Poetry Terms
Define poetry.
Using language in a beautiful, unique, and creative way to express feelings and emotions
Instead of sentences and paragraphs, we write using __________ and ___________ in poetry.
lines and stanzas
Give two important facts about Robert Frost's life and career.
Frost was born in 1874 and died 1963. He attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University. Frost spent time living in England writing poetry. He received FOUR Pulitzer Prizes during the course of his lifetime.
What type of poem is this? How many stanzas and lines are in the poem?
It is a structured poem that contains 1 stanza and 8 lines.
Who is the speaker in a poem? How is the speaker different from the author?
The speaker is the voice that talks to readers and delivers the message. The author is the person who wrote the poem; the speaker and the author may or may not be the same voice.
What is a couplet? Recite a couplet from "Nothing Gold Can Stay."
couplet: a pair of lines in a poem that rhyme
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Besides writing, name two other professions Robert Frost pursued.
farming and teaching in colleges and universities
What issues does Langston Hughes address in much of his poetry?
prejudice, stereotypes, racism, love and pride of his people and his heritage
A poem with no regular, repeated pattern of rhyme or structure is a _____________. Give one example of this type of poem that we have read in class.
free-verse poem
Ex: "April Rain Song"
"My People"
"Mother to Son"
*all by Langston Hughes
What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Give an example of each.
A simile and metaphor both compare two unlike things in an interesting way; however, a simile uses the words "like" or "as" in the comparison.
Simile: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Metaphor: "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow."
For what type of poetry is Robert Frost most known?
Frost was mainly inspired by rural and country life in New England: the countryside, nature, farmland, the forest, etc.
Give an example of alliteration from "Nothing Gold Can Stay."
Nature's first green is gold (words with g)
Her hardest hue to hold (words with h)
So Eden sank to grief (words with s)
So dawn goes down to day (words with d)
Describe the speaker in "Mother to Son." Be SPECIFIC.
The speaker is a mother giving advice to her son about the difficulties and challenges he will face in life. She is being honest, direct, and realistic. The speaker is NOT Langston Hughes.
When a poet uses words or phrases more than once it is called _____________. In music, this part of the song is referred to as the ____________.
repetition; chorus
What is personification? Give two examples.
Giving human characteristics to an object or animal. Ex: "Let the rain kiss you" and "the sun smiled down on me."
Write the title of one other poem by Robert Frost on the board using correct punctuation and capitalization.
"The Road Not Taken"
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
(titles of poems go in quotation marks and all important words need to be capitalized)
What is rhyme scheme? What is the rhyme scheme in "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme at the end of each line of a poem; it is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme.
AABBCCDD
For what is Langston Hughes most known? Give two examples.
He is best known for creating the genre called "jazz poetry" and being one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance.
What is hyperbole? Give an example. What is onomatopoeia? Give an example.
Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally
Ex: "I died of embarrassment when I had to read my poem in class."
Onomatopoeia: words used to imitate sound
Ex:"Bang! Crash! Boom!"
Alliteration, simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole are all poetic devices. WHY do writers use poetic devices when writing poetry?
They are tools that poets use to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling. They also make a poem sound more interesting when read aloud.
Recite the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" from memory. Begin with the title and author, then recite the poem.
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic movement centered in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement." During the early 20th century, Harlem was the destination for migrants from around the country, attracting both people seeking work from the South, and an educated class who made the area a center of culture, as well as a growing "Negro" middle class.