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.
Assonance
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
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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.
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!
• Example: The crackle of fire struck a cord
of fear in our hearts.
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 cloud
That 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!
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggeration.
Example: I will love you until the
ocean runs dry.
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.
This may seem confusing, but it isn’t. Really!
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Rhyme Scheme continued…
Examples:
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the earth so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
a
a
b
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 here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
From Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
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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
childish
childlike
spit
saliva
antique
old-fashioned