''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings''

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

You may wonder how Sally and Snoopy were able to easily understand this famous but complex poem.

Read "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

• How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
• I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
• My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
• For the ends of being and ideal grace.
• I love thee to the level of every day’s
• Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
• I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
• I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
• I love thee with the passion put to use
• In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
• I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
• With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
• Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
• I shall but love thee better after death.

• What did you understand about the poem?
• What was confusing?
• Which words stood out to you?
• What do you think the poem is about? Why?

The first step to understanding and analyzing poetry is knowing the terms.

Literary Terms (also called Literary Elements)

simile

Comparing two unlike things, using the words like or as.

Example: She is like the morning sun. She and the sun are being compared.

metaphor

Comparing two unlike things NOT using the words like or as.

Example: She is the morning sun. She and the sun are being compared.

personification

Giving non-human things human traits or abilities.

Example: The trees waved as we passed. Trees cannot wave, but the wind can make them move.

irony

When one thing is thought to happen, but the opposite happens. (It is also called ironic.)

Example: You brag that you will get the best score on a test, and you get the worst.

foreshadowing

Hinting at what might come. This happens all the time in horror movies using music. You hear the scary music before the bad guy comes or before something bad happens.

Example: The night was dark but darker than usual. This hints that this night is different, and bad things might happen.

symbol

Represents more than what just is.

Example: A heart is a heart, but it also represents — or is — a symbol of love.

tone

The words an author chooses to create a certain mood.

Example: It was a dark and stormy night.

mood

The feeling created by the author's choice of words.

Example: It was a dark and stormy night. You might feel a little creeped out.

hyperbole

Using an over-exaggeration.

Example: I am so hungry, I could eat a horse.

onomatopoeia

The word pronounced sounds just like the sound it is describing.

Example: crash, boom, bang

alliteration

When a phrase has the same vowel or consonant sound that begins each word.

Example: Big blue balls bounce better.

assonance

When a phrase has the same internal vowel sound.

Example: The loud sound mounds the waves.

Continue on to the Got It? section for some practical poetry practice!