Introduction to Literature - Poetry

As for poetry, there are elements that are not included in short stories and novels such as:

• Allegory - A form of narrative in which people, places, and events seem to have hidden meanings. Often a retelling of an older story.

• Connotation - The implied meaning of a word.

• Denotation - The dictionary definition of a word.

• Diction - Word choice and usage (for example, formal vs. informal), as determined by considerations of audience and purpose.

• Figurative Language - The use of words to suggest meanings beyond the literal. There are a number of figures of speech. Some of the more common ones are:

• Metaphor - Making a comparison between unlike things without the use of a verbal clue (such as "like" or "as").
• Simile - Making a comparison between unlike things, using "like" or "as".
• Hyperbole - Exaggeration
• Personification - Endowing inanimate objects with human characteristics

• Imagery - A concrete representation of a sense impression, a feeling, or an idea which appeals to one or more of our senses. Look for a pattern of imagery.
• Tactile imagery - sense of touch.
• Aural imagery - sense of hearing.
• Olfactory imagery - sense of smell.
• Visual imagery - sense of sight.
• Gustatory imagery - sense of taste.

• Rhythm and Meter - Rhythm is the pulse or beat in a line of poetry, the regular recurrence of an accent or stress. Meter is the measure or patterned count of a poetry line (a count of the stresses we feel in a poem's rhythm). The unit of poetic meter in English is called a "foot," a unit of measure consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables. Ask yourself how the rhythm and meter affects the tone and meaning.

• Sound - Do the words rhyme? Is there alliteration (repetition of consonants) or assonance (repetition of vowels)? How does this affect the tone?

• Structure - The pattern of organization of a poem. For example, a sonnet is a 14-line poem usually written in iambic pentameter. Because the sonnet is strictly constrained, it is considered a closed or fixed form. An open or free form is a poem in which the author uses a looser form, or perhaps one of his or her own invention. It is not necessarily formless.

• Symbolism - When objects or actions mean more than themselves.

• Syntax - Sentence structure and word order.

• Voice: Speaker and Tone - The voice that conveys the poem's tone; its implied attitude toward its subject

examples of poetries are: I Wonder, The River, Mr. Nobody, Heir Conditioning, A Fighter's Lines, Leisure, In The Midst Of Hardship, He Had Such Quiet Eyes, Nature and Are You Still Playing The Flute?