English Language Arts and Reading.3.9.B

The student is expected to

explain rhyme scheme, sound devices, and structural elements such as stanzas in a variety of poems;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Working in small groups, students should read a poem and identify the use of rhyme, sound devices, and structural elements. Have each group pose and answer questions about specific features. Assist groups that are struggling to generate questions by posing questions such as the following:

  • What is the rhyme pattern in the poem?
  • Do you think the rhyme scheme serves a purpose? What might the purpose be?
  • Would the poem be less effective if it did not have a rhyme pattern?
  • How do the words (e.g. whistling wind, shining like a diamond) add to the poem?
  • Why might the stanzas be grouped together?
  • Why is the poem written in two stanzas instead of one?
     

Further Explanation

This assessment example requires students to understand characteristics specific to poetry, identify those characteristics in a poem, and consider their usage.

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines (e.g., ABAB, ABBA) in a poem. Students should understand that poets choose words not only for their meaning, but also for their sounds. Poets can use the sound of a word to create a musical quality or emphasize meaning. For example, the words eyes and rise at the end of the second and fourth lines of a stanza can help the poem flow in a natural way.
Authors can make words come alive through the purposeful use of sound devices such as onomatopoeia. In the example of onomatopoeia, students are expected to recognize that by using words that sound like or suggest an action (e.g., splash, woof, flip-flop), a poet is stressing sound or motion.
Although poetry can be presented in a variety of ways, there are common structural components that can be found in most poems. These structural elements are specific to poetry and make it distinct from other literary genres. Structural elements in poetry, similar to the organizational structures used in prose writing, help the poet construct meaning through form. For example, when a poet chooses to group a single line or multiple lines of poetry into stanzas, the reader should understand that these lines work together in some way.