Poetry TerminologyPresented by: Mrs. Tenney

TERMSTERMS Alliteration Assonance Hyperbole Imagery Irony Metaphor

PersonificationOnomatopoeiaOxymoronRepetitionRhymeSimile

RESOURCES

MORE INFO

Meet the PresenterMeet the Presenter Mrs. Tenney

6th year at KAHS

Enjoys reading and writing poetry!

RESOURCESRESOURCES Academy of American Poets Website

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/17105 Multimedia Resources

http://magnussonllc.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/pimp-my-presentation-alliterations/

Microsoft Office Clipart Galley

ALLITERATIONALLITERATION Repetition of the same, initial consonant

sounds

EXAMPLES: Soft Sighing of the Sea

ASSONANCEASSONANCE The repetition of the vowel sounds

followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables.

EXAMPLE: As high as a kite in a bright sky

HYPERBOLEHYPERBOLE A bold, deliberate overstatement not

intended to be taken seriously. The purpose is to emphasize the truth of the statement.

EXAMPLES: He weighs a ton, I could eat a horse

IMAGERYIMAGERY Usually these words or phrases create a

picture in the reader’s mind. Some imagery appeals to the other four senses (hearing, touch, taste, smell).

EXAMPLES: Sight – smoke mysteriously puffed our from his ears Sound – he could hear a faint but distant thump Touch – the burlap wall covering scraped his skin Taste – a salty tear ran down his cheek Smell – the scent of cinnamon floated into his nostrils

IRONYIRONY The general name given to the literary

techniques that involve differences between appearance and reality, expectations and result, or meaning and intention.

EXAMPLE: It was ironic that the police station was robbed. It was ironic that the Olympic swimmer drowned in

the bathtub. It was ironic that the soldier survived the war and

then was shot on his own front porch after returning home safely.

METAPHORMETAPHOR A figure of speech in which one thing is

spoken as though it were something else, a direct comparison of two unlike things.

EXAMPLE: It is raining cats and dogs

PERSONIFICATIONPERSONIFICATION Figurative language in which a

nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

EXAMPLE: The wind spoke her name

ONOMATOPOEIAONOMATOPOEIA The use of words that imitate sounds.

Buzz, Thud, Hiss, Woof, Quack

OXYMORONOXYMORON The junction of words which, at first

view, seem to be contradictory, but surprisingly this contradictions expresses a truth or dramatic effect.

EXAMPLES: Pretty ugly, Icy hot

REPETITIONREPETITION The use, more than once, of any element

of language – a sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.

EXAMPLE: By Edgar Allan PoeBy the sinking or the swelling in the anger of

the bellsOf the bellsOf the bells, bells, bells, bells

RHYMERHYME Word endings that sounds alike Internal Rhyme – rhyme within a line

EXAMPLES: Time, Slime, Mime Internal Rhyme – Scornfully scaly snake

which held his very fate

SIMILESIMILE A comparison using like or as.

EXAMPLES: As brave as a lion, As dumb as an ox

MORE MORE INFORMTAIONINFORMTAION

If you’d like to learn more about poetry terms, please refer to Mrs. Tenney’s Moodle page. The website is:

http://ecougar.kasd.org/