Poetry Techniques PDF

**POETRY** - a unique kind of literary experience expressed through diction, images, figures of speech, sounds, etc. - every poem can be paraphrased - paraphrase -- prose a restatement of the central ideas of the poem in your own language 1. DICTION: - a poet\'s choice of words...

**POETRY** - a unique kind of literary experience expressed through diction, images, figures of speech, sounds, etc. - every poem can be paraphrased - paraphrase -- prose a restatement of the central ideas of the poem in your own language 1. DICTION: - a poet\'s choice of words - levels of diction: - formal -- a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language - middle -- based on a language used by most educated people - informal -- based on conversational languages; includes: dialect (spoken by a group of people from different geographical places), jargon (defined by a trade or a profession) - poetic diction -- the use of elevated language over ordinary language 2. WORD CHOICE, WORD ORDER, AND TONE: - denotations -- the literal dictionary meanings of a word (e.g. bird= a feathered animal) - connotation -- associations and implications of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences to achieve particular effects - tone -- a poet\'s attitude towards the subject, the mood created by all the elements in a poem 3. IMAGES/IMAGERY: - a language that addresses the senses - visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile images 4. FIGURES OF SPEECH: - a way of saying something in terms of something else - simile -- explicit comparison between two things made by using words such as: like, as, than, seems, etc. - metaphor -- when a word or expression that in literal usage denotes one kind of thing is applied to a distinctly different kind of thing without comparison - pun -- play on words, one word has more than one meaning or sounds like another word - synecdoche -- a part of something is used to signify the whole - metonymy -- something closely associated with a subject is substituted for it - personification -- the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman things - hyperbole -- exaggeration - understatement -- saying less than is intended - paradox -- a statement that initially appears to be self-contradictory but turns out to make sense with closer inspection - oxymoron -- a condensed form of paradox in which 2 contradictory words are used together 5. SOUNDS: - onomatopoeia -- the use of a word that resembles the sound it denotes (e.g. quack) - alliteration -- the repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginnings of nearby words or within them - assonance -- the repetitions of the same vowel sound in nearby words (e.g. time and tide) - the effect: - euphony -- lines that are pleasant to hear - cacophony -- lines that are discordant and difficult to pronounce 6. RHYIME: - the repetition of the last stressed vowel and of the speech sounds following that vowel - types: a. end rhyme -- occurs at the end of the line b. internal rhyme -- occurs within the verse-line c. masculine line -- consists of a single one-stressed syllable d. feminine line -- consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable e. terza rima -- an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, etc. 7. POETIC FORMS: - a poem\'s overall structure or shape - 2 types: 1. fixed form poetry -- a poem that can be categorized by the pattern of its meter, rhymes, and stanzas 2. free verse/open form poetry -- poems that do not conform to the established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza - stanza -- a grouping of lines, set off by a space, which usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme; types: a. couplet -- 2 lines that usually rhyme and have the same meter b. tercet -- a 3-line stanza c. quatrain -- a 4-line stanza 8. A FIXED FORM POETRY: - sonnet -- 14 lines usually written in iambic pentameter - a foot -- usually consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables - the Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet -- 2 quatrains + 2 tercets; common rhyme patterns: cde cde, cdc dcd - the English (Shakespearean) sonnet -- 3 quatrains + 1 couplet; the rhyme pattern: abab cdcd efef gg - villanelle -- 19 lines of any length divided into 6 stanzas: 5 tercets and a concluding quatrain (5\*3+4) - sestina -- 39 lines of any length divided into six 6-line stanzas and a 3-line concluding stanza called an envoy (6\*6+3) - epigram -- a brief, pointed, and witty poem usually written in rhyming couplets - limerick -- a light and humorous poem consisting of 5 lines rhyming aabba; lines 1,2 and 5 contain 3 feet, while lines 3 and 4 contain 2 feet - elegy -- a lyric poem written to commemorate someone who\'s dead or a serious meditative poem produced by the speaker\'s melancholy thoughts - ode -- characterized by a serious topic (truth, art, freedom, the meaning of life, etc.), a formal tone, and no prescribed pattern 