What poetry is

Poetry is defined as “literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional
response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound and rhythm.”

1.1 Elements of Poetry

Theme

 The theme is the central idea of a literary work, often referred to as the “message” or the “meaning” that
provides profound insights about an aspect of humanity.

Tone

 Tone is the general attitude or behavior of a literary piece, and it is indeed related to mood in poetry.

Mood

 Mood refers to the feeling of the reader about the poem, often as a result of the tone that was set up by the
writer.

Point of view

 It is the perspective taken by the persona of a verse or prose work.

Stanza

 Is defined as “a group of lines of verse forming one of the divisions of a poem or song.”

Line

 A sequence of words printed as a separate entity on the page.

Rhyme

 the sounds at the ends of lines

 External Rhyme found at the end of the line.
 Internal Rhyme found within one line or within several lines of a poem.

Rhythm

 a regular pattern of sound, time intervals, or events occurring in poetry.

Symbolism

 “The art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the
invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations.”

1.2 Writing poetry

Form - The pattern or construction of a work” of literary pieces that is identifiable and distinguishable from one another.

lyric poetry

 Poems that have one speaker or persona expressing very strong feelings and thoughts belong to this group. Lyric
Poetry are more concerned with expressing inner thought, self reflections, and introspections.
Narrative Poetry

 Narrative poems tell a story. It uses both language and rhythmic elements to create an enjoyable experience for
the audience. Follows a more formal structure of rhyme and meter.

descriptive poetry

 If a poem is concerned with portraying descriptions of the outside world that surrounds the poem’s persona,
that is considered as descriptive poetry. It is more concerned with portraying imagery that is focused outside of
the poet.

dramatic Poetry

 It is the kind of poetry that has the elements of a drama such as dialogue and conflict. It meant to be spoken out
loud or even sung like a song

1.3 Measurement

Syllable

 A syllable is "a single unit of sound in a word"

REPETITION

 sounds, words, phrases, and lines are repeated to give a poem its structure and rhythm.

METER

 Meter in Poetry is the rhythm or beat you hear when you read a poem aloud. It’s like the poem’s "music,"
created by a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Syllables:

A word can have stressed (strong) syllables and unstressed (weak) syllables.

For example:

HEL-lo → "HEL" is stressed, "lo" is unstressed.

be-LIEVE → "lieve" is stressed, "be" is unstressed.

Feet:

A "foot" is a small group of syllables that follow a specific rhythm.

There are different types of feet:

Iamb (da-DUM): be-LIEVE

Trochee (DUM-da): TI-ger

Anapest (da-da-DUM): in-ter-VENE

Dactyl (DUM-da-da): HAP-pi-ness

The number of "feet" in a line determines the meter.

1 foot → Monometer

2 feet → Dimeter

3 feet _ Trimeter

4 feet _ Tetrameter

5 feet → Pentameter (common in Shakespeare)

6 feet - hexameter

7 feet _ heptameter

8 feet _ octameter

RHYME SCHEME

A RHYME SCHEME is "the pattern established by the arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or poem which is generally
described using letters of the alphabet to denote the recurrence of rhyming lines.

Line break and ENJAMBMENT

A line break occurs when a line of text ends and moves to the next line. In poetry and creative writing, it’s used to:

 Control rhythm and pacing.

 Highlight specific words or ideas.
 Create visual structure on the page.

Enjambment is when a sentence or phrase continues from one line to the next without a pause or punctuation. It’s
common in poetry and helps:

 Maintain a natural flow.

 Build suspense or surprise.
 Emphasize certain words at the beginning or end of lines

What is Poetry?

 Poetry is a form of literary expression that uses rhythm, language, and often imagery to evoke emotions, convey
ideas, and tell stories.

Common poetry types refers to the different forms or categories of poetry that are widely recognized and used by
poets.

Sonnet

 Sonnet is a 14-line poem that expresses a single theme or idea wherein the first eight lines pose a question or
dilemma that is resolved in the final six lines.

Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian sonnet)

A Petrarchan sonnet is a 14-line poem divided into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines), with a typical ABBAABBA
rhyme scheme for the octave and various rhyme schemes like CDECDE for the sestet.

