Name: _______________________________________________ Date: ________ Pd.
: ______
Elements of Poetry – The Basics
Directions: Use this website, your Figurative Language notes, and the different links in each section to answer the questions assigned to your group. We will go over
each section as a class. This will be your study guide for the Poetry Basics quiz.
1. Rhyme
a. Similar sounding in the end of words
b. Identify and explain 3 types of rhymes:
i. 1. Full rhyme: identical consonants and vowels
ii. 2. Half/slant rhyme: similar sounds but not perfect
iii. 3. Internal rhyme: rhyming words in the middle and the end of a line
c. Do poems have to rhyme? - no
i. What type of poem is most likely to rhyme? - comic
d. What is a rhyme scheme? - pattern that repeats at the end of a line of poem
i. Encode the rhyme scheme in the poem below by filling in the blank ant the end of each line using letters from the alphabet:
Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; __a_
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; __b_
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; __a_
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. _b__
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, _c__
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; __d_
And in some perfumes is there more delight __c_
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. _d__
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know _e__
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; __f_
I grant I never saw a goddess go; __e_
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. __f_
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare __g_
As any she belied with false compare. _g__
1. Rhythm and Meter - Rhythm of a poem is determined by the number of syllables found in each line.
a. What is a poetic meter? - the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. The number of poetic feet within each line. Meter is made
up of feet. - Meter is not always consistent and can vary within a poem.
b. What are poetic feet? - The different set of patterns of repeating stressed and unstressed syllables.
c. What is the difference between a stressed syllable and an unstressed syllable?
Stressed: Are syllables that are emphasised within a word Unstressed: Are the syllables within words that are said with less emphasis,
usually based on pitch
Denoted with a /
Denoted with a U
d. Identify and explain the following common metrical patterns:
i. Iambic pentameter: - Penta means 5
1. What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
Iamb = foot containing two syllables, with the first being unstressed and the second being stressed (mimics a
heartbeat going da DUM da DUM)
2. How many feet in a meter? 5
3. Shall I com-pare thee to a sum-mer’s day
ii. Trochaic octameter:
1. What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot? -
Trochee = foot containing two syllables, with First: Stressed, Second: Unstressed
2. How many feet in a meter? - 8
3. Once - up-on - a - mid-night - drea-ry, while - I - pon-dered - weak - and - wear-y
iii. Anapestic tetrameter:
1. What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
Anapest = A foot containing three syllables, with the first two being unstressed and the third being stressed.
2. How many feet in a meter? Tetra = 4
3. “Twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas.”
iv. Dactylic hexameter:
1. What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot? Dactyl: A foot containing three syllables, first one is
stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
2. How many feet in a meter? - Hexa = Six
2. Lines and Stanzas
a. What is a stanza? Groups of lines that can sometimes be referred to as verses.
b. How are stanzas divided? Typically share common features like length, rhyme, or rhythm, but they can be divided irregularly with no
formal pattern.
c. How many lines are contained in each of the following stanzas:
i. Couplets: a stanza with two lines that rhyme
ii. Tercets: A stanza with three lines that either all rhyme, or the first and the third line rhyme. (ABA rhyme scheme)
iii. Quatrains: a stanza with four lines with the second and fourth lines rhyming (ABAB rhyme scheme)
d. What is a volta? - Italian for “turn”, means the turning point/shift in the poem from the main narrative to reveal the conclusion of the poem.
e. What is the difference between formal verse and free verse?
Formal verse: Adheres to a strict repeating pattern with matching meter Free verse: Does not adhere to patterns regarding rhyme or meter. These
and certain rhyme schemes. (Has more rules) stanzas can be of varying and differing lengths.
3. Figurative Language
a. Similes and Metaphors
i. What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?
Simile: Are direct comparisons between two things using the words “as” or Metaphor: A common poetic device where an object in, or the subject of, a
“like”. poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object.
ii. Analyze the following comparison from Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare:
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
1. Is this a simile or a metaphor?
A simile because it explicitly uses the word “compare”
2. What is the subject of the poem being compared to?
A summer’s day
3. What is it saying about the subject through this comparison?
That the subject is lovely and temperate
4. Figurative Language
b. Personification
i. What is personification?
- animals, plants, and inanimate objects are given human qualities
ii. Highlight what is being personified in the following stanza from The sea’s hands by George Szirtes’:
“The sea lays big glass hands on the sand,
spreading its fingers out as if new
to the shore. It can’t quite believe in it.
It wants to hold on before the glass breaks.”
1. What human action/attribute/characteristic is being assigned to the non-human object?
- Hands/fingers are assigned to the sea
2. How does personification affect the mood of the stanza?
- It makes the sea seem delicate and breakable. The sea unable to hold onto the shore gives a sad mood.
4. Figurative Language
c. Imagery
i. What is imagery?
- the author's use of description and vivid language, deepening the reader's understanding of the work, by
appealing to the senses.
ii. Using the picture below and the audio recording linked here, revise the following sentences to include detailed sensory imagery
indicated:
1. Original Visual/Sight sentence: “There are people waiting for the train.”
a. Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
There are people waiting for the train, dressed in gloomy brown coats with frowns on their faces.
2. Original Olfactory/Smell sentence: “The platform smells bad.”
a. Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
The platform smells like rotting garbage and burnt metal.
3. Original Gustatory/Taste sentence: “My mouth tastes dry.”
a. Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
My mouth tastes like sandpaper, parched and bitter.
4. Original Tactile/Touch sentence: “It felt crowded in the train.”
a. Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
It felt crowded in the train, and I could feel the treacherous heat as well as the sweat on the person
next to me.
5. Original Auditory/Sound sentence: “I hear the train coming!”
a. Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
I hear a loud rumble and screeching whistle, so the train must be coming.
4. Figurative Language
d. Symbolism
i. What is symbolism?
Symbolism = Something that is subtly referring to something else beyond itself.
ii. What is the difference between concrete and abstract meaning?
Concrete meaning: Literal Abstract meaning: Figurative
