Poetic Devices

Simile• A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using

the words “is like” or “as.” “Stars” They are like flashlights in the night sky;

God’s little helpers guiding us on our journeys. Stars are as bright as a lighthouse on an icy, ocean night; they are like guardians committed to bringing you home.

• The words in black are examples of similes

Metaphor• A metaphor is a comparison

of two unlike things in which one

thing is directly stated as being the

other

The clouds are white, fluffy cotton balls.

Alliteration• Alliteration is the repetition of

consonant sounds in lines of poetry.

She sells seashells by the seashore.

Assonance• Assonance is the repetition of

vowel sounds in lines of poetry.

Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese.

Free and easy.

Make the grade.

The stony walls enclosed the holy space.

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Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far.

It is among the oldest of living things.

So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came. --Carl Sandburg, Early Moon

“I made my way to the lake.”

“…on a proud round cloud in white high night…”- E. E. Cummings

Assonance

Imagery• Using any of the senses to paint a mental picture with words.• Robert Frost is known for his use of imagery

in his poetry.

Onomatopoeia

• A word that sounds like what it describes.

• Example: The crackle of fire struck a cord of fear in our hearts.

buzz… hiss… roar… meow… woof… rumble… howl… snap… zip… zap… blip… whack … crack… crash… flutter… flap… squeak… whirr.. pow… plop… crunch… splash… jingle… rattle… clickety-clack… bam!

Personification• Giving any nonhuman object or animal a human characteristic• This is the first stanza of William Wordsworth’s poem “Daffodils”

I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The daffodils are personified by being in a a crowd and dancing like people do.

Allusion• Allusion is a reference to another well known

written work, movie, song, painting, or poem.• The song “Stealing Cinderella” by Chuck Wicks

includes an allusion. • The singer refers to the woman he loves as

Cinderella and he is Prince Charming

Repetition

Words or phrases repeated in writings to give emphasis, rhythm, and/or a sense of urgency.

Example: from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells”

To the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, bells – Of the bells, bells, bells, bells Bells, bells, bells – To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

Think of all the songs

you know where words

and lines are repeated –

often a lot !

Hyperbole Hyperbole is an exaggeration. Example: I will love you until the ocean runs dry.

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Rhyme• The repetition of end sounds in words

– End rhymes appear at the end of two or more lines of poetry.

– Internal rhymes appear within a single line of poetry.

Ring around the rosies,A pocket full of posies,

Abednego was meek and mild; he softly spoke, he sweetly smiled.

He never called his playmates names, and he was good in running games;

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Rhyme Scheme• The pattern of end rhymes (of lines) in a poem.• Letters are used to identify a poem’s rhyme

scheme (a.k.a rhyme pattern).• The letter a is placed after the first line and all

lines that rhyme with the first line. • The letter b identifies the next line ending with

a new sound, and all lines that rhyme with it.• Letters continue to be assigned in sequence to

lines containing new ending sounds.

a.k.a =

“also known as”

This may seem confusing, but it isn’t. Really!

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Rhyme Scheme continued…

Examples:

Twinkle, twinkle little star aHow I wonder what you are. aUp above the earth so high, bLike a diamond in the sky. b

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Rhyme Scheme continued…

What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.

From Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Denotation The strict

dictionary meaning of a word

Connotation The emotional

and imaginative association surrounding a word

Connotation examples

Point of View• Positive

We bought inexpensive souvenirs at the amusement park.

• Negative We bought cheap souvenirs at the

amusement park.

Point of View: Positive• Everyone had a

(smile, smirk) on his/her face on the ride home.

• Everyone had a smile on his/her face on the way home.

Positive? You Decide!average mediocre

spit saliva

childish childlike

antique old-fashioned