Poetic Devices

PRESENTATION

Poetic Devices

Lesson Standards

10.1(A), 10.1(D), 10.4(F), 10.5(A), 10.5(E), 10.5(G), 10.7(B)

Language Objective

Language Objective

I will be able to discuss and describe poetic devices using appropriate academic language, such as metaphor, simile, alliteration, and symbolism.

Learning Intention

Learning Intention

I will learn to identify and analyze various poetic devices in poetry and understand how they contribute to a poem's meaning.

Success Criteria

Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to identify poetic devices in a poem and explain how they enhance the poem's overall impact.

Define

Poets use a number of devices to create meaning, generate ideas, appeal to the senses, and evoke emotional responses from readers. Poetic devices are those techniques poets use to get the most out of their arrangements of words on a page. One important device poets use is the choice of the speaker, or the “narrator” of the poem. A reader should not assume that the speaker is always the poet.

Sound devices are tools used by poets to create imagery, convey meaning, and invoke an emotional response through the use of sound. This use of language creates a specific effect when poetry is read or spoken aloud. Perhaps the most common sound device is rhyme. Another sound device is alliteration, which is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words. The repetition of consonant sounds within a line or sentence is called consonance. The repetition of vowel sounds, such as a short a or long e sound, is called assonance. The inclusion of figurative language is a key feature of poetry. Similes and metaphors help poets compare unlike things and show these things to readers in a new way.

alliteration

assonance

consonance

nounthe repetition of initial sounds in a series of words

nounthe repetition of internal vowel sounds in a series of words, and is most often used in poetry

nounthe repetition of internal or ending consonant sounds in a series of words

figurative language

metaphor

poetic device

nounexpressions used for descriptive or rhetorical effect that are not literally true but that express some truth beyond the literal level

nouna figure of speech that compares two seemingly unlike things but implies a comparison instead of stating it directly with the word like or as

nouna feature of a poem such as rhyme, sound devices, and figurative language

rhyme

simile

sound device

nounthe repetition of the same or similar sounds in a poem

nouna figure of speech that uses the word like or as to compare two seemingly unlike things

nounthe use of language to create certain effects when read or spoken aloud

SPEAKER

Nounthe “narrator” of the poem; the speaker has a separate identity from the poet, who is the author of the poem

Directions

Review the Checklist for Poetic Devices below. Then read the Skill Model to examine how one student used the checklist to analyze poetic devices in “Love Is Not All.” As you read, identify the question from the checklist the student used for each annotation.Checklist:In order to identify sound devices in a poem, note the following:

• alliteration

To identify the use of figurative language in a poem, note the following:

• imagery: the use of vivid, sensory language to create a mental picture or physical sensation

Checklist

To analyze the effect of sound devices and figurative language across a variety of poetic forms, use the following questions as a guide:

• What sounds do I hear when I read the poem aloud? What effect do these sounds create? Do they create a certain mood or tone? Do they evoke a feeling or image? Do they emphasize an important idea or concept? Do they signal a shift in meaning?
• What is the effect of figurative language on the poem’s meaning? Does it create a certain mood or tone? Does it help convey a theme? Does it create a certain image? Does it communicate an idea?

Skill Model

• Noticing details and reading closely can help you analyze how the poet uses poetic devices to create meaning and evoke emotions in readers.

• Let’s look at how one reader analyzes poetic devices in “Love Is Not All.”

I notice imagery—meat, drink, roof, and spar—that allows me to picture things that are essential to survival. Describing love as not being these things emphasizes the common belief that love is not essential to survival.

The reader notices sensory language that creates a mental picture. Words like meat, drink, roof, and spar all connect to each other because they are all essential to a human’s survival in life. Noticing this connection helps the reader determine the effect of this imagery: it emphasizes the idea of the necessities in life. The reader then asks herself how this idea connects to the meaning of this stanza. She realizes that the speaker mentions all of these essentials in life to express the common belief that love is not essential to human survival. This imagery strengthens the speaker’s message. By listing all of these clear images of what love is not, she makes her point even stronger. She continues analyzing how Millay uses poetic devices in the same stanza of “Love Is Not All,” this time paying attention to how sound devices reinforce her analysis of figurative language.

The reader pays close attention to Millay’s use of poetic devices in the first stanza and finds a sound device: alliteration. Line 2 contains alliteration when the poet repeats the r sound in the phrase “roof against the rain” and line 3 contains alliteration when the poet repeats the s sound in the phrase “spar to the men that sink.” The reader notices that the repeated sounds are specifically associated with life’s necessities: a roof when it is raining and a spar when a ship is sinking. Repeating the sound associated with these necessities allows the poet to emphasize how essential these things are to humans, “unlike love.”

Line 2 contains the sound device of alliteration with roof and rain. Line 3 also has alliteration with spar and sink.” Repeating the r and s sounds of roof and spar emphasizes how essential these life necessities are, unlike love.

END OF THE PRESENTATION

THANKYOU!