LOP - The Language of Poetry Module Overview
The Language of Poetry
Introduction
The AP Language and Composition exam does not require students to compose poetry or to be versed in literary techniques. Nonetheless, the skills necessary for understanding poetry are analogous to the techniques necessary for the AP Language exam. Critical and creative thinking, close and thoughtful reading, expressive and precise writing all combine in a student-focused on poetry and successful in AP Language. The poems in this module are chosen to present a variety of examples of poetic language. The interaction between structure, sound, and meaning in language as well as a brief history of poetry as an art form are the core concepts.
Essential Questions
- How can the analytical skills needed to read poetry transfer to other genres of writing?
- What is unique about poetic writing?
- Does sound matter when writing prose?
Through the Looking Glass
In any form of written communication, there is a tension between form and freedom. Conventions demand a certain "look" to a letter. Artists, such as poets, play with this tension to create a dialogue between the expected and the unexpected. Poetry can be written in the confines of a strict structure or stretch the very boundaries of language. Even when a poet employs their creative license they are responding to a set of rules that dictate meter, rhythm, rhyme, form, and grammar. Deviations from the norm open the door to new understandings of art and hopefully life. Often poets want the reader to think sideways or step out of the realm of limitations. Poetry can be daunting. Poetry often trades clarity for complexity. Nonetheless, the goal is the same as all types of written expression: communication.
Reading and Viewing Assignment: "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll
Read the poem, then listen to the recording in the following audio of "Jabberwocky," an experimental poem by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.
Click here to read "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. Links to an external site.
Key Terms
Sound
- Alliteration: The repetition of sounds at the beginning or within words.
- Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds.
- Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds.
- Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like what they mean.
- Meter The cadence of stressed syllables.
Meaning
- Connotation: Emotions, ideas, or nuances associated with a word.
- Denotation: The definition of a word.
- Diction: Word choice.
- Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration.
- Metaphor: An implied comparison between two unlike things.
- Personification: When human qualities are given to inanimate or nonhuman objects.
- Simile: A direct comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as."
Structure
- Enjambment: A line break that adds to the meaning to a poem.
- Form: The organization of the poem; the historical pattern of a type of poem.
- Stanza: A segment of a poem separated from other lines.
RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.