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Poetry Elements and Devices

Jun 14, 2025

Overview

This lecture introduced the key elements, techniques, and literary devices used in poetry, focusing on sound devices and rhyme schemes, and included interactive activities and a creative assignment.

Introduction to Poetry

  • Poetry is an art form using language to express messages or emotions through meaning, rhythm, and sound.
  • Common associations with poetry include rhyme and sound.

Elements of Poetry: Sound

  • Sound in poetry refers to devices that add musicality, melody, and rhythm to poems.
  • Rhyme is the similarity of sounds in the final syllables of two or more words.
  • Rhyme is used to create mental images and add meaning to lines or poems.

Rhyme Scheme

  • A rhyme scheme is the pattern of sounds repeating at the end of each line or stanza.
  • Labeled with alphabet letters; identical rhymes get the same letter.
  • Common examples: AABB, ABAB, AABBA, etc.
  • Practice was done by labeling rhyme schemes from various poems, such as "Horton Hears a Who" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

Literary Devices: Repetition

  • Repetition emphasizes ideas by repeating words or phrases.
  • Types of repetition include:
    • Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds (e.g., "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers").
    • Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds with different consonant sounds (e.g., "I made my way to the lake").
    • Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or end of words (e.g., "Mike likes his new bike").

Practice Activity

  • Students classified lines as examples of alliteration, assonance, or consonance.

Key Terms & Definitions

  • Poetry — Literary art form expressing ideas/emotions through rhythm, sound, and meaning.
  • Rhyme — Similarity in final syllable sounds of two or more words.
  • Rhyme Scheme — The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines.
  • Alliteration — Repetition of initial consonant sounds in words.
  • Assonance — Repetition of vowel sounds within non-rhyming words.
  • Consonance — Repetition of consonant sounds at the middle or end of words.
  • Repetition — Using the same words or phrases to emphasize an idea.

Action Items / Next Steps

  • Write a 4-line poem with an ABAB rhyme scheme.
  • Use at least one sound device (alliteration, assonance, or consonance).
  • Post your poem on Facebook with the class hashtag for a chance to be featured next week.