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Communication & Thought

Week 2

Reading Poetry

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Today…

• Appreciate the use of poetry as a form of communication.

• Observe the characteristics of poetry.

• Understand that poetry does not have to be tightly structured.

• Develop skills in using creative writing techniques.

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Poetry defined• What is Poetry?• Poetry is a powerful form of communication.• It can be difficult to read and gain meaning from.• A completely different type of writing (and reading)

than that used by prose or fiction (stories). • It can take as long to read a short poem as it does

to read a short story. • Don't be discouraged if you don't feel you

understand a poem after a single reading; some require many readings.

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Reading Poetry• The first impulse of most readers is to look for

the meaning of the poem, and many are frustrated or disappointed when they can't find it.

• Poems may be intended to be sung, often accompanied by music; the sound and rhythm of these poems can be as important as, or even more important than, the meanings of the words themselves.

• Some poems are ironic, and seem to contradict themselves.

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Reading Poetry (cont.)• Many poems operate on several levels, so that each

time they are read, they seem to be saying something different; and some poems are highly allusive, drawing their meaning from other poems or stories, often from their relationship to those other poems.

• Poems, like music or paintings, may only hint at meanings or themes.

• Two techniques can help you to understand and appreciate poetry: – read it aloud, and – read it with a dictionary!

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The Guts of Poetry• Just like all forms of writing, poetry should have

a title, an introduction, a body and a conclusion.• A simple example:

FleasAdam

Had’em

• Poetry encourages creativity, imagination and experimentation.

• Language - usually highly compressed and figurative.

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Figures of speech• Guitarist Frank Zappa describes his love of his

instrument:

“If ever there's an obscene noise to be made on an instrument, it's going to come out of a guitar.

On a saxophone you can play sleaze. On a bass you can play balls. But on a guitar you can be truly obscene. . . Let's be realistic about this, the guitar can be the single most blasphemous device on the face of the earth. That's why I like it... The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric

guitar : now that's my idea of a good time.”

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Figures of speech• Imagery - use of words to describe something, to

create a "mental picture" of it. Eg to describe a silk cloth as water flowing down a mountain.

• Symbolism - use of words or objects to create a mental picture, that reminds you of something else. “A term, a name, or even a picture that may be familiar in daily life, yet that possesses specific connotations in addition to its conventional and obvious meaning." (Carl Jung)

• eg The flag of a country is only a piece of coloured cloth, but it reminds you of your country, and many other things about your country as well. The icons of many religions are a kind of symbol, pictures or other representations that contain special meaning.

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Using imagery & symbolism

• Contrasting poems:– Using the contrasting ideas suggested below,

write a short, 3-5 line poem (or poems) that use symbols or imagery to portray their meaning.

– True and false– Youth and old age– Boys and girls

DayAs bright and cheerful as

Children at playNight

Sparkles deep in velvet tressesSafe in folds of mother’s dresses

Downy owls in flight

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Figures of speech• Metaphors and Similes - words or pictures

used to compare one thing to something else. • A metaphor is where I say that this equals

that. Eg. “Pigeons are flying rats” meaning they eat lots of food and breed quickly and they are vermin.

• A simile is where I say that something is like something else. Eg. “Politicians are like a bunch of pigs at a trough," meaning they are selfish and greedy.

• In everyday speech we use metaphors more often than we use similes.

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Using metaphor and simile• Create a short (3-4 line poem) using metaphor and then simile using the following starting ideas:– Summer is… - Summer is like …– Wind is … - Wind is like ...– Feet are … - Feet are like …

Metaphor

spring is flowersall of brilliant coloursgrowing in flowerpots

Similespring is like moonlightshiny, bright and newglittering over fields

Fresh with silvery dew

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Figures of speech• Irony - use of words or phrases that

say something other than what we really mean.

• Eg When there is a cyclone we might say “lovely weather we are having!”

• When we see a giant tree we might say “that’s a nice stick of timber”.

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Using irony• Use the following words in a poem (or

poems) to mean the opposite of what you say:– Storm– Teacup– Bagpipe– Humming bird

Melodious!

The glorious melody of my beloved’s voice fair,Came to me through the still night air.

I stood and listened with tears streaming,As the sounds of love pored forth screaming.

And dingos howled in concerted support,With her mighty bellows and ear-shattering thought.

Oh pity those who could not a witness be,To the melodious sounds of my love’s opera in D.