Poetry Structure
A group of lines of poetry (like a paragraph)
Stanza
the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Alliteration
What is...
A message or lesson about life that is not directly stated.
A lesson the author wants us to take away from the poem.
Written as a complete sentences, free of plot details.
theme
What is the main conflict of the poem below?
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-Only this and nothing more."
Someone unknown is knocking on the speaker's door.
Read the poem below, who is the main character?
No Prince Needed By Jennifer L. Betts
1 Princess Eva waited so long
2 She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.
3 Trapped in the castle was she.
4 How could this be?
5 The witch cackled he’ll never come.
6 That prince is a bum.
7 Princess Eva just sighed sadly.
8 Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.
9 Looking out the window.
10 She was tired of being in limbo.
11 When the witch went to sleep
12 The princess decided to creep
13 Right down the stairs.
14 “Who cares?”
15 She thought with a smile.
16 “I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”
17 “Who needs a prince? thought she.
18 I’ve just got to rely on me.
Princess Eva
What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
ABAB
words that imitate their sound are called...
Onomatopoeia
What is the theme of the poem below?
A. Summer is the most pleasant time of the year.
B. Looking to the future can bring us joy.
C. Remembering the past can bring us together.
D. Nature is beautiful if we take the time to appreciate. it.
After the Winter by Claude McKay
Some day, when trees have shed their leaves
And against the morning’s white
The shivering birds beneath the eaves
Have sheltered for the night,
We’ll turn our faces southward, love,
Toward the summer isle
Where bamboos spire the shafted grove
And wide-mouthed orchids smile.
And some day, we will seek the quiet hill
Where towers the cotton tree,
And leaps the laughing crystal rill,
And works the droning bee.
And we will build a cottage there
Beside an open glade,
With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near,
And ferns that never fade.
B. Looking to the future can bring us joy.
In what season does the following poem take place?
Breezes are blowing,
leaves are falling,
a chill is in the air.
Winter is coming,
farmers harvesting,
green foliage is rare.
Fall
Read the poem below, what is Princess Eva's conflict?
No Prince Needed By Jennifer L. Betts
1 Princess Eva waited so long
2 She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.
3 Trapped in the castle was she.
4 How could this be?
5 The witch cackled he’ll never come.
6 That prince is a bum.
7 Princess Eva just sighed sadly.
8 Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.
9 Looking out the window.
10 She was tired of being in limbo.
11 When the witch went to sleep
12 The princess decided to creep
13 Right down the stairs.
14 “Who cares?”
15 She thought with a smile.
16 “I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”
17 “Who needs a prince? thought she.
18 I’ve just got to rely on me.
Princess Eva is trapped in the castle waiting on a prince to come set her free.
How many lines does the following poem have?
I Ask My Mother to Sing BY LI-YOUNG LEE
She begins, and my grandmother joins her.
Mother and daughter sing like young girls.
If my father were alive, he would play
his accordion and sway like a boat.
I’ve never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,
nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch
the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers
running away in the grass.
But I love to hear it sung;
how the waterlilies fill with rain until
they overturn, spilling water into water,
then rock back, and fill with more.
Both women have begun to cry.
But neither stops her song.
14 lines
Zoom! Blam! Crash!
Are examples of...
Onomatopoeia
Which of the following best describes the theme of the poem below?
A. Time becomes more important as you grow older.
B. Children believe they will never grow old.
C. It is important to stay young.
D. Time becomes less important as you grow older.
THE CLOCK MAN BY SHEL SILVERSTEIN
“How much will you pay for an extra day?”
The clock man asked the child.
“Not one penny,” the answer came,
“For my days are as many as smiles.”
“How much will you pay for an extra day?”
He asked when the child was grown.
“Maybe a dollar or maybe less,
For I’ve plenty of days of my own.”
“How much will you pay for an extra day?”
He asked when the time came to die.
“All of the pearls in all of the seas,
And all of the stars in the sky.”
A. Time becomes more important as you grow older.
The following words convey this type of tone: lighthearted, whimsical, carefree, content
POSITIVE
Read the poem below, what is the purpose of stanza 1?
No Prince Needed By Jennifer L. Betts
1 Princess Eva waited so long
2 She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.
3 Trapped in the castle was she.
4 How could this be?
5 The witch cackled he’ll never come.
6 That prince is a bum.
7 Princess Eva just sighed sadly.
8 Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.
9 Looking out the window.
10 She was tired of being in limbo.
11 When the witch went to sleep
12 The princess decided to creep
13 Right down the stairs.
14 “Who cares?”