9. OPEN FORM POETRY: - prose poem -- written in prose - picture poem -- a poem whose shape resembles what a poem describes - found poem -- an unintentional poem discovered in a non-poetic context (conversation, news story, etc.) - parody -- a humorous imitation of another, usually, serious work 10. WORKS DONE: 1. Robert Francis -- "Catch" 2. Philip Larkin -- "A story of reading habits" 3. Robert Herrick -- "To the virgins, to make much of time" 4. Andrew Marwell -- "To his coy mistress" 5. Richard Wilbur -- "A late Aubade" 6. Robert Burns -- "A red, red rose" 7. Sylvia Plath -- "Mirror" 8. Robert Frost -- "Acquainted by the night" 9. Edwin Arlington Robinson -- "Richard Cory" 10. William Shakespeare -- "Shall I compare thee to a summer\'s day?" 11. Elizabeth Bishop -- "Sestina" 12. Theodore Roethke -- "Elegy for Jane" 13. Allen Ginsberg -- "A supermarket in California" **DRAMA** - the form of composition designed for performance in the theater, in which actors take the roles of the characters, perform the indicated action and utter the written dialogue - the alternative name -- play - poetic drama -- written in verse - closet drama -- written in dramatic form but intended to be read and not to be performed (dialogues, stage directions, and indicated settings) 1. STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF DRAMA: - act -- the main division of a full-length play, the end of which is indicated by lowering a curtain or tunning up the houselights - scene -- the main subdivision of a play - stage directions -- the playwright\'s instructions about how the actors are to move and behave - dialogue -- the verbal exchange between characters with the main plot - subplot -- a secondary action that reinforces or contrasts with the main plot - exposition -- background information - conflict, protagonist, antagonist - foil -- a character whose behavior and values contrasts with the protagonist\'s - theme -- the main idea of the work 2. THE PYRAMIDAL PLOT PATTERN: - 3 essential parts: a. rising action -- the complication creates conflict for the protagonist b. climax -- the action reaches the final crisis c. falling action -- the tensions are diminished in the resolution of the play\'s conflicts and complications 3. TYPES OF DRAMA: - comedy -- materials are settled in order to interest and amuse us; types: - romantic comedy - satiric comedy - comedy of manners - farce - melodrama -- play written to be produced to music - problem play -- the author puts forward the situation the protagonist faces as a representative example of a contemporary social problem - tragic comedy -- intermingles the standard characters, subject matters, and plot forms of tragedy and comedy - tragedy -- dramatic representations of serious actions that eventuate in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist; elements: - tragic hero/heroine -- someone regarded as extraordinary rather than typical: a great man or woman brought from happiness to agony - hamartia -- an internal tragic flaw or a wrong act - catharsis -- purgation of the emotions of pity or fear - reversal (peripeteia) -- the point when the hero\'s fortunes turn in an unexpected direction - dramatic (tragic) irony -- a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what they understand to be true 4. GREEK DRAMA: - developed from religious festivals that honored Dionysis the god of wine and fertility - first performed at agoras (main squares) - then held at the amphitheaters that could accommodate more than 14 000 people - important parts of amphitheaters: - orchestra -- the stage or dancing place - chorus -- provided necessary background information - skene -- a stage building serving as a dressing room - deus ex machina -- a device used to solve problems beyond character\'s ability to resolve - emphasized words more than physical action - no female actors - 5 parts: 1. prologue -- the opening speech or dialogue giving the exposition 2. parodos -- the chorus\' perspective on what is learned in the prologue 3. episodia -- dialogues are a heated debate dramatizing the play\'s conflicts 4. stasimon -- a choral ode in which the chorus comments and interprets the preceding dialogue 5. exodus -- the last scene in which the resolution occurs 5. DRAMA FROM 400. TO 1500.: - there are almost no records of dramatic productions because they were regarded as subversive by the Church - in the 10th century, the Church incorporated dramatized portions of the Gospels into the Mass - types of religious plays: - mystery plays -- dramatized stories from the bible (e.g. The 2nd Shepherd\'s Play) - miracle plays -- based on the lives of the saints (e.g. St Mary Magdalene) - morality plays -- allegorical stories in which virtues and vices are personified to teach humanity how to achieve salvation (e.g. Everyman) - trade guilds replaced the church as the play\'s sponsors (the stage moved outside of the church; scenery and costumes; addressed worldly concerns -- secular drama) 6. SHAKESPEARE\'S/ELIZABETHAN THEATER (1558.