Poetic Devices

You will be tested over these.

Simile

A comparison using Like/As

Mrs. Voight is like an
angel.
Mrs. Voight is like a
demon.

Metaphor
A comparison WITHOUT
Like/As
Mrs. Voight is an angel.
The head of the table.

Allusion
A reference to a previous work,
famous person, or any event
as Eden falls
My love is from Aphrodite
herself.

Personification
Giving a nonliving thing living
characteristics
The grass waved at me.
The wind howled in my ear.

Imagery
Any word picture that
activates one or more of the
five senses
The click-clack of the hooves
The gentle, feather-like touch

Figure of Speech
A statement that paints a
picture and is NOT meant to
be literal
Im so hungry I could eat a
horse

End Rhyme
When the last words of lines
rhyme
My sister bought a car
it was bizarre

Internal Rhyme
Rhyme in the same line
The frog that sat on a hog

Consonance
Words end with the same
consonant sound, but do not
rhyme
End, bind, found
Cough, biff, staff

Assonance
When words have the same
vowel sound but do not rhyme
Cat, bad, habit
Vote, pope

Enjambment
When a line runs into the next
line
My sister gave
me a car
for Christmas
My sister gave me a car for
Christmas

End-Stopped Lines
When a line ends at the end of
the line with PUNCTUATION
My sister gave me a car.
It was Christmas red,
A startling red.

Diction
Word Choice
This deals with the FEELINGS
words give off
Shack vs. Mansion
Sprint vs. Scramble
Fall vs. Tumble

Alliteration
When words close together
start with the same
letter/sound
My silly sister sank into the sofa
My fearless friend ate a philly

Repetition
Using the same word, phrase,
etc. over and over
The sky was bright
the sky was blue
the sky seemed to
burn bright blue

Symbols
An item, time, etc. that stands
for itself and something more
The family ate together
a dove invisibly
floating above them

Hyperbole
An exaggeration
My sisters complaining
started at morning
and filled every minute
until her mouth could
no longer move from
exhaustion.

Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound
it represents
Click
Clang
Buzz

Speaker
The person talking in the poem
it is NOT always the author

Oxymoron
A contradiction in two words
put together
Jumbo shrimp
Smart teacher
Fun school

Irony
The opposite of our
expectations
Love Poem that discusses hate
at the end

Meter
The rhythm of a poem (the
unstressed, stressed pattern)
The frog is neat
the frog is hot
the frog may not be mine

Pun
A play on words
When talking about a story
about cookies, and then saying,
Thats the way the cookie
crumbles.