Types of Poetry
In your teams, identify the following poem:
"Spring is in the air
Flowers are blooming sky high
Children are laughing."
(Be prepared to justify your answers)
This poem is a haiku because...
- It follows the syllable structure 5-7-5
- It's connecting to nature
What is this poetic device?
"The shirt danced in the wind"
This is personification because...
- You are giving human characteristics to a non-living object.
*A shirt is a piece of clothing; it's a non-living object, so it can't ACTUALLY dance in the wind.*
What is the rhyme scheme in the following stanza?
"Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour."
The rhyme scheme is AABB.
- Gold and hold
- Flower and hour
In your team, discuss the definition of a theme. Be prepared to briefly explain your answers.
A theme is:
- the central or underlying message with a deeper meaning.
Identify the following sense:
"Suzy felt the cold water of the ocean and the sand between her toes."
This is the sense of touch because...
- The scene describes that Suzy could feel the cold water and sand, so she touches the water and sand.
In your teams, identify the following type of poem:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
(Be prepared to justify your answers!)
This is a Shakespearean sonnet because...
- It follows the rhyme scheme (ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG)
-There are three quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end
- There are 14 lines total
What is this poetic device?
"Jumbo Shrimp"
It's an Oxymoron because...
- You are creating a new meaning by using two opposite terms
- Jumbo means huge/large, and shrimp means tiny/small. Together, it creates a new meaning for the word "shrimp"
Is the following couplet an example of enjambement or caesura?
"The breadfruit opens its palms in praise of the bounty, bois-pain, tree of bread, slave food, the bliss of John Clare,"
This is a caesura because...
- The couplet contains a comma, which is a small pause in the poem.
In your teams, name at least 2 examples of themes that can be used in poetry. How can they be represented?
Examples of themes in poetry are:
-Love, Hate, Death, Nature, Identity, Conflict, etc.
-They can be represented through symbols (e.g., love can be represented by a rose; hate can be represented by fire, etc. ).
Identify the sense:
"The scent of wood and moss filtered through the air"
This is the sense of smell.
- The scene being described is talking about the smell of the woods.
In your teams, identify the type of poem:
"There was an old man on the Border,
Who lived in the utmost disorder;
He danced with the cat,
And made tea in his hat.
Which vexed all the folks on the Border."
(Be prepared to justify your answers!)
This is a limerick because...
- It's a 5-line poem
- It's funny and does not make much sense
- It follows the rhyme scheme AABBA
Identify the Figure of Speech:
Peter Parker picked a pint of pickled peppers
This is Alliteration because...
- It's the repetition of a consonant sound
- In this sentence, the consonant P is being repeated
What is the difference between a closed-form poem and an open-form poem?
A closed-form poem follows a specific poetic structure, rules regarding rhyme, rhythm, meter, or stanza arrangement. Examples of closed-form poems are: sonnets, haikus, and limericks.
An open form poem is a style of poetry that rejects established rules of structure, including consistent meter, rhyme schemes, and stanza patterns. Examples of open-form poems are: free verse and prose poetry.
In the following couplet, identify the theme (Be prepared to justify!)
"The rain has silver sandals / For dancing in the spring,"
The theme of this poem is nature because...
- It mentions rain and spring
- The central message conveyed here is that rain brings life back (plants start growing, animals are born, leaves are growing on trees) during the spring after winter.
Why do poets use imagery in their poems? Discuss with your team.
Poets use imagery to help the reader have a better experience reading the poem.
-By using imagery, the poets can set a certain tone and mood for the reader.
- Helps the reader visualize the theme of the poem