Shakespearean Sonnet (English sonnet)

A Shakespearean sonnet is a 14-line poem with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, consisting of three quatrains
and a final couplet.

Haiku

 A traditional Japanese poem with 3 lines and a 5-7-5 syllable pattern

Ode

 A formal, often longer poem that praises or celebrates a person, object, event, or concept.

Limerick

 A humorous, 5-line poem with a distinctive AABBA rhyme scheme. Limericks are usually lighthearted and playful,
often containing puns or witty twists, and they follow a specific meter called anapestic trimeter.

Epic

 A long, narrative poem that tells the story of a hero’s adventures or great deeds, often involving gods, battles,
and significant cultural events.

Ballad

 Ballad often meant to be sung, a ballad narrates a very simple story, and it is recognizable through the refrain
that keeps on repeating at various parts throughout the piece.

Blank Verse

 Blank verse is a type of poem that follows a specific meter, typically iambic pentameter, but does not use rhyme.

Free Verse

 Free verse is a type of poetry that doesn't follow regular meter or rhyme patterns, allowing poets to capture the
natural flow of everyday speech.

Experimental poetry are poetry that breaks away from traditional forms and structures to explore new ways of
expression.

Acrostic

An acrostic is a poem where the first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically. This
creates a hidden message or secret word within the poem.

Concrete

Concrete poetry, also known as shape poetry, uses visual elements such as punctuation, letter arrangement, and spacing
to create a design that enhances the poem's effect.

Spoken Word
  Spoken word poetry refers to poetry created to be recited aloud, typically on a stage, rather than read from a
page.

Balagtasan

 A type of spoken word poetry in Filipino, named after Francisco Balagtas, featuring a debate between two poets
in rhyming verse.

Slam Poetry

 A spoken word contest where poets perform onstage, and the audience judges their performance. Slam poets
often deliver high-energy performances, responding to audience reactions.

Performance Poetry

 A live, impromptu poetry session not involving competition. Poets may compose or improvise poetry on the
spot, often interacting with the audience and surroundings.

Typography

 Typography poetry focuses on the arrangement and presentation of words on the page, using varying fonts,
sizes, and layouts.

Genre-Crossing

 A prose poem is an experimental form of poetry that combines elements of both prose and verse. Unlike
traditional poetry, it is written in paragraph form without line breaks, resembling fiction or prose.

Poetic Devices

Poetic Devices According to Sound

Assonance

 A poetic device that uses rhyming vowel sounds wherein similar vowel sounds are heard at the beginning, in the
middle, or at the end of the words. Assonance happens within one line of a poem, or it could go over more lines.

Consonance

 consonance is con- cerned with rhyming consonant sounds. The similar sounding consonant sounds could also
be found anywhere in the words, and could be evident within one line or in many lines of a poem.

Alliteration

 When the first consonant sounds of words in a line sound the same, it is known as alliteration. This is a reason
why children find nursery rhymes appealing, since there is a rhythm they could follow in the consonant sound
repetition, and it is attractive because the sounds are found at the beginning of the words.

Onomatopoeia

 Often referred to as "sound words," onomatopoeia is "represented by the word that mimics the sounds they
denote.


Poetic Devices According to Word Usage

Simile

 Similes are used when two different concepts or things are compared by using the words "as" or "like."

Metaphor

 To detect a metaphor, the poem expresses a concept and directly compares it to another, without the use of
"as" or "like."

Personification

 Personification refers to assigning human characteristics to an otherwise inanimate object or non-human beings
such as animals or flowers. But in literature, writers also assign human characteristics to certain abstract
concepts or ideas, things that feel real yet are intangible.

Synecdoche

 Synecdoche is when a word or phrase replaces another word or phrase that is a small representation of a bigger
concept.

Metonymy

 Synecdoche is somehow related to metonymy, but the latter is more of a symbolic representation of a concept
rather than a small representation of a bigger part.

Poetry Modeling

Free Verse

 One of the most popular poetry forms utilized by modern and contemporary poets in creating their own niche.

