To help you ace Poetry in Eng110 as it is very different from high school English. Tips from the top professors and students in the University of Pretoria.
General/ other
- 4 strong stresses, 3 strong stresses, 4 strong stresses, 3 strong stresses
o Tailored for someone to breathe in between
- Renaissance era
o 1400 – Italy
§ Gradually spread out in Europe
o French word à rebirth
o People started taking an interest in history & literature of Ancient Greece and Rome
o Poets were inspired by how long Latin and Greek works survived
Questions to ask after reading the poem:
1. Who is the poet?
- Poetry has different fashions
- Helps gain an idea of poem
2. What is the poem’s subject?
- Not always a deeper meaning
- Get basics first
3. What is the poem’s theme?
4. What kind of poem is this?
- What is it trying to achieve
5. What is the rhyme scheme?
6. How does the sound make you feel?
- Sound structure à rhyme
7. Look for rhyme in the middle of the poem
- Figures of speech
Things to do in an exam:
1. Read the poem slowly
2. Make sure you understand
o Break down difficult words
3. Ask questions 1-4
4. Reread poem
o Look for sound
5. Find 1 adjective to describe poem
Sound:
- Rhythm
- Metre
- Rhyme
- sound effects
- e.g.
o alliteration
o assonance
o onomatopoeia
o repetition
Sequence:
- Structure
o genre
§ e.g.
• ballad
• sonnet
• ode
1
, • elegy
• stanza
• run-on line.
o Argument
§ Narrative
§ sense unit
Language:
- Diction
- syntax
Imagery:
- Tenor
- Vehicle
- Metaphor
- Simile
- Personification
- Hyperbole
- symbol
Types of poems:
Lyric poem
- Expresses personal emotions
o Always specific mood
- Has musical quality
o Easily turned into a song
- Comes from Greek – lyre
- Short
- Usually written in 1st person
- Emotionally intense
- Types
o Elizabethan lyric
o Sonnet
o Carpe diem
o Pastoral
§ Usually written by shepherds – as they are ‘more in touch with their roots’
§ Quite political
§ Also pastoral lovers
o The elegy
§ Serious reflection
§ Sad poem
§ Written to commemorate the death of an individual
§ Comes from Greek word : Elegeia (to lament)
§ Represent a process of grieving with three parts
• Mourning
• Praise of person
• Consolation
§ Initial trochaic – usually happens
The Ballad
- 4 lines
- Rhyme is abcb/ abab
- Stresses
o 4 strong stresses in 1st & 3rd lines
o 3 strong stresses in 2nd and 4th lines
o Weak stresses can vary
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