Figurative Language, Imagery, and Sound
Many readers may have trouble with poetry written centuries ago since much of the language used then is not used in the same manner now. Anne Bradstreet, for instance, rearranges word order to achieve a certain rhythm. Do not let that discourage you from reading and trying to understand poetry of the past. Just re-read the poem, “correcting” the language as you need to in your mind in order to comprehend the poet’s meaning. It might help you to read the poem to yourself aloud or at least in a whisper so that you can hear the poetic elements, such as rhythm, rhyme, sound devices, and other literary devices used in poetry.
In this activity, Poetic Elements, explore elements commonly used in poetry. Click the player button to begin.
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Analyzing Poetry
Follow these steps in reading a poem and figuring out its meaning:
- Read the poem once to listen to its sound, then read it a second time for meaning.
- Summarize the poem and study its structure (take it one stanza at a time, rewriting in simple language), then define any new or unfamiliar vocabulary.
- Determine the purpose and/or occasion for the poem.
- Identify the speaker of the poem. Remember, the poet is not always the speaker.
- Study what the title of the poem emphasizes.
- Identify the tone of the poem. Study the use of imagery and its effect on you as you read.
- Notate examples of figurative language and sound devices used in the poem.
- Formulate a theme.
Anne Bradstreet
View the presentation to learn about Anne Bradstreet and her contributions to American literature, and to analyze a poem written about her own poetry. Click the player button to begin.
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Figurative Language, Imagery, and Sound Review
In this non-graded activity, read Anne Bradstreet's poem "Another." Then answer the questions that follow based on your interpretation and analysis of the poem. Click the player button to get started.
Download a printable version of Anne Bradstreet's poem "Another."
Grammar – Appositives and Prepositions
You have looked at sentences with subject complements and sentences with direct and indirect objects. Now, look at sentences that have two extremely common but simple phrases added onto that basic structure: appositive and prepositional phrases.
Appositives
An appositive is a word or phrase that renames a noun. It typically, but not always, comes after the noun; may be set off by commas; may be a phrase or group of words; and is meant to evoke an image that helps to explain the noun.
Look at the following sentences and notice how the bolded appositives rename nouns in the sentences. Also, notice how the appositives do not always come after the noun they explain, as in the fourth sentence.
Maria, the restaurant’s chef, makes an amazing soufflé.
Fluffy, a Mastiff, is really a big friendly goof.
The insect, a beetle, is really rare.
We traveled a long distance by bus to see Stonehenge, an arrangement of huge rocks that dates back to prehistoric times.
A woman with a soft spot in her heart for animals, my grandmother could not say no to a stray animal that needed a home.
Prepositions
A preposition is a word that is used to connect another noun to a sentence. Common prepositions include the words: about, above, after, around, as, at, before, between, by, down, during, for, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, onto, over, through to, under, up, with, and without. These are just a few prepositions as there are many more.
Rather than memorizing them, it is easier to understand that they are always accompanied by a noun or pronoun (which is the called the object of the preposition), and possibly modifiers of that noun or pronoun. This combination of words is called a prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrases are not inherent to the meaning of the sentence (meaning you can leave them out and the sentence still makes sense). Prepositional phrases offer a quick image or idea that adds meaning to a sentence. They answer questions which one, how, when, and where. They are so often used in sentences that being able to identify them, and eliminate them, in complex sentences is a key strategy for finding the meaning for correcting errors in a sentence.
Look at the following sentences and notice how the bolded prepositional phrases contain the preposition and the object that it connects to the rest of the sentence. Try reading the sentences without the bolded prepositional phrases and see if the essential meaning of the sentence remains.
He drove to the store.
She arrived from Paris yesterday.
The singer needed to warm up during the introduction.
The curtains in the bedroom need changing.
The house near the park needs painting.
A large fire was burning near the outskirts of the city.
An old woman with white hair and blue eyes sat at the front of the bus.
The small children listened carefully to their mother.
Grammar Review – Appositives and Prepositions
In this non-graded activity, identify whether the underlined word in the sentence is a direct object, indirect object, or a subject complement. Click the player button to get started.