Teaching Students to Discern Basic Elements of English Poetry

Abstract

Poetry, in spite of sharing some common elements of other genres of literature, is different from them owing to its intensifying emotional effect, copious musicality and imaginative hue. Diction of poetry is experienced to be deviated to make the familiar things unfamiliar and literary. The layout of poetry seems to be odd, absurd and incongruous for average readers. Sentence structures do not normally follow the grammatical rules of syntax. The deeper meanings it reveals are more prominent than its surface meanings. Sometimes what it says is not what it means because of its ironical tinge. It is necessary to all of us to have sound knowledge of elements of English poetry for understanding it in a better way. The focal objective of this article is to enable the bachelor and master level students to discern basic elements of English poetry. This article is also significant to those who are involved in studying and teaching English poetry.