Confessional Poetry

 Is akin to having poets open up their hearts and minds to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings, as
evident in their thought-provoking emotional poems.

Robert Lowell

 An american poet, was the first person to use confessional poetry to refer to this type of lyric poetry of the
modern times. It emerged in the 1950's, time when cultural upheavals were happening in the US as well as
globally, these poems worked well in reflecting modern day concerns that beset one's person and psyche.

Sylvia Plath American poet, novelist, and essayist known for intense, emotionally charged works like "The Bell Jar" and
"Ariel."

Anne Sexton American poet, known for confessional poetry, exploring themes of mental health, relationships, and
mortality in works like "To Bedlam and Part Way Back."

Counterculture

 A community of American writers, a movement emerged in the late 1940 that represented the youth's rejection
of current social mores and restrictive values.

Beat Generation
  Introduced by novelist Jack Kerouac, and soon, poets adapted the Beat name and created poetry that
represented their counterculture ideals. "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, one of the famous pieces to come out of the
Beat poets.

Gary Snyder American poet, environmentalist, and Zen Buddhist.

Gregory Corso American poet, prominent figure in the Beat Generation, known for spontaneous, imaginative works like
"Gasoline" and "Bomb."

Beat Poetry is often free verse in type, influenced by the cadence of the counterculture music of the era, notably jazz,
and is also influenced by nativist or ancient forms of spirituality such as Zen meditation.

Modeling From Well-Known Filipino Poets

Tanaga

 The earliest example had no title, consisted of seven syllables per line, and has a uniform rhyme scheme
(i.e.,AAAA).

Diona

 Closer in composition to the haiku as it also has three lines, with each line having seven syllable. When read as a
whole, the short diona poem could read like a broken-up sentence that contains one complete thought.

Jose Garcia Villa

 National Artist for Literature, his profound use of language, word play, and experimental writing that is
comparable to modernist poets such as e.e. cummings and Ezra Pound.

As a Filipino living in the U.S., Villa was able to absorb the American literary milieu and crafted his own versions of
poems for Filipinos, also improvising and creating his own distinct model forms.

what is fiction?

 Fiction is defined as “making up imaginary happenings, feigning anything imagined, as a statement or a story. To
be blunt fiction is not true.

Elements of fiction

1. Character

- Definition: A person, animal, or object presented as a person in a story.

- Types:

- Protagonist: The main character who drives the story forward.

- Antagonist: The character opposing the protagonist.

- Round Characters: Fully developed with complex personalities (e.g., Professor Snape in *Harry Potter*).

- Flat Characters: Less detailed and often static (e.g., Crabbe and Goyle in *Harry Potter*).

Character Components
- Physical: Physical appearance.

- Sociological: Social background and relationships.

- Psychological: Thoughts, feelings, motivations.

Stock Characters

Examples include:

- Angsty Teenager (*The Catcher in the Rye*)

- Damsel in Distress (*Fairy Tales*)

- Evil Genius / Mad Scientist (*Sci-Fi Stories*)

Characterization

- Direct Characterization: Author explicitly describes traits (e.g., "She was brave").

- Indirect Characterization: Traits shown through actions or dialogue.

Dialogue

Dialogue reveals character traits through what they say.

Other Key Elements

Point of View (POV)

Types include:

1st Person POV: Narrator is part of the story

2nd Person POV: Reader is addressed directly

3rd Person POV: Various forms like limited omniscient or objective

Plot

A sequence of events with exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Types include linear and
modular/episodic plots.

Setting & Atmosphere

Where and when the story takes place; influences mood.

Conflict

Types include:

1. Character vs. Self

2. Character vs. Another

3. Character vs. Nature

Theme

A recurring idea explored throughout a work; common themes are universal truths about human experiences.

FICTION TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES

MOOD

- the emotional atmosphere in the literary work

TONE

- alludes to the author’s attitude and to

the subject matter

VOICE

- The personality or tone that comes across in a written work.

a.) Author's Voice

- The author's unique writing style.

b.) Character's Voice

- The way a character talks and thinks in a story.

