Poetry’s Purpose

• Poetry is a form of
writing that is
meant to
1. entertain
2. describe
3. inform
4. persuade
Distinguishing Characteristics of Poetry
• Prose has a narrator, on the other hand,
poetry has a speaker.
– A speaker, or voice, talks to the reader. The
speaker is not necessarily the poet. It can also be
a fictional person, an animal or even a thing
Green Eggs and Ham
Do you like green eggs and ham? I would not like them here or
I do not like them, Sam-I-am. there.
I do not like green eggs and ham! I would not like them anywhere.
Would you like them here or I do so like green eggs and ham!
there? Thank you! Thank you,
Sam-I-am!
 Poetry is written in lines and stanzas
• A line is just one line of writing.
• A stanza is a group of lines separated by a
space from another group of lines.
• Read the following slide to understand the
difference between lines and stanzas.
I Love To Write Poems (title)
(First Stanza)
A line in the
I love to write Day and night
poem
What would my heart do
But cry, sigh and be blue
If I could not write

(Second Stanza)
Writing feels good
And I know it should
Who could have knew A stanza
That what I do
Is write, write, write-
Unknown Author
Sound Devices of Poetry
A. Alliteration is the repetition of consonant
sounds at the beginning of words.
B. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds
within a line of poetry.
C. Onomatopoeia is the use of a word or
phrase, such as “hiss” or “buzz” that imitates or
suggests the sound of what it describes.

BOTH POETRY AND PROSE USE SOUND DEVICES

D. Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed
vowel sound and any succeeding sounds in two
or more words.
• Internal rhyme occurs within a line of
poetry.
• End rhyme occurs at the end of lines.
• Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes
that may be designated by assigning a
different letter of the alphabet to each new
rhyme

BOTH POEMS AND PROSE CAN USE RHYME

BUT IT IS MOST CLOSLEY CONNECTED TO POEMS
• Imagery is descriptive language that applies
to the senses – sight, sound, touch, taste, or
smell. Some images appeal to more than one
sense.