Acrostic Poems

An acrostic is a piece of writing in which a particular set of letters—typically the first letter of
each line, word, or paragraph—spells out a word or phrase with special significance to the text.
Acrostics are most commonly written as a form of poetry, but they can also be found in prose
or used as word puzzles.

Roses are red,

Oranges yummy,
Sugar's a sweet,
Elixir in my tummy.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you.

Acrostics and acronym – made up words vs real words

Acrostics can also make poems easier to remember or memorize, as their messages can
function as mnemonic devices that help a reader to recall the remainder of each line. For this
reason, acrostics are commonly used in children's poetry.

Allegory

Rather, an allegory is a story in which the majority of characters and plot developments serve
as symbols for something else, or in which the entire storyline is symbolic of a broader concept,
idea, historical event, or phenomenon in society. But a story or poem can contain symbols
while not functioning as an allegory. 

Allegory Definition

What is an allegory? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—
through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is
a well-known allegory with a moral that a slow and steady approach (symbolized by the
Tortoise) is better than a hasty and overconfident approach (symbolized by the Hare).

Some additional key details about allegory:

 Some allegories have morals that are easy to discern, such as the example of "The
Tortoise and The Hare," but others can be so subtle that it becomes unclear whether
the author intended for the story to have a double meaning (or be an allegory) at all.

 Although all allegories use symbolism heavily, not all writing that uses symbolism
qualifies as allegory. Allegories are characterized by a use of symbolism that permeates
the entire story, to the extent that essentially all major characters and their actions can
be understood as having symbolic significance.

 An allegory can be long and extend over an entire book or even a series of books, or it
can be short or a part of a longer work (such as the Allegory of the Cave in Book 7 of
Plato's Republic).

Allegory Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce allegory: al-ih-gore-ee

They are highly symbolic, but not all symbolic writing is allegorical.

Types of Allegory

There are two main types of allegory. The basic technique is the same in both categories, but in
each kind characters and events symbolize different things.

 Historical allegories: Writing in this category allegorizes historical figures and events.

Writers of this kind of allegory may be using symbols to mask the true subject of their
 writing (for instance, to avoid censorship or punishment), or to effectively distill a
complex history into a more simplified and vivid story that will engage readers on an
emotional and aesthetic level.

o A good example of this type of allegory is George Orwell's Animal Farm, which

corresponds pretty closely to the events of the Russian revolution.

 Conceptual allegories: This kind of allegory uses characters and events to symbolize

abstract things rather than actual events or people. For example, it's common for
writers of conceptual allegories to use characters that embody particular moral
qualities, such as purity or love. Most religious and social allegories fall under this
category, since they usually don't have to do with a specific person or historical event,
but rather some virtue or vice more generally.

o In "The Pardoner's Tale," a story in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a

character known as the Pardoner asserts that greed is the root of all evil, and
illustrates the point using an allegory in which three drunken men set out to
find a character known as "Death," but find a small fortune in gold instead.
They end up killing each other in an attempt to secure the entire treasure. The
three men can be said to embody greed.

It's certainly possible, and not uncommon, for a writer of an allegory to draw elements from
both of these two types of allegory.

Why Do Writers Choose to Write Allegories?

Authors might choose to write allegories for a number of reasons, and its certainly possible that
an author might choose to write an allegory for more than one of the reasons below.

To address a controversial topic: There are certain topics that are difficult to discuss
directly in writing—for example, it might be too controversial or impolite to refer
 directly to sensitive and ongoing political developments. Because an allegory masks
its commentary behind another story, it can make it easier for a writer to make his or
her points without angering an audience.

To make something more interesting: Readers might find it hard to pay attention to an
essay on, say, the right way to behave to reach heaven, or the evils of the Soviet
Union. Pilgrim's Progress in the 17th century and Animal Farm in the 20th century
used allegory to address both of these topics, and achieved extreme popularity. By
presenting a story that illustrates a moral or idea rather than explaining it directly,
writers can make their audience more likely to engage with—and ultimately absorb—
the message they're trying to convey.

