3A Reading and Vocabulary Pretty Words, a poem by Elinor Morton Wylie

• I can understand metaphors in a text and talk about emotions.

Why do we love or hate some words?

Do you have a favourite or a least favourite word?

• If so, have you ever thought about why you love it or hate it?
• Is it the meaning of the word, or is it the way it sounds?

• Some of the least popular words in English end in the letter p.
• For example, dollop (a small amount of something soft, like cream), pulp (the solid bits of fruit in juice) or slurp (to drink noisily).
• You could argue that the meaning is also important here – after all, no one likes the sound of slurping, but there does seem to be something unpleasant about those uh/oh vowel sounds added to p.

So which sounds do people like?

• It may be coincidental, but many of the most popular words in the English language have i/e vowel sounds and repeat the consonant sounds f, k or v.
• For example, kerfuffle (noise and excitement), scissors and velvety.
• When these words also have positive meanings, such as vivacious (full of life), they regularly get voted in the UK as the nation’s favourite words.

Exercise 2: which sounds do many of the most popular English words have?

1 Soft, smooth and shiny

2 Marked with spots of colour

3 Able to shine in the dark

4 Quiet and easy to control

5 Soft and delicate to the touch

6 Reflects light and changes colour

7 Covered with a thin layer of gold

8 Gentle and kind

How do you think the poet ‘makes pets’ of words?

What types of words does the poet say she likes?

What creatures does she compare different types of words to?

What evidence can you find that the poet feels in control of the words she uses?

Does the poet only like nice words? What evidence can you find?

Exercise 6: find similes in the poem.

Exercise 6: find personification in the poem.

Exercise 6: find other metaphors in the poem.

Three more devices built from sounds.

Exercise 7: find alliteration in the poem.

Exercise 7: find sibilance in the poem.

Exercise 7: find onomatopoeia in the poem.

How does she treat her words?

Pretty Words: a poet makes pets of words

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist of the 1920s and 1930s.

• She published four volumes of poetry and four novels, and was the editor of several literary magazines.

Metaphor, simile, personification and sound devices

Understanding metaphors

• There are different kinds of metaphors.