Plot devices

Plot devices are techniques writers use to make their stories more interesting and to move the story forward. They're
like tools to help the story develop

1. FORESHADOWING: Giving clues about what will happen later.

Example: In Harry Potter, the breaking of Ron's chess piece hints at future problems.

2. SYMBOLISM: Using objects or events to represent bigger ideas.

Example: In Lord of the Flies, the conch shell represents civilization and order.

3. MOTIF: Repeating important images or ideas.

Example: In The Great Gatsby, the green light represents Gatsby's dream.
4. Deus ex Machina: Unexpected events that solve problems.

Example: In Greek plays, a god (like Zeus) would be lowered onto the stage to solve the story's problems. This is
called deus ex machina. It's a sudden, unexpected solution.

5. TICKING TIME BOMD: Creating suspense with a deadline.

Example: Cinderella's midnight curfew.

6. FLASHBACK : Showing past events to explain the present.

7. FLASH FORWARD: Showing future events to create suspense.

Example: Alice's vision of the future battle in Breaking Dawn.

8. IN MEDIAS RES: Starting the story in the middle of the action.

Example: Fight Club starts with a gun pointed at the narrator's head. We don't know the background yet; the
story begins mid-action. That's in medias res.

3.1 Fiction Modeling According to Format

1. NOVEL: A long work of fiction with a detailed plot and many characters.

Examples: War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart, and Nick Joaquin's The
Woman Who Had Two Navels.

2. NOVELLA: Shorter than a novel but longer than a short story, often with a focused plot.

3. GRAPHIC NOVEL: A narrative told through sequential art and text. Length varies considerably, similar to novels or
novellas.

4. SHORT STORY: A concise narrative (1,000-30,000 words) focusing on a specific event or moment. James Joyce's works
exemplify this, often highlighting a single incident or a moment of sudden insight also called epiphany.

5. FLASH FICTION A very short story, generally around 2,000 word count— and even less, aiming for maximum impact in
minimal space. This broad category includes both sudden fiction and microfiction.

a.) SUDDEN FICTION:

A sub-category of flash fiction, typically between 750 and 1,000 words (or even up to 2,000 words), characterized by an
unexpected twist or revelation. The emphasis is on the surprising narrative turn

b.) MICROFICTION:

A sub-category of flash fiction, usually has around 300 to 400 words or even less, emphasizing extreme brevity and
concision. The focus is on delivering a powerful impact with minimal words.

Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata excelled in this short fiction format and also termed it as palm-of-the-hand stories
based on they very short fiction stories he wrote, which he argued could fit in the palm of one's hand.

3.2 Fiction Modeling According to Genre

Genre is a category of artistic composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. Genres provide readers
with expectations about storytelling techniques and what to expect. Genres often share common elements (characters,
situations).
1.) Comedy: Light, humorous, or heartwarming stories, often with a happy ending.

2.) Drama: The opposite of comedy; evokes strong emotions, often dealing with serious life situations.

3.) Fantasy: Features otherworldly characters and elements derived from cultural myths, legends, and folklore. Humans
and mythical creatures coexist.

4.) Adventure/Action: Stories revolving around characters undergoing extraordinary journeys, often involving remote
locations and new cultures.

5.) Science Fiction: Focuses on futuristic technology and often explores dystopian or utopian societies.

6. Horror: Aims to scare the reader, often using suspense, thrillers, psychological elements.

3.3 Fiction Modeling According to Plot Pattern

Plot patterns are recurring sequences of events in stories.

1. Star-Crossed Lovers: A love story doomed to fail.

2. Boy Meets Girl: A feel-good romance where two lovers meet, face challenges, and end up together.

Variations: Modern plot patterns also include LGBTQ+ themes, as seen in Kate Evangelista's No Holding Back (2016).
Other patterns include:

3.) Fairy Tale: Often idealized, with a happily-ever-after ending.

4.) Rags to Riches: Poor person becomes wealthy and successful.

5.) Coming of Age (bildungsroman): Focuses on personal growth and transformation towards maturity.

6.) Ugly Duckling: Features physical transformations.