To make something more understandable: Allegories can make complex ideas

concrete, and therefore more understandable to readers. Plato's Allegory of the Cave,
for instance, illustrates both a complex philosophical idea about reality and a similarly
complex psychological lesson about the ways that people resist hearing an unfamiliar
truth. The allegory captures all this, and makes both ideas more digestible.

Because it's fun: Reading (and writing) an allegory can feel like solving a little puzzle,
where every element of the story has a second meaning to be deciphered.

Alliteration

Some additional key details about alliteration:

Alliteration is the repetition of sounds, not just letters.

Alliterative words don’t have to be right next to each other. Other words can appear
between them.

Alliteration is found often in poetry and prose, as well as in commercial writing like
brand names and marketing taglines.
Alliteration vs. Consonance vs. Assonance

There are two close relatives of alliteration, both of which are often confused with each other
and with alliteration itself. They are consonance and assonance. Here are quick descriptions of
each:

Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant sounds across several words. The
repeated sound can occur at any point within the word, not just on first or stressed
syllables. So, for example, in the sentence “ A truck full of unlucky ducks careened
into the aqueduct,” the hard “k” consonant sound doesn’t just occur on stressed or
first syllables, making this an example of consonance but not alliteration.
Assonance is exactly the same as consonance, but with vowel sounds instead of
consonant sounds. An example of assonance is the “oo” sound in this sentence: “The
smooth balloon flew up and blew up when it hit the roof.” Note that in this example,
because all of the repeated sounds occur on stressed syllables, this example
is both assonance and alliteration.

Writers use alliteration, with its emphasis on sound and rhythm, for a variety of different
reasons:

 To enhance the beauty of their writing

 To emphasize particular phrases or feelings

 To use the sounds they repeat (a soft “s” or a hard “t”, for instance) to mirror the ideas
or events or feelings being described

 To make writing feel merry, musical, and mightily memorable.

 Music, advertisement and many others

Enjambment

Poets often use enjambment to introduce ambiguity or contradiction into an

otherwise straightforward sentence: the incomplete clause might suggest
something that the following line(s) reject. This is often true in poetry written
since the end of the 18th century.

The opposite of an enjambed line of poetry is an end-stopped line: a sentence or clause

whose end does fall at the end of a line of poetry.

Enjambment has the effect of encouraging the reader to continue reading from one line
to the next, since most of the time a line of poetry that's enjambed won't make
complete sense until the reader finishes the clause or sentence on the following line
or lines.

Poets often use enjambment to introduce ambiguity or contradiction into an

otherwise straightforward sentence: the incomplete clause might suggest something
that the following line(s) reject. This is often true in poetry written since the end of
the 18th century.

Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116"

Four of the first eight lines of this sonnet by Shakespeare are enjambed.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
That alters when it alteration finds
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Why Do Writers Use Enjambment?

The effect that enjambment has on a line or an entire poem can vary, depending on the
context. Here are a few of the reasons a writer may use enjambment in their poetry:

To create a sense of anticipation in a poem, since the full meaning of enjambed lines
only becomes clear by reading further in the poem. In this way, enjambment can also
create a feeling of movement or confusion in a poem.

To control the phrasing or rhythm of a poem by inserting pauses, in the form of line
breaks, where they otherwise wouldn't be. Especially for poets who are sparing in
their use of punctuation, the use of a line break in the place of punctuation can help
to create a pause in the rhythm.

To emphasize a meaningful word. Ending a line with a word that wouldn't normally
receive emphasis can be a good way of shifting the reader's focus to particular words
that require added weight in the poem.
 To create ambiguity or contradiction. Enjambment can give the reader mixed
messages. The close of a line can suggest, even if only temporarily, a meaning or
possibility that the following lines contradict.

To create sentences of varied lengths and rhythms without having to vary line length.

Hyperbole

Some additional key details about hyperbole:

Because of its ability to express larger-than-life emotion, hyperbole is common in

novels, poetry, politics and advertising slogans.

The opposite of hyperbole is litotes, deliberate understatement. In a rhetorical context

—meaning, in the context of persuasive speaking and writing—hyperbole is
sometimes called auxesis while litotes goes by the name meiosis.

