IXL | Identify elements of poetry | 4th grade language arts

Choose the poem that has a regular rhythm, or a pattern of sound like a beat.

How does the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

To the dust cave—

he loves dust, he hoards it,

gathers it in mountains,

blows it into clouds,

blue clouds, green clouds, yellow clouds, gold—

From Lewis Carroll, "The Crocodile" and from Alfred Kreymborg, "Chains"

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question

Choose the poem that uses repetition.

The sun's heat will give out in ten million years more—

And he worried about it.

It will sure give out then, if it doesn't before—

And he worried about it.

I'm not a chicken; I have seen

Full many a chill September,

And though I was a youngster then,

That gale I well remember.

From Sam Walter Foss, "He Worried about It" and from Oliver Wendell Holmes, "The September Gale"

key idea

Poetry is a special kind of writing. It has many elements that make it different from ordinary writing. Knowing these elements can help you talk about poetry, understand it better, and enjoy it more.

A poem rhymes when it has a pattern of words that end in the same sound.

End rhyme is when the rhymes appear at the end of a poem's lines.

Little Betty Blue,

Lost her holiday shoe.

—From Mother Goose

Internal rhyme is when at least one of the rhyming words appears inside the poem's lines.

Sweet dreams of pleasant streams.

—From William Blake, "A Cradle Song"

Rhythm is the pattern of strong and weak syllables, or stress, in a poem. You can recognize rhythm in a poem by listening to how it sounds. Poems with regular rhythm have a beat, like in music.

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

—From Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle"

The syllables in bold are strong. We say them with more force than the other syllables. In this poem, every weak syllable is followed by a strong syllable. Each line sounds like da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. To better hear the rhythm, try reading it aloud while clapping on each strong syllable.

Free verse is when a poem has neither a regular rhythm nor a rhyme pattern.

The old bridge has a wrinkled face.

He bends his back

For us to go over.

—From Hilda Conkling, "The Old Bridge"

The syllables in bold are strong. You can see this poem does not have a regular rhythm. It also doesn't have a rhyme pattern.

Repetition is when words, phrases, or whole lines are repeated.

The dainty flying squirrel

In vest of shining white,

In coat of silver gray,

And vest of shining white.

—Adapted from Mary E. Burt, "The Flying Squirrel"

Alliteration is when beginning consonant sounds are repeated in words that are close together.

Where the wild men watched and waited

Wolves in the forest, and bears in the bush.

—From Bayard Taylor, "A Night with a Wolf"

Onomatopoeia is when language sounds like what it talks about.

Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses made-up words:

Tlot-tlot! tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse hoofs ringing clear.

—From Alfred Noyes, "The Highwayman"

Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses real words:

Hark! the honey bee is humming.

—From Mary Howitt, "The Voice of Spring"

solution

This poem uses repetition. It repeats words, phrases, or lines.

The sun's heat will give out in ten million years more—

And he worried about it.

It will sure give out then, if it doesn't before—

And he worried about it.

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