Mood and Theme
The overall feeling or atmosphere that a poem creates for the reader.
What is mood?
A group of lines in a poem, similar to a paragraph in a story.
What is a Stanza?
The sun is very high,
The birds are flying so fast,
I love the blue sky.
What is a Haiku?
The cat crept close to the couch,
Staying quietly quick in the house.
It waited and watched for a while,
With a silent and sneaky smile.
What is Alliteration?
The lake was like a giant mirror,
Making the mountain peaks look clearer.
The clouds moved as slow as a dream,
Reflected in the quiet, silver stream.
What is a Simile?
This is the deeper lesson or message about life that the poet wants you to take away.
What is theme?
Poetry that follows a consistent rhyme scheme and rhythm.
What is Standard Rhyme?
There once was a fellow named Dan,
Who lived in a rusty old van.
He drove to the shore,
Then slept on the floor.
What is a Limerick?
The clock ticked and tocked on the wall,
While the rain began to patter and fall.
A sudden thud came from the hall,
Followed by a loud, echoing call.
What is Onomatopoeia?
The stars are diamonds in the night,
Scattered across a velvet sky.
The moon is a glowing lantern light,
Watching the sleepy world go by.
What is a Metaphor?
True or False: "Love" is a theme.
What is False? (Love is a topic; "Love requires sacrifice" is a theme).
This type of poetry does not use consistent rhythm or rhyme patterns.
What is Modern Verse (or Free Verse)?
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
What is a Stanza? (Or Standard Rhyme)
The serpent slithered through the soft sand,
A sibilant sound across the dry land.
It hissed at the mist and the setting sun,
Until its slow, silent journey was done.
What is Sibilance?
My heart is a ship on a stormy sea,
Tossed by the waves of my memory.
I drop the anchor to find some rest,
But the winds of worry put me to the test.
What is an Extended Metaphor?
If a poem uses words like "shadow," "ghastly," and "rattle," the mood is likely this.
What is eerie/dark/gloomy?
In poetry, these are the individual rows of words that may or may not be complete sentences.
What are Lines?
O powerful and ancient Tree,
Thy roots hold deep the history.
I sing of thy branches wide,
Where all the weary birds abide.
What is an Ode?
The meadow breeze seems sweet,
A tree beside the neat street.
Where green leaves meet,
And feel the gentle heat.
What is Assonance?
Identify the form and two sound devices used in this stanza:
Six siliy swans swim slowly by
Underneath the summer sky
Six silly swans see a fly
And wave the shore a soft goodbye.
Form: Standard Rhyme (or Quatrain);
Devices: Alliteration, Sibilance, or Anaphora.
The primary difference between a "topic" and a "theme."
What is a topic is one word; a theme is a full statement/lesson?
The term for the visual "shape" or layout of the poem on the page.
What is Form?
The ocean moves,
shifting sand,
salt on my skin,
the tide comes in.
What is Free Verse?
The grating gears ground with a shriek,
A kicking, knocking, clacking queak.
The battered box banged on the floor,
With a ragged roar behind the door.
What is Cacophony?
Identify the poem's structure, the primary sound device used at the start of each line, and the overall theme.
A single spark can start the fire,
A single string can join the choir,
A single brick can build the wall,
A single step can start it all.
Structure: Standard Rhyme (or Quatrain).
Sound Device: Anaphora (repetition of "A single").
Theme: Small actions can lead to great things / The power of beginnings / Individual impact.