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Poetry Basics

The document serves as a study guide for a quiz on the basics of poetry, covering elements such as rhyme, rhythm, meter, lines, stanzas, and figurative language. It includes questions and prompts for students to explore various poetic concepts and techniques, such as different types of rhymes, metrical patterns, and the use of imagery and symbolism. Students are encouraged to utilize provided resources and notes to answer the questions collaboratively.

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ryan.haug
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1 views

Poetry Basics

The document serves as a study guide for a quiz on the basics of poetry, covering elements such as rhyme, rhythm, meter, lines, stanzas, and figurative language. It includes questions and prompts for students to explore various poetic concepts and techniques, such as different types of rhymes, metrical patterns, and the use of imagery and symbolism. Students are encouraged to utilize provided resources and notes to answer the questions collaboratively.

Uploaded by

ryan.haug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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.​ What is a rhyme?
b.​ Identify and explain 3 types of rhymes:
i.​ 1. Full rhyme:
ii.​ 2. Half/slant rhyme:
iii.​ 3. Internal rhyme:
c.​ Do poems have to rhyme?
i.​ What type of poem is most likely to rhyme?
d.​ What is a rhyme scheme?
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; ___


Coral is far more red than her lips' red; ___
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; ___
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. ___
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, ___
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; ___
And in some perfumes is there more delight ___
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. ___
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know ___
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; ___
I grant I never saw a goddess go; ___
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. ___
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare ___
As any she belied with false compare. ___

2.​ Rhythm and Meter


a.​ What is a poetic meter?
b.​ What are poetic feet?
c.​ What is the difference between a stressed syllable and an unstressed syllable?
Stressed: Unstressed:
d.​ Identify and explain the following common metrical patterns:
i.​ Iambic pentameter:
1.​ What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
2.​ How many feet in a meter?
ii.​ Trochaic octameter:
1.​ What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
2.​ How many feet in a meter?
iii.​ Anapestic tetrameter:
1.​ What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
2.​ How many feet in a meter?
iv.​ Dactylic hexameter:
1.​ What is the pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables per foot?
2.​ How many feet in a meter?

3.​ Lines and Stanzas


a.​ What is a stanza?
b.​ How are stanzas divided?
c.​ How many lines are contained in each of the following stanzas:
i.​ Couplets:
ii.​ Tercets:
iii.​ Quatrains:
d.​ What is a volta?
e.​ What is the difference between formal verse and free verse?
Formal verse: Free verse:

4.​ Figurative Language


a.​ Similes and Metaphors
i.​ What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?
Simile: Metaphor:

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?


2.​ What is the subject of the poem being compared to?
3.​ What is it saying about the subject through this comparison?
4. Figurative Language
b.​ Personification
i.​ What is personification?
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?
2.​ How does personification affect the mood of the stanza?

4. Figurative Language
c.​ Imagery
i.​ What is imagery?
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:
2.​ Original Olfactory/Smell sentence: “The platform smells bad.”
a.​ Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
3.​ Original Gustatory/Taste sentence: “My mouth tastes dry.”
a.​ Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
4.​ Original Tactile/Touch sentence: “It felt crowded in the train.”
a.​ Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:
5.​ Original Auditory/Sound sentence: “I hear the train coming!”
a.​ Revised sentence with detailed sensory imagery:

4. Figurative Language
d.​ Symbolism
i.​ What is symbolism?
ii.​ What is the difference between concrete and abstract meaning?
Concrete meaning: Abstract meaning:

iii.​ Identify and define the following important/universal symbols found in


literature using this reference sheet:
What does it abstractly symbolize/mean?

Closed vs. open door

What does it abstractly symbolize/mean?

Raven
What does it abstractly symbolize/mean?

Mist/fog

What does it abstractly symbolize/mean?

The color yellow

What does it abstractly symbolize/mean?

Hearth

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