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