Analyzing Figurative Language and Imagery in Poetry
Analyzing Figurative Language and Imagery in Poetry
Objectives
This lesson builds on students’ experience in evaluating the effectiveness of figurative language. Students will:
- identify figurative language and analyze the purpose and effectiveness of its use.
- identify imagery in poetry and analyze the purpose and effectiveness of its use.
Essential Questions
How do learners develop and refine their vocabulary?
How do readers know what to believe in what they read, hear, and view?
How do strategic readers create meaning from informational and literary text?
How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
What is this text really about?
What strategies and resources do I use to figure out unknown vocabulary?
What strategies and resources does the learner use to figure out unknown vocabulary?
Why learn new words?
- How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
- Why learn new words?
- What strategies and resources does the learner use to figure out unknown vocabulary?
- How do learners develop and refine their vocabulary?
Vocabulary
- Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
- Hyperbole: An exaggeration or overstatement.
- Imagery: A word or group of words in a literary work that appeals to one or more of the senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell.
- Figurative Language: Language that cannot be taken literally because it was written to create a special effect or feeling.
- Metaphor: A figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object.
- Onomatopoeia: The use of a word to suggest or mimic specific sounds.
- Personification: An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form.
- Simile: A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used.
- Mood: The prevailing emotions of a work or of the author in his or her creation of the work.
Duration
50–100 minutes/1–2 class periods
Prerequisite Skills
Prerequisite Skills haven't been entered into the lesson plan.
Materials
- Francis, Robert. “The Base Stealer” http://www.poemsbypost.com/?p=945 “How to Eat a Poem” by Eve Merriam, “Dreams” by Langston Hughes, and “Oh Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman would all be easy to understand and demonstrate a variety of techniques.
- Teachers may substitute other poems to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- student copies of the Figurative Language Review worksheet (L-8-2-2_ Figurative Language Review.doc) and a computer projection
Related Unit and Lesson Plans
Related Materials & Resources
The possible inclusion of commercial websites below is not an implied endorsement of their products, which are not free, and are not required for this lesson plan.
- “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177021
- “After Apple-Picking” by Robert Frost http://www.online-literature.com/frost/741
- “A Day” by Emily Dickinson http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/sunrose.html
Formative Assessment
Suggested Instructional Supports
Instructional Procedures
Related Instructional Videos
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Instructional videos haven't been assigned to the lesson plan.
Final 05/10/2013