15 She thought with a smile.
16 “I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”
17 “Who needs a prince? thought she.
18 I’ve just got to rely on me.
It develops the exposition and explains the conflict.
What is the rhyme scheme?
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
ABAAB
There once was a man who wasn't very smart.
For instance, he once tried to drive a shopping cart.
Does the poem have end rhyme, internal rhyme, or both?
End rhyme
Which topic or big idea best describes the poem below?
Perseverance, Trust, Friendship, or Love
Never Give Up by Unknown Author
Never give up,
Never give in.
Move onward and upward with strength from within.
Always believe,
Always look forward.
Never be the one who is seen as a coward.
Remember the past,
Look for the future.
Always remember it's often good to be obscure.
You are special,
You are unique.
To go far in life is what you should seek.
You are brilliant,
You prove to be amazing every day,
And there is someone who will love you in every way.
Perseverance
Who is the speaker of the following poem?
I Hypnotized the Teacher by Kenn Nesbitt
I hypnotized the teacher
in our classroom yesterday.
I think it worked! He’s started
doing everything I say.
I said he was a chicken.
He began to crow and cluck.
And then he started quacking
when I said he was a duck.
It made my classmates laugh
to see the teacher act so funny.
He hopped and nibbled carrots
when I said he was a bunny.
I said he was a fierce,
ferocious, giant dinosaur.
It worked, but now he won’t do
what I tell him anymore.
Our class is now directed by
this stomping, roaring creature.
I recommend that you don’t ever
hypnotize your teacher.
A student
Read the poem below, what is the purpose of stanza 4?
No Prince Needed By Jennifer L. Betts
1 Princess Eva waited so long
2 She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.
3 Trapped in the castle was she.
4 How could this be?
5 The witch cackled he’ll never come.
6 That prince is a bum.
7 Princess Eva just sighed sadly.
8 Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.
9 Looking out the window.
10 She was tired of being in limbo.
11 When the witch went to sleep
12 The princess decided to creep
13 Right down the stairs.
14 “Who cares?”
15 She thought with a smile.
16 “I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”
17 “Who needs a prince? thought she.
18 I’ve just got to rely on me.
It provides the resolution of the story.
How many stanzas does the following poem have?
Never Give Up by Unknown Author
Never give up,
Never give in.
Move onward and upward with strength from within.
Always believe,
Always look forward.
Never be the one who is seen as a coward.
Remember the past,
Look for the future.
Always remember it's often good to be obscure.
You are special,
You are unique.
To go far in life is what you should seek.
You are brilliant,
You prove to be amazing every day,
And there is someone who will love you in every way.
5 stanzas
Three grey geese in a green field grazing.
Is an example of?
alliteration
Which best describes the main theme of the poem below?
A. Dreams are difficult to keep alive
B. It is important to aim high with your dreams.
C. It can feel impossible to accomplish your dreams.
D. Having dreams is an essential part of life.
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
D. Having dreams is an essential part of life.
What story does the poem tell?
We Have Been Friends Together by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
We have been friends together,
In sunshine and in shade;
Since first beneath the chestnut-trees
In infancy we played.
But coldness dwells within thy heart,
A cloud is on thy brow;
We have been friends together—
Shall a light word part us now?
We have been gay together;
We have laugh'd at little jests;
For the fount of hope was gushing
Warm and joyous in our breasts.
But laughter now hath fled thy lip,
And sullen glooms thy brow;
We have been gay together—
Shall a light word part us now?
We have been sad together,
We have wept, with bitter tears,
O'er the grass-grown graves, where slumber'd
The hopes of early years.
The voices which are silent there
Would bid thee clear thy brow;
We have been sad together—
Oh! what shall part us now?
The poem tells the story of two good friends who are facing a conflict within their friendship.
What narrative elements does the poem below have?
No Prince Needed By Jennifer L. Betts
1 Princess Eva waited so long
2 She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.
3 Trapped in the castle was she.
4 How could this be?
5 The witch cackled he’ll never come.
6 That prince is a bum.
7 Princess Eva just sighed sadly.
8 Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.
9 Looking out the window.
10 She was tired of being in limbo.
11 When the witch went to sleep
12 The princess decided to creep
13 Right down the stairs.
14 “Who cares?”
15 She thought with a smile.
16 “I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”
17 “Who needs a prince? thought she.
18 I’ve just got to rely on me.
characters, setting, plot, conflict, and a theme