6. Rock-poetry as a cultural phenomenon.

Rock is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and often bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or synthesizers. Rock music usually has a strong back beat, and usually revolves around the electric guitar.

Rock music has its roots in 1950s-era rock and roll and rockabilly. In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, and with jazz, to create jazz-rock fusion. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and latin music. In the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as soft rock, blues rock, heavy metal-style rock, progressive rock, art rock, techno-rock, synth-rock and punk rock. Rock subgenres from the 1980s included hard rock, indie-rock and alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included grunge-style rock, Britpop, and Indie rock.

So a term like "Rock" is impossibly vague; it denotes, if anything, something historical rather than aesthetic.

Rock poetry means the rock lyrics, which is usually characterized by certain rhythm and countercultural ideas.

Like other kinds of poetry it deals with poetic devices:

Playing with the sounds of words

Rhyme: word endings that sound alike including at least the final vowel sound.

Ex.  Time, slime, mime

Rhythm:  a regular pattern of accented syllables.

Ex.  i THOUGHT i SAW a PUSsyCAT.

Repetition:  The recurrence of words and phrases for effect.

Ex.  I was so so so so glad.

Alliteration:  repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Ex.  Fast and furious.

Assonance:  repeated vowel sounds.

Ex.  He's a bruisin' loser.

Onomatopoeia:  words that sound like their meanings.

Ex.  Swoosh, Zip, Gurgle

Playing with the meanings of words

Simile:  a comparison using "like" or "as."

Ex.  He's as dumb as an ox.

Metaphor:  a direct comparison.

Ex.  He's an zero.

Personification:  Treating a non-human thing with human characteristics.

Ex.  The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.

Hyperbole:  Exaggeration used for effect.

Ex.  He weighs a ton.

Metonymy:  Substituting one word or phrase for another that is closely related.

Ex.  The White House stated today that...

Synecdoche:  A part represents the whole.

Ex.  The football player is hanging up his spikes.

Symbol:  an object that represents something else.

Ex.  A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny's death.

Contrast:  closely arranging things with strikingly different characteristics

Ex.  He was dark, sinister, and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant, and kind.

Paradox:  a seeming contradiction.

Ex.  The faster I go the behinder I get.

Irony:  something said that is opposite its intended meaning.

Ex.  Wow, thanks for expensive gift...let's see: did it come with a Fun Meal or the Burger King equivalent?

Playing with the images of words

Imagery:  the use of vivid language to generate ideas and/or evoke emotion via the five senses.

Examples:

• Sight:  Smoked mysteriously puffed out from the clown's ears.

• Sound:  Tom placed his ear tightly against the wall; he could hear a faint but distinct thump thump thump.

• Touch:  The burlap wall covering scraped against the little boy's cheek.

• Taste:  A salty tear ran across onto her lips.

• Smell:  Cinnamon!  That's what wafted into his nostrils.