Poetry Workshop #2 Welcome to the second poetry workshop! In this series, you will be introduced to a myriad of poetic techniques and styles and discover how Tracy K. Smith in particular employs such tools into her own writing. Today, let’s dive into Smith’s use of alliteration. What is alliteration? According to Merriam-Webster, alliteration is “the use of words that begin with the same sound near one another.” For example, the phrases b abbling b rook and w ild and w ooly use alliteration due to the fact that there is the occurrence of the same letter – in the first case the use of “b” and in the second case the use of “w” – at the beginning of closely connected words. Generally, in alliteration, the words should follow in quick succession as they do in the previous two examples. In addition, the key to alliteration is that the words must begin with the same sound , not necessarily the same letter. That’s why “ g ym j unkie” is alliterative while “green gin” is not. How does t...
Listen to 5 poems from Tracy K. Smith's newest collection of poetry Such Color "Bee on a Sill" "We Feel Now a Largeness Coming On" "Mothership" "Some Trees" "Soulwork"
Welcome to the first poetry workshop! In this series, you will be introduced to a myriad of poetic techniques and styles and discover how Tracy K. Smith in particular employs such tools in her own writing. Today, let’s dive into Smith’s intentional and masterful use of similes. What is a simile? I bet that most of you have heard of a simile and know the general gist of what a simile is. But for those who are unfamiliar with the term, a simile (according to the Merriam-Webster definition), is “a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as .” How does this connect to poetry? A simile is a very common poetic device, and the same exact definition of a simile from above holds true when similes are employed in poems. But the very purpose of similes in poems is necessary to understand. In poetry in particular, similes are intentionally used as tools to help describe one thing, idea, or concept by comparing it to another, more widely known thing, idea o...
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