IGCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCE: DEVICES WRITERS USE TO CREATE EFFECTS
IGCSE English Language Resource
POETIC AND LITERARY TECHNIQUE
Below is a list of poetic techniques, devices and vocabulary that will help you in your exploration of
poetry and literary texts – see what word choices the authors have made in order to create specific
effects.
language device / technique
An effect used in writing to affect the reader in a
certain way, such as by helping them imagine an
image, view, taste, smell, feeling, emotion etc.
stanza
Another noun for ‘verse’, a section of poetry.
(We would call these ‘paragraphs’ if they were in
prose.)
connotations/symbolism
Words have many meanings attached to them –
what meanings and associations does the writer
want you to take away with you? What extra
meanings do their words have?
imagery
The collective term for all of the
devices/techniques that help the reader
imagine/make an image of what’s happening, so
they can understand better
simile
Imagery: Something is ‘like’ or ‘as…..as’
something else to help describe it with
comparison
metaphor
Imagery: Something ‘is’ something else – helps
us understand what it might be like by making us
think of something
alliteration
Imagery: Uses the same repeated first letter to
make a sound effect or give emphasis to a group
of words
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IGCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCE: DEVICES WRITERS USE TO CREATE EFFECTS
sibilance
Imagery: Like alliteration: the use of ‘s’ and ‘z’
sounds in particular to make a sound effect
description
Imagery: Descriptive words help build a picture
of what is being written about
adverbs describe verbs – doing words – to
describe how something is done
adjectives describe nouns – objects and people –
to describe what they are like
onomatopoeia
Imagery: When a words makes the sound it is
describing, like ‘crash’ or ‘bang’, to create a
sound effect.
personification
Imagery: Giving inanimate objects human
characteristics or actions to create an effect
tone
The feelings or emotion felt during the story or
poem at different points, such as hostile,
relaxed, happy, sad, angry etc.
atmosphere
Similar to tone, the atmosphere is the overall
feeling of the poem.
rhythm
The ‘beat’ of the poem. Often you can hear this
in the order of the words as you read them, and
this can have an effect such as speed,
movement, or the sound of speech. In more
traditional poetry this is referred to as metre,
with rules about how many syllables can be used
in each line, such as ‘iambic pentameter’, in
which there are five pairs of short and long
syllables.
enjambment
The sentences run over the end of the line,
instead of stopping or pausing at the end of the
line. This can break up rhythm, or create speed.
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IGCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCE: DEVICES WRITERS USE TO CREATE EFFECTS
end-stopping
The lines of the poem pause or stop at the end
of the line with punctuation. This helps keep the
rhythm regular.
caesura
A sudden stop in a line caused by punctuation.
This affects the rhythm, the speed and the tone.
character
The invented people in a story or poem. If the
poem is a first-person voice and builds up a
character, it is called a dramatic monologue.
genre
The type of story or poem, eg: love poem.
narrative
Another word for story
narrator
The person telling the story
voice
The way a story is told.
A story can be in First Person Narrative Voice,
where someone is telling the story and saying ‘I’.
A story can be in Third Person Narrative Voice,
where someone is telling the story and using ‘he,
she, it’ to describe others.
dramatic monologue
A first person poem where a character or
persona is developed
omniscient narrator
The narrator isn’t a character because they know
everything that’s happening (LATIN: omni =
everything, sciens = to know). This is normally
the author’s voice.
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IGCSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE RESOURCE: DEVICES WRITERS USE TO CREATE EFFECTS
theme
The overall idea in a piece of poetry, prose (not
poetry), fiction (made-up story) or factual
writing, eg: a story about two people falling in
love has the theme of love, relationships, and if
they fight it might also have the theme of
conflict.
structure
The way the author has put together the story –
the order of events they have chosen. This may
affect the reader in different ways.
Normal basic structure is ‘beginning, middle,
end’, but some authors play around with this.
Types:
In order of time= chronological order.
Going forward and backward through the story=
using flashbacks.
Starting in the middle of the story to make the
reader immediately confused and interested= ‘in
medias res’ technique.
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