Different examples of hyperbole can be structured quite differently as sentences. The

key to hyperbole is not how the sentence is structured, but whether, through
purposeful exaggeration, it creates strong feelings or impressions or emphasizes a
point.

However, it seems more important to understand the distinction between hyperbole and
simile:

Hyperbole focuses on exaggeration in order to emphasize a point.

Simile focuses on a comparison to provide vivid description and make a reader see
something in a new way.
That way, if you think a figure of speech is hyperbole and simile simultaneously, you can
explain why it's both.

What is imagery? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses.
For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain
imagery that engages the senses of touch, movement, and hearing: "I feel the ladder sway as
the boughs bend. / And I keep hearing from the cellar bin / The rumbling sound / Of load on
load of apples coming in."

Some additional key details about imagery:

Though imagery contains the word "image," it does not only refer to descriptive
language that appeals to the sense of sight. Imagery includes language that appeals
to all of the human senses, including sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

While imagery can and often does benefit from the use of figurative language such as
metaphors and similes, imagery can also be written without using any figurative
language at all.

These lines contain powerful imagery: you can feel the swaying ladder, see the bending boughs,
and hear the rumbling of the apples going into the cellar bin. But it is also completely literal:
every word means exactly what it typically means. So this imagery involves no figurative
language at all.

Why Do Writers Use Imagery?

Imagery is essential to nearly every form of writing, and writers use imagery for a wide variety
of reasons:
 It engages readers: Imagery allows readers to see and feel what's going on in a story. It
fully engages the reader's imagination, and brings them into the story.

It's interesting: Writing without imagery would be dry and dull, while writing with
imagery can be vibrant and gripping.

It can set the scene and communicate character: The description of how a person or
place looks, moves, sounds, smells, does as much to tell you about that person or
place as any explanation can. Imagery is not just "window dressing," it is the
necessary sensory detail that allows a reader to understand the world and people
being described, from their fundamental traits to their mood.

It can be symbolic: Imagery can both describe the world and establish symbolic
meanings that deepen the impact of the text. Such symbolism can range from the
weather (rain occurring in moments of sadness) to symbolism that is even deeper or
more complex, such as the way that Moby-Dick layers multiple meanings through his
descriptions of the whiteness of the whale.

Internal Rhyme vs. End Rhyme

Internal rhyme is often described as being subtler than end rhyme. This subtlety occurs for two
related reasons:

The last word of every line of poem is naturally emphasized: As noted just above in the
discussion of internal rhyme and line breaks, end rhymes receive an automatic
emphasis simply by virtue of appearing at the end of lines. Internal rhymes are less
emphasized, and might not even be explicitly noticed even as they add to the
musicality of a line.

In poetry with a meter, end rhymes are consistent while internal rhymes are
not: When a poem has a meter, every line contains syllables according to a set
pattern. That means that end rhymes appear at consistent places within that pattern.
 As a result, end rhymes offer a strong rhythmic feeling to the poem. Because internal
rhymes can occur anywhere within a line (other than at the end), they often don't
appear as part of a consistent pattern. As a result, once again, even as they add
musicality and rhythm to a line, they do so in a way that is harder to explicitly notice.

The subtlety of internal rhymes makes them a useful poetic tool for increasing the musicality of
the language without being overtly "rhyme-y." Some modern poets don't use end rhymes at all,
but will intersperse internal rhyme throughout a poem because it feels more nuanced and less
obvious. Other poets use internal rhyme in addition to end rhyme—that is, they intersperse
internal rhymes throughout a poem with an otherwise consistent use of end rhymes.

Why Do Writers Use Internal Rhyme?

Poets use internal rhyme for many of the same reasons they use rhyme in general: because it
makes language sound more beautiful and thoughtfully-composed, like music. Internal rhymes
can also help to increase the sense of rhythm of poetry, thus making it not only more pleasant
to listen to but easier to both understand and memorize.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad

Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude, don't be afraid

You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
Metaphor

Metaphor is one of the most common figures of speech, used by writers throughout

history and across the world. They are common in everyday speech and all forms of
writing, from narrative fiction, to poetry, to persuasive writing.

