7th Grade
Mrs. Joy Scheitlin
Rhythm: The Rise and Fall of Our
Voices
Rhythm refers to
the rise and fall of
our voices as we
use language. As in
music, a poem’s
rhythm can be fast
or slow, light or
solemn. It might
also sound just like
everyday speech.
Poetry that is written
in meter has a regular
pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
Poetry that is written
in free verse does not
have a regular pattern
of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
Free verse sounds like
ordinary speech.
Rhyme: Chiming Sounds
Rhyme is the repetition
of the sound of a
stressed syllable and
any unstressed syllables
that follow: sport and
court; smother and
another; sputtering
and muttering.
The echoing effect
of rhyme gives us
pleasure, It makes
us look forward to
hearing certain
chiming sounds
throughout the
poem.
Alliteration: Repeating
Consonants
Another way poets
create sound
effects is through
the use of
alliteration.
Alliteration is the
repetition of
consonant sounds in
words that are
close together.
Read the tongue
twister on the next
frame of a poem
aloud to ear all of
the repeated t
sounds.
A Tutor
A tutor who tooted a flute,
Tried to tutor two tutors to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it harder to toot,
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?”
Limericks
“A Tutor” is a
limerick, a humorous
five-line poem.
Limericks have a
definite rhythm and
rhyme screen. Try
scanning the poem
and describing the
rhyme scheme now
that you’ve tooted
through it.
A tutor who tooted a
flute,
Tried to tutor two
tutors to toot.
Said the two to
the tutor,
“Is it harder to
toot,
Or to tutor two
tooters to toot?”
Onomatopoeia – Sound Echoes Sense
Onomatopoeia – is
the use of words
with sounds that
echo their sense.
Crash, bang,
boom, hiss and
toot are all
examples of
onomatopoeia.
To see how sounds
alone can suggest
sense, read the
famous nonsense
poem in the next
frame. You will not
find all of the words
in a dictionary, but
the sounds will help
you guess what is
going on.
Jabberwocky by Lewis
Carroll
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that
catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought-So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One two! One two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.