Thursday, May 31, 2012

Meter

Definition: The rhythmic structure or patterns of lines in a verse.

Example: Iambic pentameter (5 iambs, 10 syllables)

  • That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

  • trochaic tetrameter (4 trochees, 8 syllables)
  • Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers
anapestic trimeter (3 anapests, 9 syllables)
  • And the sound | of a voice | that is still
dactylic hexameter (6 dactyls, 17 syllables; a trochee replaces the last dactyl)
  • This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlocks
Significance: The significance of meter is great because it allows you to read the poem in the correct beat and pattern. Meter gives the poem a nice rhythm. 

Rhyme

Definition: A poem or verse that has the same sound at the end of each line.

Example:
Take my nice, new shiny nickel
Sell me that juicy, garlic pickle!

In this poem, its obvious that nickel and pickle are the rhyming words.

Significane: Rhyme is just as important as rhythm. Rhyme makes it easier to memorize poems. Rhyme also makes poems more fun to read.

Rhythm

Definition: A repeated pattern of sound or motion. Sometimes each line will have the same syllables. 


Example: 
"When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,When I'm feeling sad."

Significance: The significance of rhythm is good because it tells us how to read the poem. Rhythm also tells us how fast we should read the poem. 


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Onomatopoeia

Definition: Using words to describe sounds.

Example: Snap Crackle Pop!

Significance: The significance of onomatopoea is great because it enables you to hear what's happening.

Personification

Definition: Giving human traits, characteristics, and abilities to anything not human.

Example:
The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky.

Significance: The significance of personification is good because it can make inanimate objects more lively. Personification can make stories more interesting and funny. Personification also helps us relate more to the object that is being personified.

Imagery

Definition: Visually descriptive writing that uses one of the five senses.

Example:

The turquoise pool rose up to meet us,
its slide a silver afterthought down which
we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles.
We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy.

Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted
up from ladder rungs across the fern-cool
lip of rim. Afternoon. Oiled and sated,
we sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete,


danced to the low beat of "Duke of Earl".
Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles,
we came to the counter where bees staggered
into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled


cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses,
shared on benches beneath summer shadows.
Cherry. Elm. Sycamore. We spread our chenille
blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears,


mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.

In this poem, I can smell chlorine, cotton candy, and sunscreen. I also see girls having fun at the pool.

Signficance: The signficance of imagery is great because it allows you to clearly see, hear, smell, touch, and taste what's going on in the poem. Imagery helps you clearly picture and imagine the poem in your mind.

Simile

Definition: Comparing two differnt objects using "like" or "as"

Example:
As delicate as a flower

Signficance: The signifiance of similies are good because it lets you use creativity to compare diferent things. Using similes allows you to have a clearer understand of the comparison. Similes also make comparisons fun to write.