Writing About Works of Art: Ekphrasis
The goal of this literary form is to make the reader envision the thing described as if it were physically present. It emphasizes the possibilities of the verbal and the limitations of the visual. The subject being described comes to seem real in the imagination of the reader. Homer’s description of Achilles’ shield in Book 18 of the Iliad stands at the beginning of the ekphrastic tradition in the 8th century BC. Many writers in subsequent centuries followed Homer’s lead and wrote ekphrastic descriptions. During the Italian Renaissance, the rhetorical form became an important literary genre. |
Elements of Poetry:
Poetry is difficult because very often its language is indirect. But so is experience - those things we think, feel, and do. The lazy reader wants to be told things and usually avoids poetry because it demands commitment and energy. Moreover, much of what poetry has to offer is not in the form of hidden meanings. Many poets like to "play" with the sound of language or offer an emotional insight by describing what they see in highly descriptive language.
Title - Provides clues to the heart of the piece
Imagery - use of figurative language: similes, metaphors, symbols, personification (see Figurative Language Below)
Plot - the action or conflict
Diction - word choice
Rhythm and Metre ("measure") - a pattern created with sound, like the number of syllables or alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
Rhyme - repetition of similar sounds, the most common being an end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines
Stanza: a series of lines grouped together and separated by a line
Imagery - use of figurative language: similes, metaphors, symbols, personification (see Figurative Language Below)
Plot - the action or conflict
Diction - word choice
Rhythm and Metre ("measure") - a pattern created with sound, like the number of syllables or alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
Rhyme - repetition of similar sounds, the most common being an end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines
Stanza: a series of lines grouped together and separated by a line
Figurative Language:
Simile is the rhetorical term used to designate the most elementary form of resemblances: most similes are introduced by "like" or "as." These comparisons are usually between dissimilar situations or objects that have something in common, such as "My love is like a red, red rose."
Metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between objects or situations. "All flesh is grass."
Symbol is like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification of the rose with the beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose with her and her particular virtues. At this point, the rose would become a symbol.
Personification occurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate objects as human
Metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between objects or situations. "All flesh is grass."
Symbol is like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification of the rose with the beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose with her and her particular virtues. At this point, the rose would become a symbol.
Personification occurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate objects as human
Perspective:
A perspective is a literary tool, which serves as a lens through which readers observe characters, events, and happenings.
The following approaches often used with Ekphrasis or Art Inspired Poetry:
• Write about the scene or subject being depicted in the artwork. • Write in the voice of a person or object shown in the work of art. • Write about your experience of looking at the art. • Relate the work of art to something else it reminds you of. • Imagine what was happening while the artist was creating the piece. • Write in the voice of the artist. • Write a dialogue among characters in a work of art. • Speak directly to the artist or the subject(s) of the piece. • Write in the voice of an object or person portrayed in the artwork. • Imagine a story behind what you see depicted in the piece. • Speculate about why the artist created this work. |
Identify the elements of poetry, use of figurative language, along with perspective and explain the literary approach.
"The Starry Night," June 1889
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"Starry, Starry Night"
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