Elements in Children's Poetry
1. Sounds in Poetry
Rhyme: correspondence in terminal sounds of units of composition or utterance (as two or more words or lines of verse)
Rhythm: in poetry, the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features, usually features of sound.
- Metre: iambic, trochaic, spondaic, anapestic, dactylic,
- number of foot in a line: monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter
Poetic Devices
- Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginnings of several
words in a line of poetry.
- Assonance: also called vowel rhyme. Rhyme in which the same
vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables
of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence.
- Consonance: repetition of same consonant sound.
- Onomatopoeia: use of words that sound like the noises they describe
Rhythm: in poetry, the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features, usually features of sound.
- Metre: iambic, trochaic, spondaic, anapestic, dactylic,
- number of foot in a line: monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter
Poetic Devices
- Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginnings of several
words in a line of poetry.
- Assonance: also called vowel rhyme. Rhyme in which the same
vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables
of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence.
- Consonance: repetition of same consonant sound.
- Onomatopoeia: use of words that sound like the noises they describe
2. Meanings in Poetry
Denotation and Connotation: dictionary meanings and suggested associations
Simile: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to
something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance,
as in “A mighty fortress is our God.
Allusion: a reference to something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person, place, or event from history or literature.
Symbols: something that stands for something else. Something that has a deeper meaning and/or value than the materials it is made out of.
Exaggeration: the obvious stretching of the truth.
Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or
abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
Imagery: figurative description or illustration
Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
Theme: a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic
Tone: the attitude the writer takes toward the audience, the subject, or a character.
Source:
Dictionary.com. 2012. http://www.dictionary.com (24 November 2012).
Simile: a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to
something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance,
as in “A mighty fortress is our God.
Allusion: a reference to something with which the reader is likely to be familiar, such as a person, place, or event from history or literature.
Symbols: something that stands for something else. Something that has a deeper meaning and/or value than the materials it is made out of.
Exaggeration: the obvious stretching of the truth.
Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.” Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or
abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
Imagery: figurative description or illustration
Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
Theme: a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic
Tone: the attitude the writer takes toward the audience, the subject, or a character.
Source:
Dictionary.com. 2012. http://www.dictionary.com (24 November 2012).
* Discussion
What elements of poetry do you notice in the poems we read for today? What are the poetic elements that really appeal to children?