-1603.): - an enclosed space with controlled access (the courtyards of inns and taverns) - audiences willing to pay for entertainment - more experienced actors and playwrights - frequent changes or repertoire 7. THE GLOBE: - resembled the courtyards but accommodated more people -- up to 2500 - the structure: - an enclosed yard, partially roofed over - the interior walls -- 3 galleries of series - the pit -- the area in front of the stage where "groundlings" (the poor) stand - the central stage - scenery and props -- limited - costuming -- elaborate - sound effects -- elaborate - no women actors -- mostly young boys 8. THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS: - aside -- a speech directed only to the audience (makes the audience privy to a character\'s thoughts) - soliloquy -- a speech delivered while an actor is alone on the stage (reveals a character\'s state of mind) - comic relief -- a humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work 9. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: - 1564.-1616. - actor, writer, and manager for the Lord Chamberlain\'s Men company and the Globe - wrote plays and poetry 10. SHAKESPEARE\'S PLAYS: - a history play -- British play based mainly on Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1578) -- Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, King John, Richard II, Richard III - romantic comedy -- lovers whose lives are complicated by disapproving parents, etc.; e.g. As You Like It, A Midsummer Night\'s Dream, etc. - tragedies -- Hamlet, Macbeth, etc. 11. FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL DRAMA: - developed from the Renaissance revival of classical Greek and Roman literature - its development was supported by Louise XIV, a generous patron of all kinds of art at his court at Versailles - the most important playwrights of the era: Moliere, Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine - the purpose of neoclassical drama -- to teach and to please 12. THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS OF NEOCLASSICAL DRAMA: - emphasis on the classical unities of time, place, and action - the unity of time -- a play must take place within 24h - the unity of place -- the setting must be restricted to one location - the unity of action: - a play must develop only one line of action - comedy and tragedy must be kept separate - the unities reflect ideals or order and restraint 13. NEOCLASSICAL THEATER: - enclosed by a roof protecting an auditorium - the picture-frame stage as a room with one of its walls removed - the audience watched the play either from the galleries or from the seats in front of the stage - the proscenium arch separated the audience from the actors - the painted scenery - elaborate costuming - women were allowed to act 14. REALISTIC THEATER: - the picture-frame stage reduces the setting of the room - scenery and props create an illusion of reality - settings enriched by technical effects - the acting -- actors address each other; no direct speeches toward the audience; acting within the setting, not just in front of it 15. DRAMA AND THEATER IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY: - dominant genres: 1. melodrama -- a play combining love stories and action-packed plots (entertaining and comforting to the audience\'s sense of justice) 2. realistic drama -- written during and after the lost quarter of the 19th century; attempts to create the appearance of life as it is actually experienced; middle and lower class characters; everyday language; focus on everyday life; themes: love, marriage, work, etc.; representatives: Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, etc. (developed the genre of problem play) 3. naturalistic drama -- human beings as part of nature and subjects to its laws; characters as victims overwhelmed by internal and external forces; representatives: Emile Zola (his play Therese Raquin) 16. EXPERIMENTAL TRENDS IN DRAMA AND THEATER OF THE 20TH CENTURY: - the symbolist drama -- emphasis on a subjective, emotional response to life (representatives: Maurice Maeterlinck, Frederico Garcia Lorca, etc.); its action was too vague and its language too cryptic - expressionist drama -- focus on the internal lives of characters and deliberate distortion of reality (August Strindberg) - the epic theater of Bertolt Brecht -- attempt to create distance between characters and the audience to alert the audience to important social problems that could be overlooked if the audience identified too much with the characters (The Caucasian Chalk Circle) - the theater of the absurd -- response to the 20th century\'s loss of faith in reason, religion, and life; emphasis on chaotic, irrational forces; human beings as the victims rather than the makers of the world (Eugene Ionesco, etc.) 17. WORKS DONE: - Sophocles -- "Oedipus rex" - William Shakespeare -- "Hamlet" - Arthur Miller -- „Death of the "Salesman"