Poetry Terms/Definitions
Imagery-when an author describes something with such vivid detail that you can form a picture (or image) of it in your mind
Simile- a comparison between two unlike things (two nouns) with the use of like or as Ex. The girls were like two peas in a pod.
Metaphor- a comparison between two unlike things (two nouns) without the use of like or as Ex. The giants steps were thunder when he approached Jack.
Personification- when human characteristics are given to inhuman objects Ex. The flowers danced in the breeze.
Rhyme scheme- when lines of poetry are lettered based on the sound of the last word of each line. (the END RHYME) Ex. ababcc:
For oft, when on my couch I lie A In vacant or in pensive mood, B They flash upon that inward eye A Which is the bliss of solitude; B And then my heart with pleasure fills, C And dances with the daffodils. C
Onomatopoeia- is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes. Ex. buzz, flip-flop, ding-dong, crash, boom
Hyperbole- an excessive exaggeration Ex. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
Alliteration- the repetition of consonant sounds in poetry Ex. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Assonance- the repetition of vowel sounds in poetry Ex. Boom, moon, loon, swoon, typhoon
Rhythm- the beat or tempo of a poem
Ex. The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea-sands damp and brown The traveller hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The sound or beat of the poem reminds you of the sound of the tide rolling in and out.
Mood- the feeling that one gets when reading a poem (or work of literature) This can be a positive or negative feeling; i.e. scare, happy, sad, anxious, excited, angry, etc.
Internal Rhyme - internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs in a single line of poetry Ex. Jack Spratt could eat no fat The cat sat on the mat Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard O Frabjous Day! Kalloo Kallay! Simple Simon met a pieman The crazy moose is loose in the caboose
MODEL/SAMPLE FOR Analyzing a Song: Favorite Song Project
Step 1: THE LYRICS. Copy and Paste the lyrics to one of your favorite songs HERE. Make sure you include the song title and the songwriter’s name at the top of the lyrics. You can ALSO include the link to the YouTube video of your song here so that I can listen to it (this is optional).
Cruel Crazy Beautiful World By Johnny Clegg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkED-k-6OCk
(Verse 1) You got to wash with the crocodile in the river You got to swim with the sharks in the sea You got to live with the crooked politician Trust those things that you can never see Ayeye ayeye Jesse mfana (Jesse boy) ayeye ayeye
(Verse 2) You got to trust your lover when you go away Keep on believing tomorrow brings a better day Sometimes you smile while you’re crying inside And just once you turn away while the truth is shining bright Ayeye ayeye Jesse mfana ayeye ayeye
(Chorus) It's a cruel crazy beautiful world Every day you wake up I hope it's under a blue sky It's a cruel crazy beautiful world One day when you wake up I will have to say goodbye (say goodbye) It's your world so live in it! (Goodbye) It’s your world so live in it!
(Verse 3) Beyond the door, strange cruel beautiful years lie waiting for you It kills me to know you won't escape loneliness, Maybe you’ll lose hope too Ayeye ayeye Jesse mfana ayeye ayeye
(Chorus) It's a cruel crazy beautiful world Every day you wake up I hope it's a blue, blue sky It's a cruel crazy beautiful world One day when you wake up I will have to say goodbye (Say goodbye) It's your world so live in it! (Goodbye) It’s your world so live in it!
(Verse 4) When I feel your small body close to mine I feel weak and strong at the same time So few years to give you wings to fly Show you the stars to guide your ship by
It's a cruel crazy beautiful world Every day you wake up I hope it's under a blue sky It's a cruel crazy beautiful world One day when you wake up I will have to say goodbye (Say goodbye) It's your world so live in it! (Goodbye) It’s your world so live in it! Step 2: THE IMAGE IN THE SONG. What do you picture as you listen to the lyrics? Insert an IMAGE here that best shows what you picture when you listen to this song. You have 2 options for putting your image in the document.
Option 1: DRAW YOUR IMAGE on a separate sheet of paper, then take a picture of it and insert the picture of your image here.
Option 2: Find an image online or choose one of your own photos that best represents what this song makes you think of and insert the image here.
Step 3: ANALYZE THE LYRICS. Answer each of the following questions using your favorite song lyrics.
