Poetry Terms Handbook

By: Mrs. Houghland

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Elements Of

Poetry

Personification

• Words that give an animal, thing, or idea human qualities.

• Ex. The wind screamed as it blew by the house.

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Imagery• Poets choose words carefully

to create strong images or feelings. One of the elements of poetry is imagery. Imagery is defined as concrete details that appeal to the sense of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste, or to internal feelings.

• Example: Skater Boy lesson. What images were created from the lyrics in the song?

Hyperbole• An exaggeration!

Hyperbole helps to emphasize your writing by making a point through extreme exaggeration.

• Example: I almost died laughing.

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Simile:• Writers use similes to add

excitement and interest to their stories and poems. Similes describe something. Writers use similes as a comparison between two unlikely things using like or as to make a connection between the two things being compared.

• Example: “Life is like a box of chocolates.”________ is compared to_______

Metaphor:• Writers use metaphors to make

their writing more interesting. Metaphors compare how two things are different in most ways, but alike in one way. However, a metaphor does not use like or as, it states that something is something else. An exaggeration.

• Example: “She was a mess waiting to happen.” The metaphor compares ________ to a ________ because _____________.

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Alliteration:• Repeated consonant

sounds at the beginning of words or within words. (Tongue twisters).

• Example: “Maggie made my mango

milkshake.”

Onomatopoeia:• The use of words

whose sounds suggest their meaning or use.

• Example: Swoosh! Bop! Wham!

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How A

Poem works.

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Meter• The measured

arrangement of words in poetry that identifies the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Rhythm• A series of stressed and

unstressed sounds.

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Rhyme Scheme• The similarity of end

sounds using alphabetical lettering that changes

with each new sound.

• Ex. The Rhyme scheme for a Sonnet is:

• ABAB• CDCD

EFEF• GG

End Rhyme• End words that share a

sound.

• Ex. Hopping bunnies and little

moles,Both can make their homes in

holes.

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Stanza• A division of a poem,

similar to a pararagraph.

Refrain• A phrase or verse repeated

at intervals throughout a song or poem.

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Types of

Poems

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Lyric

Poetry that expresses subjective thoughts and feelings often in songlike form.Example: Skater Boy, by: Avril Lavigne.

Your poem!• Write your own Lyric in this

space.

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Ballad• A narrative poem often of folk

origin intended to be sung. Simple stanzas usually with a recurrent refrain.

• Example: Verses of four lines with a

rhyming pattern: • Abab• Abbb• Acbc• Repetition often found in

ballads. Lines can be used over again with a one word change.

Your PoemWrite your own Ballad here.

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Concrete Poem• Create a concrete poem by

arranging words pictorially on a page or by combining art and writing. Words, phrases, and sentences can be written in the shape of an object, or word pictures can be inserted within poems that are written left to right and top to bottom on a sheet of paper.

• Example: “George Washington Monument”

Your poem.• Write your poem here.

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LimmerickA humorous nonsensicalverse of five lines withaabba rhymescheme. Example:There was a young lady whose

eyes were unique as to the color

and size when she opened them wide. People all turned aside, and started away in surprise.

Your Poem!• Write your own Limerick

here.

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OdeAn ode is a long lyric that is

deepin feeling and rich in poeticDevices and imagery.

Example: Ode to the Seventh Grade

Your Poem!Write your own Ode here.

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SonnetA 14-line poem, usually iniambic pentameter with fixedrhyme. Usually a love poem.Imabic: Stress is on the

second syllable. Example: Good-bye!Pentameter: 10 syllables per

line.Example: Oh how I love thee let me count the ways.

Rhyme scheme: abab/cdcd/efef/gg

Your poem!• Write your own Sonnet

here.

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Narrative Poem• Poems that tell a story.

Your Poem!Create your Concrete poem

here.