READING
20
When you discuss a poem, think about the
rhyming pattern being used and the effect
the writer is trying to create.
Faster and further, a fantastic fl yer.
Hurtling, happily, higher and higher.
Lazily lurking, longing and looking,
Silently seeing, then speedily swooping,
This has an AABB rhyming pattern so there are two rhyming couplets. The writer
has used alliteration in each line. The combination of the rhyming couplets
and alliteration gives the poem a steady rhythm, which links in with the bird’s
rhythmical wing movements.
Effect of rhyme pattern
Rhyme
When you read a poem, it is important to be able to
describe and comment on features such as rhyme.
Rhyme patterns are written as a series of letters.
Bertie Bullfrog lived by a road A
He was often mistaken for a toad A
Just because he was green and black B
And had huge lumps on his oily back. B
The fi rst two lines rhyme; they are labelled AA. The second two lines also rhyme
but they are a different rhyme, so they are labelled BB. You would say that this
poem has an AABB rhyme pattern. Two lines that rhyme in an AA or BB pattern
are called rhyming couplets.
Rhyme pattern
re two rh
y
min
g
couplets. The writer
nation of the rhyming couplets
rhyme rhyme pattern rhyming couplet
KeywordsKeywords
Listen to the way the poem sounds to help you
think about the effect the writer has created.
Top tip!Top tip!
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REVISE
