NAVIGATION:

Index of Introduction to Poetry Materials

Index of Dr. Weller's Class Materials

Exercise:
Figurative Language One: Connotation, Simile, Conceit, Metaphor, Apostrophe, Personification, Synecdoche, Metonymy

For each poem find the figures of speech listed after each poem, and then explain what those figures of speech add to the meaning:

Sonnet 138 ["When my love swears that she is made of truth"] by William Shakespeare: --connotation; --pun; NOTE: Words to investigate are: 'vainly', 'simply', 'simple', 'old', 'habit', and 'told'.

"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne: --simile (There are three.); --metaphysical conceit (There are at least two, and the one with which the poem ends is very famous.); NOTE: "simile" and "metaphysical conceit" are not mutually exclusive terms.

"Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath: --metaphor; --apostrophe (I think there's one in the poem, but I may be over-interpreting.)

"To Autumn" by John Keats: --personification; --apostrophe

"Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff . . ." by A.E. Housman: --synecdoche; --metonymy; NOTE: Please learn how to pronounce both of these words.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost: --symbol; NOTE: I will ask you to explain the difference between a symbol and a metaphor.