Poetry
Terms and Definitions
Poetic Devices

Are tools that a poet can use to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or
intensify a mood or feeling.
Speaker

A Character who says the poem.

The speaker is usually not named.
Mood

Feeling created in the reader by a poem

Created by writer’s choice of words, events, or physical setting.
Examples

Name different types of poetic devices


Metaphor, simile, imagery, rhythm, personification, onomatopoeia,
allusion, hyperbole, etc.
What would the mood be of:

A haunted house

Disneyland

A mystery novel/television show
Tone

The attitude of the speaker towards the subject.

May be formal or informal, friendly or distant, personal or impersonal.
Example

What is a person’s tone when…

They go on a job interview

They hang out with their friends

Speak to a family member about a serious issue
Theme

Underlying meaning of a poem.

The idea a poem presents about people and life.
Stanza

Groups of lines in a poem, usually separated by spaces.

Each stanza states a single main idea.
Stanza Lengths

Couplet – 2 Lines

Tercet – 3 Lines

Quatrain – 4 Lines
Figurative Language

Expressions to get across certain ideas or concepts more vividly.

Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Hyperbole
Simile

A comparison of 2 objects using “like” or “as”.

Example: Life is like a box of chocolates

Create your own TWO examples of a simile.
Metaphor

A comparison of 2 objects without using “like” or “as.”

A metaphor typically states that object 1 IS object 2.

Example: “My love is a blossoming flower”

Create two metaphor of your own.
Personification

Comparison that gives human qualities to inanimate objects.

Example: The flowers danced in the wind.

Create two pieces of personification of your own.
Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration

Evokes some sense of ridiculousness

Example: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

Create a hyperbole of your own.
Imagery

Creating a picture in the reader’s mind through the senses of sight, smell, sound,
taste and touch.

Think of a place you have been before (somewhere familiar or popular)

Describe that place using the 5 senses.

DO NOT NAME THE PLACE—the class is going to guess what your imagery is
describing.
Symbol

a person, a place, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and stands
for something beyond itself as well

Think of the sword and the stone in many King Arthur tales.

Yes a sword can stand for war or political power.…

But when the little boy draws the sword out of the stone, the sword comes to
stand for the child’s glittering future as the power king of Camelot, as well as
his close alliance with magic.
The Sick Rose
by William Blake
O rose, thou art sick.
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm
Has found out thy bed
Of Crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

What do roses symbolize?

What do worms symbolize?
Rhyme

1.Repetition of sounds at the end of words.
Rhyme Scheme

A regular pattern of rhyming in a poem.

Uses letters of alphabet to distinguish lines that rhyme.
Roses are Red.-A
Violets are blue.-B
You look like a monkey.-C
And you smell like one too.-B
Mini Task: Find the Rhyme Scheme in the
following poem excerpt.
It’s a pretty good zoo,
Said young Gerald McGrew,
And the fellow who runs it
Seems proud of it too.
But if I ran the zoo,
Said young Gerald McGrew
I’d make a few changes.
That’s just what I’d do
Answer: aaba aaca
It’s a pretty good zoo, a
Said young Gerald McGrew, a
And the fellow who runs it b
Seems proud of it too. a
But if I ran the zoo, a
Said young Gerald McGrew a
I’d make a few changes. c
That’s just what I’d do. a
Mini Task

Create a poem about your one of your favorite hobbies, songs, or people.

Use a rhyme scheme aaba aaca.

Share with a partner.
Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in words.
“Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Because we need a little controversy
Because it feels so empty without me.”
Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds in words.
I'll swing by my ankles.
She'll cling to your knees.
As you hang by your nose,
From a high-up trapeze.
But just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze,
Don't sneeze. - The Acrobats by Shel Silverstein
Alliteration

Repetition of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

“ She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”
Onomatopoeia

A word whose pronunciation suggests their meaning or makes the sound of the
action it describes.

Examples: crack, pow, boom, snap, creak, buzz, etc.
Create Your Own

Create a 3-stanza QUATRAIN (4 lines) poem with the rhyme scheme ABBA

Keep the topic school appropriate.