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Literary
Terms Related to Poetry Tone:
The
attitude of the author toward the subject of the work. You might hear
the tone expressed through your perception of the emotional quality in a
line or stanza. For example, you might hear anger, melancholy, irony,
sadness, or excitement. Diction:
Choice of words. Pay attention to the writer's
"vocabulary": has the writer used informal or formal language?
Words in another language? Simple or complex terms? Some writers , for
example, choose to use many descriptive words, whereas some use almost
none. Think about why the writer might have made such choices. Imagery:
words
that appeal to the five senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell.
Strong images create pictures that often convey the "meaning"
of a poem. The poet William Carlos Williams said this of poetry:
"No ideas but in things." In other words, a poet doesn't tell
us about love but shows us and lets us feel it through the use of
images. Syntax:
the
way words are arranged in phrases or sentences and the way phrases or
sentences are arranged in paragraphs (fiction), speeches (plays), or
lines and stanzas (poetry). Rhythm:
pattern
of sound. Some writers use the rhythm of ordinary speech, while others
use a regular pattern of beats. Rhyme:
the
matching of final sounds in two or more words. Rhyming can be used to
create emphasis or patterns pleasing to the ear. Alliteration:
the repetition the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words or in
stressed syllables. This poetic device is used to create harmony, unity,
and musicality. Assonance:
the
repetition of similar vowel sounds. Like alliteration, assonance is
often intended to create or reinforce a sense of harmony, unity, and
musicality. Figurative
language: words
or expressions that carry more than their literal meaning. Sometimes the
writer’s figurative language allows a reader to see an object in a new
way. (Figurative language refers to use of metaphor, simile, apostrophe,
personification, and symbols—see definitions below.) Metaphor:
comparison of two unlike things. The comparison is made without using
the words “like” or “as.” For example, in Jimmy Santiago
Baca’s poem “Martin,” he writes, “. . . the deerskinned drumhead
of my heart/gently pounded . . .” (17), thus creating a clear
identification of the heart as a drum. Thus, we hear the heart’s
pounding with the intensity of a drumbeat. Simile:
comparison
of two unlike things, using the words “like” or “as.” Apostrophe:
addressing
an inanimate object or place as if it were alive. For example, in
Baca’s poem, the speaker directly addresses the ancient mission ruins
of Quarai: “O QUARAI! Shape/the grit and sediment I am . . . .” (39)
The apostrophe seems to show that he feels connected to Quarai, perhaps
as he would feel connected to a spiritual presence or figure. Personification: giving an inanimate object the qualities of a
person or animal. Baca uses personification in his description of rain
at night: “. . . black matted hair of night rain/hung down over”
(9). Symbol: anything that represents or stands for something
else. Often a symbol is something concrete that stands for something
abstract. For example, a butterfly might represent both fragility,
transcendence, and potential transformation. A symbol may be said to
embody an idea. There are two general types of symbols: universal
symbols that embody universally recognizable meanings, such as light to
symbolize knowledge. There are also invented symbols that are given
symbolic meaning by the way an author uses them in a literary work, such
as apples symbolizing fertility, fullness, and abundant life in Baca’s
poem “Martin” (9). A writer sometimes repeats a word or image
so many times in a literary work that a reader begins to wonder why. Pay
special attention to such words or images and reflect on possible
symbolic meanings. Verbal irony: a discrepancy between what is said and what is
meant or between what is said and what the reader knows to be true. Allusion: a reference to a person, place, object, or event outside the work itself. For example, in Baca’s lines, “Each night I could hear the silver whittling blade/of La Llorona,/carving a small child on the muddy river bottom” (20) it helps readers to know something of the story of La Llorona, a figure who is said to have murdered her children and haunts riverbanks looking for her lost children. When writers use allusions, you can usually figure out what is going on from the context. However, if you are interested in adding an extra dimension to your reading, you can find the references in a dictionary or encyclopedia. Return
to Suggestions
for Reading Poetry. |