1.3 Poetry and Figurative Language
Explore poetry and learn to understand and use figurative language.
45 min
2 oppgaver
RhymeRhythmAlliterationSimileMetaphorPersonification
Din fremgang i kapitlet
0 / 2 oppgaver
Understanding Poetry
Poetry uses language in creative ways to express ideas, emotions, and images.
Unlike prose, poetry often:
- Uses fewer words but more meaning
- Plays with sound and rhythm
- Uses figurative language extensively
- Breaks normal grammar rules
Sound Devices in Poetry
Rhyme: Words that sound alike
- End rhyme: at the end of lines (cat/hat)
- Internal rhyme: within a line
- End rhyme: at the end of lines (cat/hat)
- Internal rhyme: within a line
Rhythm: The beat or pattern of stressed syllables
Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the start
- "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"
Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds
- "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain"
Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like what they mean
- buzz, crash, whisper, murmur
Figurative Language
Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as"
- "She runs like the wind"
- "She runs like the wind"
Metaphor: Direct comparison
- "Life is a journey"
Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things
- "The sun smiled down on us"
Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration
- "I've told you a million times"
Oxymoron: Contradictory terms together
- "deafening silence," "bittersweet"
✏️Analyzing a Poem
Analyze this poem by Robert Frost:
The Road Not Taken (excerpt)
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Form:
- Rhyme scheme: ABAAB
- Regular rhythm creates a thoughtful, measured pace
- Rhyme scheme: ABAAB
- Regular rhythm creates a thoughtful, measured pace
Imagery:
- "yellow wood" - suggests autumn, change, perhaps the later stage of life
- "bent in the undergrowth" - the future is unclear, we can't see where choices lead
Figurative language:
- Extended metaphor: The roads represent choices in life
- The fork in the road = a decision point
Theme:
- The difficulty of making choices
- We can never know what would have happened if we chose differently
Tone: Reflective, slightly melancholic
📝Oppgave 1
Identify the figurative language:
a
"Her smile was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day."
b
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
c
"The autumn leaves danced in the wind."
📝Oppgave 2
Write your own poem (10-15 lines) about a season or a place. Include:
a
At least one simile
b
At least one metaphor
c
At least one example of alliteration
d
Vivid imagery that appeals to at least two senses