis

Teacher Model

“Old Snake” By Pat Mora  (Reader’s Handbook)

Figurative Language to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Simile

 

Metaphor

 

Personification

 

Symbol

 

Exaggeration/

Hyperbole

 

 

 

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Homesick Blues” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Figurative Language Analysis

Partner

“Hope” by Oliver Goldsmith

Figurative Language to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Simile

 

Metaphor

 

Personification

 

Symbol

 

Exaggeration/

Hyperbole

 

 

 

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Homesick Blues” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Figurative Language Analysis

Individual

 “Dreams” by Langston Hughes  (Handout)

Figurative Language to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Simile

 

Metaphor

 

Personification

 

Symbol

 

Exaggeration/

Hyperbole

 

 

 

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Homesick Blues” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Sound Elements Analysis

Teacher Model

“Homesick Blues” By Langston Hughes  (Handout)

Sound elements to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Alliteration

 

Repetition

 

Onomatopoeia

 

 

Rhyme

(End & Internal)

 

 

Rhythm

 

 

 

 

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Homesick Blues” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Sound Elements Analysis

Partners

“Swimmer’s Chant” by Carol Spelius  (Bridges to Literature p 264-267)

Sound elements to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Alliteration

 

Repetition

 

Onomatopoeia

 

 

Rhyme

(End & Internal)

 

 

Rhythm

 

 

 

 

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Swimmer’s Chant” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-Sound Elements Analysis

Teacher Model

“Homesick Blues” By Langston Hughes  (Handout)

Sound elements to look for:

Poem Examples

How it adds to meaning

Alliteration

 

Repetition

 

Onomatopoeia

 

 

Rhyme

(End & Internal)

 

 

Rhythm

 

 

Repetition:

De railroad bridge’s/A sad song in de air

I went down to de station./Ma heart was in ma mouth.

Homesick blues, Lawd,/

‘S a terrible thing to have.

 

Alliteration:  sad song; ma mouth

 

Dialect:  Written like how it is spoken

Repetition of the first two lines of each stanza gives it a regular rhythm like the motion of a train.

 

Dialect gives it an authentic sound and we actually hear the speaker of the poem.

 

BCR:  How do the sound elements in “Homesick Blues” contribute to the meaning of the poem?  Use the information from the above chart to write your response below:

 

The alliteration, repetition, and dialect in “Homesick Blues” are sound elements that

Contribute to the overall meaning of the poem.  This poem, written by Langston Hughes,

Is about an African American living up North who wants to hop on a train headed south

Because he is homesick.  The feelings and personality of the speaker comes through in

The dialect that is used when the he states “Homesick blues, Lawd, ‘s a terrible thing to

Have”.  Also, the repetition of the first two lines of each stanza and the alliteration helps

To create the steady rhythm like that of a train moving along a track.