ELEMENTS OF

POETRY (1)
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FORM
IMAGERY
MOOD/TONE
THEME
Figurative Language
What’s Freedom?

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 What Is Freedom?
Freedom is defined as:

• the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants;

• the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

 What Does Freedom Mean to You?
Write down or mind map any ideas you have about freedom.

What does freedom look like, feel like, sound like?

Share your ideas with your partner.

What is this?
How is freedom described?
What is this? It’s poetry.
How is freedom described?

simile

Metaphor

simile
Personification
 Would you like to be a poet?
Turn your ideas about freedom into figurative
language.
Examples:

Many poets use these poetic techniques in their poems to make them more
effective:

• simile (as free as a bird on its first flight);

• metaphor (freedom is a clear blue sky);

• personification (freedom opened the door for me);

Now share your own examples
 Today we are going to
talk about poetry and its
tools.
Poetry is a form of writing that uses not only
words, but also form (lines and
stanzas),patterns of sound,(rhyme, reptation,
and rhythm) as well as

figurative language and imagery to convey a

message, tell a story, or express the author’s
feelings or thoughts.

Any poem will include some or all of these

elements.
I am offering this poem
Listen to the poem
Background of “I am offering this poem”
• Popularity of “I Am Offering this Poem”: Written back in
1979, “I am Offering this Poem” is a beautiful love poem.
The writer artistically plays with words to unfold the 
beauty of love. Also, he reflects on the importance of
writing poetry, reflecting that a writer can make his
feelings immortal by transferring them to paper. It,
however, has won global adoration because of its unique
representation of love.
LET’S ANALYZE THE
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POEM STEP BY STEP.

 1- How many stanzas do we have in: I am
offering this poem?

There are four stanzas in this poem,

with each comprising a different
number of verses.
Different poetry forms
Different poetry forms
Different poetry forms
 2-What is the type of the poem?

• Free verse

• It is a type of poetry that does not contain 

patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free
verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
 Mood/Tone

The feelings the author’s word choices

give the poem.

The only other sounds the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
 3-What is the tone/mood of the poem?

• This poem has an intimate, conversational tone to

it. It mentions everyday things—like socks and
coats and houses—and it uses language that's
simple and conversational. It's as if the speaker is
actually just chatting to his lover.
 THEME:

The theme of a poem is its central or main idea.

To identify a poem’s theme, ask

yourself what ideas or insights about
life or human nature you have found in
the poem.
 4-What is the theme of the poem?

 Love, commitment, care, and the importance of writing

are the major themes of the poem. 
Point of view:
 5-What is the point of view of the poem

The speaker or poetic persona of this poem is none other than the
poet Jimmy Santiago Baca himself. He addresses this poem directly
to the readers.
 IMAGERY

Which senses does the

Poets use words that following stanza appeal
appeal to the reader’s to?
senses of sight,
sound, touch, taste, Back, he spurred like a madman,
and smell. shouting curses to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind
him and his rapier brandished high.

Sight?
Sound?
6-Find an imagery in “I’m offering this poem” ?

 “so it is a pot full of yellow corn”,

(“sight” describes how the corn is
yellow)

and “in dense trees, come knocking.”

“Sound”
FIGURATIVE Figurative language

LANGUAGE
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creates pictures by
making
comparisons.
 SIMILE

A comparison using like or as.

As light as a feather.
Sleeping like a log.
7-Find a simile in the poem? Why is it used?

1-Keep it like a warm coat

or like a pair of thick socks
By comparing his poem to a coat and a pair
of socks, the speaker suggests that the
poem is something that is protective: it's
warm and snuggly
2-tucked away like a cabin or hogan
It’s a simile to express that love is not
something you can throw away.
 METAPHOR:

Describes one thing as if it were

another.

Life is a highway.
Her eyes were diamonds. 
 Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that extends throughout

the entire poem instead of just a few
lines of the poem.
 8-Find a metaphor in the poem?

The poet has used love as an extended metaphor in the poem to show how it
stands with a person through thick and thin.”

"a pot full of yellow corn”

The poet uses the metaphor to compare love to food to say
that like food, love is something people need to survive.
it is a scarf for your head,
The poet conveys his idea that loves warmth makes you
feel protected.
 PERSONIFICATION:

Gives human characteristics to something

nonhuman.

…and the stars o’erhead

were dancing heel and toe…
Hyperbole
9- Find a hyperbole in the poem.

"all anyone needs to live“

It’s very exaggerated, saying that

the poem is all she needs to live.
 Which figures are used to describe the
following?

• My love is like a rose. • Simile

• Our love bloomed in the garden. • Metaphor

• The rose tipped its head as we

passed by.
• Personification

• Her smile was a mile wide.

• Hyperbole
 Grammar Answer key
1- To give , to wear , to live
2-Since I have nothing else to
give
3- This
4-in the corner
5-mature – yellow – lost
6- Needing direction
How to paraphrase?