Tone

Definition: the attitude you feel is in the poem, or the mood that was created for the reader.

Example:

"Problems"

2 and 2 are 4.
4 and 4 are 8.

But what would happen
If the last 4 was late?

And how would it be
If one 2 was me?

Or if the first 4 was you
Divided by 2?

~Langston Hughes

* The tone of this poem is satirical and playful.

Significance: The tone of a poem make the readers feel the mood that the poet wanted them to feel. Tones can be happy or tragic, sad or joking, but either way the reader feels something from the poem, which is very important. The attitude of the poem corresponds with the meaning too.

 

 

Significance: The tone of a poem make the readers feel the mood that the poet wanted them to feel. Tones can be happy or tragic, sad or joking, but either way the reader feels something from the poem, which is very important. The attitude of the poem corresponds with the meaning too.

Interpretation

Definition: the explanation of the meaning of the poem.

Example:

 Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this and nothing more."
~ Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

( You can interpret from this stanza that a man is sleeping in the middle of the night when suddenly, he hears a tapping on his door.) 

Significance: The interpretation of a poem may be the most important of what you get from reading it. Understanding what the poem is telling you and the explanation is necessary if you want to truly enjoy it. A poem with no meaning, nothing you can interpret from it, is not a good poem.

Methaphor/Extended Metaphor

Definition: a comparison of objects or actions that is not literally applicable, often because it is an exaggeration. An extended metaphor is more than one metaphor in a stanza.

Example: Light blossomed from the Sun, as sky met sea, and the world exploded with colors. 

Significance: Metaphors and extended metaphors are used in poetry to connect with the reader on a more personal level. This makes the poem more interesting and adds more style to the writing. The human brain makes sense of metaphors automatically, so poets use this literary device to help the reader understand.

Speaker

Definition: the person who is telling the poem from their perspective.

Example:

 Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I rise.

~Maya Angelou

(In this case, the speaker can be anybody, but most likely it is the poet.)

Significance: The difference of the speaker and the poet is very important. The poet is not always the speaker. The poet may be writing from the perspective of a family member, friend, or even a complete stranger! The speaker is also the narrator of the poem.

Symbol

Definition: a representation of something else.

Example: The Apple Company logo symbolizes the apple that fell on Newton's head which lead to the discovery of gravity. Also it represents taking a "byte" out of the apple of knowledge.

Significance: Symbolism in poetry is important because it communicates the meaning of the words. Metaphors and similes are symbols, and they make the poem more thoughtful.This makes the poem more 3-D and interesting to read.

Couplet

Definition: A pair of lines in a poem with rhyming end words.

Example: Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow;

That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow

~Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare

Significance: Couplets are a simple rhyme scheme that still counts as poetry. Rhyme and idea are very close in the two lines.

Stanza

Definition: a group of lines in a unit of a poem.

Example: I think it was raining from my basement room;

But basements make for faraway ears;

 And so many things can sound like rain.

I still think it was rain.
~Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Significance: Stanzas seperate ideas in a poem, it is what makes poems poetry instead of paragraphs of writing. Stanzas are like paragraphs in poetry.