1. What is the song about? (What is the story in the song?)
This song is about how life is sometimes really a struggle, but that there is always hope if we choose to live with hope. The song writer, Johnny Clegg, wrote this song for his son Jesse when he was born, so it’s about a father telling his son about the cruelty in the world, and wishing his son didn’t have to face any struggle, but hoping that his son will always see the good in life. He is trying to give his son advice about how to live his best life. 2. What is the theme (the main idea) of the song? Which line(s) from the song best reflect that theme? You have to include a line from the song in your answer, CITED PROPERLY.
The theme of this song is that no matter how awful the world seems sometimes, we have to keep believing in the positive and choose to make the best of things. As it says in the song we have to “Keep on believing tomorrow brings a better day” (Clegg 7), because, as he writes to his son “It’s your world so live in it” (Clegg 15).
3. As we have learned this year, writers often use Figurative Language to create imagery and meaning. We’ve learned about metaphors, similes, personification and symbols, which are all types of figurative language that writers use. Find at least 1 example of figurative language in your song (a symbol, metaphor, simile or personification) and quote it here, cited properly. Then explain how this example of figurative language helps us understand the theme of the song.
In the chorus it states, “Every day you wake up I hope it’s under a blue sky” (Clegg 12). Waking up to a blue sky is a metaphor for starting each day with a positive attitude. The father is hoping that life will be good to his son, and that even when it’s hard, his son will keep a positive attitude.
4. We have also been learning that tone is a writer’s attitude towards the topic. What tone do you hear in the singer’s voice? (Bitter, Happy, Angry, Sarcastic, Mellow, Serious, etc.)
I hear a hopeful and optimistic tone in this song.
Quote one line (cited properly) from the song lyrics that best creates that tone here:
The line that best creates a hopeful tone is “It’s a cruel, crazy beautiful world / Every day you wake up I hope it’s under the blue sky” (Clegg 11-12).
5. A stanza in a poem is the group of lines that belong together – often there is a space between each stanza. In a song, these are called the verses and one of the stanzas that is repeated in the song is called the chorus. Choose 1 stanza from your song and copy/paste it here, then answer the two questions that follow.
(Verse 4) When I feel your small body close to mine I feel weak and strong at the same time So few years to give you wings to fly Show you the stars to guide your ship by
5a. How many lines does this stanza have? 4
5b. Rhyme Scheme is the way the lines of the song rhyme (sound the same) at the END of each line. What is the rhyme scheme in the stanza you chose? (Make sure you look at the example project if you don’t know how to label a rhyme scheme.)
The rhyme scheme in this stanza is aabb because “mine” rhymes with “time” and “fly” rhymes with “by” so line 1 and 2 rhyme with each other and line 3 and 4 rhyme with each other. That’s why you use aabb to show the rhyme scheme of this stanza.
6. Internal rhyme is when two or more words rhyme with each other in the same line of the song. Find one example of internal rhyme in your song and quote it here (cited properly). If you can’t find any internal rhyme, just write that here. But MOST good song writers include it somewhere in the song!
“Maybe you’ll lose hope, too” (Clegg 19) is an example of internal rhyme because “you” “lose” and “too” all rhyme with each other.
7. Alliteration is when two or more words in the same line of the song start with the same consonant sound. Find one example of alliteration in your song and quote it here (cited properly). If you can’t find any alliteration, just write that here. But MOST good song writers include it somewhere in the song!
“It’s a cruel, crazy beautiful world” (Clegg 11) is an example of alliteration and “Keep on believing tomorrow brings a better day” (Clegg 7) is another example.
8. Finally, write a short paragraph that explains WHY you chose this song. Include specific details from the song (quoted and cited properly) to support your reason(s).
I chose this song for a few reasons. First of all, Johnny Clegg has been one of my favorite musicians since I was in high school, and this is one of my favorites from him. This song reminds me of all the times my friends and I would just hang out after school down by the river, listening to music and talking, just helping each other get through the stuff that was hard about life. This is another reason why I chose this song because I really like the message in it. There’s so much in the world that seems “cruel, crazy” but there’s also so much that is “beautiful.” There’s no one who can make the world perfect for us, not even our parents, so it’s up to us to “Keep on believing tomorrow brings a better day” (Clegg 7) and to choose to “wake up . . . under the blue sky” (Clegg 12) every day, no matter how hard things get. Finally, I also chose this song as one of my favorites because I love how upbeat the music is, which fits with the theme of the song. Whenever I’m feeling down, I can play this song and it has such a positive vibe that I can’t help but feel better.