Metaphor is a type of analogy: a comparison between two things or ideas. Take a look
at the entry that covers analogy to learn more about the difference between analogy
and metaphor.

There are actually two accepted definitions of metaphor: one that's quite broad, and
one that's more specific. The broader definition includes any type of comparison or
association, and includes under its umbrella other figures of speech, such as simile.
The other, more narrow definition is the one we focus on in this entry, and is limited
to figures of speech that state one thing is the other.

Why Do Writers Use Metaphor?

Writers, and people in general, use metaphors for countless reasons:

They create memorable images with language.

They help communicate personal or imaginary experiences in terms to which readers

can relate.

By connecting different spheres of experience and language, they can lead the reader to
surprising and important discoveries; the figurative meaning that metaphors create
can help a reader to see the world or a concept in a new way.
 They can even sometimes hide a person's lack of knowledge about the things they're
discussing.

It should be noted that metaphors aren't merely additive—in other words, they aren't just
meant to embellish language or "spice it up." Metaphors actually shape our understanding of
the relationships between things in the world. Without even knowing it, we constantly speak
and think in metaphors.

Onomatopoeia

The Four Types of Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia has a few distinct variants:

Real words that sound like real things

Real words made to evoke the sound of real things

Made-up words that sound like real things

A series of letters that mimic a “raw” sound

Real Words that Sound Like Real Things

This type of onomatopoeia, which we’ll call conventional onomatopoeia, uses words whose
own sound evokes the sound of real things. The word “meow,” which sounds just like the sound
a cat makes when it actually meows, is a classic example of conventional onomatopoeia. This is
by far the most common type of onomatopoeia.

Real Words Made to Evoke the Sound of Real Things

In this rarer type of onomatopoeia, a word or series of words is used to imitate a real-world
sound, even though the words used don’t mimic that sound themselves. Perhaps the most
famous example of this type of onomatopoeia is Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Bells,” in which
Poe repeats the word “bell” 62 times to evoke the sound of a bell ringing and tolling, even
though the word “bell” itself does not itself sound like a bell ringing.

Made-up Words that Sound Like Real Things

Made-up words can fill the void when no word exists to sufficiently capture the nuances of a
real-world sound. For example, when James Joyce needed a word to convey the sound of
someone knocking on a door, he invented “tattarrattat.” Today, almost a hundred years after
he coined it in writing his novel Ulysses, “tattarrattat” has become a legit word (it’s in the
Oxford English Dictionary).

A Series of Letters that Mimic a Raw Sound

Sometimes onomatopoeia involves no words at all, as in examples like “Zzzzzz” to represent the
sound of sleeping or snoring, “hachoo” for a sneezing sound, or “tsk-tsk” or “tut-tut” to convey
the scolding sound we make to express disapproval.

How Can You Tell if a Word Qualifies as Onomatopoeia?

There is no definitive test for whether a word qualifies as onomatopoeia. Some words, like
“meow” and “buzz,” are clear examples of onomatopoeia because they’re like transcriptions of
sound spelled out in letters. But other onomatopoeic words are subtler, such as the words
“throbbing” and “moaning,”which appear in the Edgar Allen Poe poem “The Bells.” Does the
word “moan” sound like someone moaning? Does “throb” sound like a heart beating? Kind of,
but not obviously so.

The Onomatopoeia List website has collected hundreds of examples of onomatopoeic words

and lets users vote on their relative onomatopoeia-ness. It can be helpful to consult their list to
get a sense of whether a specific word qualifies as onomatopoeia. But you can also just make
the judgment call for yourself.
Onomatopoeia Examples

Because onomatopoeia can make language so expressive, impactful, and memorable, it’s used
almost everywhere you look, from literature to comics to advertising and more.

Poe’s poem is an onslaught of onomatopoeia. Here in Stanza IV of the poem he

uses conventional onomatopoeia in which words like “throbbing,” “sobbing,” “moaning,” and
“groaning” sound like the thing they refer to or describe. He also uses repetition of non-
onomatopoeic words to create an onomatopoeic effect: repeating “time,” “bell(s),” and “knells”
so many times evokes the tolling sound of a real bell.

Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells–
Of the bells, bells, bells–
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells–
Of the bells, bells, bells–
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells–
Bells, bells, bells
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Why Do Writers Use Onomatopoeia?

Everyday plain language can be pretty dull. Consider this example:

“The car drove fast down the street and turned quickly at the corner.”

There’s nothing wrong with this sentence and it conveys meaning in a clear way. But, now
consider this revision of the same sentence:

“We heard the vroom of the car’s engine as it whizzed by and screeched around the

corner.”

The three examples of onomatopoeia highlighted in blue here make this version of the
sentence a lot more vivid and descriptive, right? And that’s exactly why writers use
onomatopoeia:

To enhance the expressiveness of written language to evoke the sounds and feeling of
real life.

To describe things with sound that are difficult to convey in any other way.

With onomatopoeia, a gun doesn’t just go off, it goes “bang!” Thunder doesn’t just make a
sound, it makes a “clap,” “crack,” or a “boom.” Birds don’t just sing, they “tweet” and “chirp.”
Onomatopoeic words like these help bring written language to life.

Oxymoron

Function of Oxymoron

Oxymoron produces a dramatic effect in both prose and poetry. For instance, when we read or
hear the famous oxymoron, “sweet sorrow,” crafted by Shakespeare, it appeals to us instantly.
It provokes our thoughts, and makes us ponder the meaning of contradicting ideas. This
apparently confusing phrase expresses the complex nature of love, that can never be expressed
through simple words.

In everyday conversation, however, people do not use oxymoron to make deep statements like
the one above. Instead, they do it to show wit. The use of oxymoron adds flavor to their
speech.

Refrain

Why Do Writers Use Refrains?

The refrain is a versatile literary device that takes many forms and has many purposes. Writers,
musicians, and orators use refrains in songs, speeches, and poems in order to drive a point
home, aid a reader or listener's memory, establish central themes, and create structure.
Repeated words or phrases stick more easily in a reader or listener's mind and accentuate the
structure and rhythm of what's being said—a repeated line like "I have a dream," for example,
establishes the central theme of change and progress, and creates a rhythm within which
progress feels as inevitable as the speech's structure. Sometimes refrains are used simply to
condense and repeat the central subject of a poem or song, as in Henley's "Ballade of
Midsummer Days and Nights" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time," both excerpted above. Refrains
can also organize the content of a speech, song, or poem by providing a memorable rhetorical
framework. This is particularly useful in poems or songs that move quickly and wildly between
divergent images and ideas, as in Ginsberg's poem "Howl." Last, in songs and in some fixed
forms of poetry, refrains are often used simply because their inclusion is traditional to the form
in which the poet or songwriter is writing.
Why Do Writers Use Repetition?

Given the large number of figures of speech that use repetition, it stands to reason that writers
use repetition for all sorts of different reasons. That said, it's possible to describe some general
reasons that writers might choose to use repetition:

Emphasis: The repetition of a word or phrase naturally serves to highlight it's

importance within a text and as a thing or idea.

Persuasion: Scientific studies have shown that simply repeating something is one of the
most effective ways to convince people of its truth. Figures of speech that use
repetition are common in speeches for just this reason.

Contrast: Sometimes by repeating the same thing in slightly different contexts it is

possible to illuminate contrasts. For instance, in the sentence, "What you own ends
up owning you," the repetition of "own" highlights the contrast or twist in the
sentence, which argues that the things you buy to improve your life can end up
limiting and influencing your life choices.

Rhythm: Repetition creates a natural rhythm, like beats of a drum, within a sentence.

Repetition, then, is not just valuable for how it can allow a writer to control the
meaning of sentences. It also can help a writer to affect the feel of those sentences.

Personification
 Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described
as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding
guests, indifferent to their plans.“

 The rain was indifferent to their plans.

 The waves winked in the sunlight.

 The wind played hide-and-go-seek among the trees.