Descriptive Writing Poetry Terms
1st Period
Alliteration
• The repetition of similar consonant sounds at
the beginning of two or more words. They
don’t have to come right after each other, but
they usually do.
– Example 1: Sally sells seashells by the seashore
(you must create your own for the test).
– Example 2: The cat climbed the tree cautiously
and kicked the canary name Cecil. (Cecil has the
same consonant, but
).
Simile
• A comparison between two or more
seemingly unlike things using “like” or “as” for
the purpose of adding insight/description.
• (Note: You must be aware of the physical,
emotional, intellectual, and social
implications of your comparisons.)
– Example 1: The cat’s teeth were as sharp as
daggers.
Metaphor
• Metaphor: A comparison between two or
more seemingly unlike things without using
“like” or “as”. Metaphors tend to be more
lengthy and complicated.
– Example 1: He is the workhorse of the team. He
was a lion on the football field.
– Example 2: The pillow was a rock.
SYMBOLISM
• the use of color or symbols to represent ideas,
feelings, etc.
– Example: The American flag symbolizes freedom.
A dove symbolizes peace.
Hyperbole
• gross exaggeration used in literary work.
– Example: The weight of the world is on his
shoulders.
Allusion
• a reference in a work to another work, piece
of literature, work of art, song, person, or
historical situation for the purpose of drawing
connections &/or increasing understanding.
– Example: Their relationship was like Romeo and
Juliet.
Enjambment
• an unnatural break in thought between two
lines of poetry.
– Example: I think that I shall never see
a poem as lovely as a tree.
I am
to gong to the game.
Personification
• giving non-living things human attributes.
Example: My pencil is running overtime.
Onomatopoeia
• a word that imitates or suggests the source of
the sound that it describes.
– Example: Onomatopoeias include animal noises,
such as “oink” or “meow”.
Imagery
• when you use show don’t tell, word choice,
and the five senses to create a mental picture.
– Example: “ A host of golden daffodils;/ Beside the
lake, beneath the trees, /Fluttering and dancing in
the breeze.”
Couplet
• a couplet has rhyming stanzas each made up
of two lines. Shakespearean sonnets usually
end in a couplet.
– Example: “If turkeys gobble,
Do Pilgrims squabble?”
Quatrain
• Quatrain: A stanza or poem of four lines.
– Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme.
– Lines 1 and 3 may or may not rhyme.
– Example: “Look Before You Leap” from Auden
The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap.
Refrain
• Refrain: a phrase, line, or group of lines that is
repeated throughout a poem, usually after
every stanza.
– Very common in music lyrics.
STANZA
• Stanza: two or more lines of poetry that
together form one of the divisions of a poem.
• Example: Think of stanzas like paragraphs.
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2 lines = Couplet
3 lines = Tercet
4 lines = Quatrain
5 lines = Cinquain
6 lines = Sestet
7 lines = Septet
8 lines = Octave
Literary Devices
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Symbolism
Imagery
Metaphors
Similes
Rhyme Schem
Allusions
Personification
Hyperbole
Idioms
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End Rhymes
Internal Rhymes
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Mood
Punctuation
Onomatopoeia
Puns
HAIKU
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3 lines
Example:
5-7-5 Syllabic scheme
The Rose
Nature themed
The red blossom bends
Use of Imagery to
And drips its dew to the ground
“paint” a picture in the
Like a tear it falls
reader’s mind.
• Uses simple words and
By Donna Brock
grammar.
Another Example & Your Turn
• Example #2:
The Rainbow
Curving up, then down
Meeting blue sky and green earth
Melding sun and rain
• Try to write three
haikus (one with a
different theme
each). Try these
themes:
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Sports
Outdoors
Hobby
Winter
Summer
Animals
Limericks
• A five line poem written with one couplet and
one triplet.
• Rhyme scheme is aabba
• Lines 1, 2, & 5 have 3 beats.
• Lines 3 & 4 have two beats.
• They are humorous (Last line is the Punchline).
• They often contain hyperbole, onomatopoeia,
idioms, puns, and other figurative devices.
Example of Limerick
A flea / and a fly / in a flue
Were caught, / so what / could they do?
Said the fly, / "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," / said the flea.
So they flew / through a flaw / in the flue.
- Anonymous
Your Turn
TRY Completing this:
There once was a pauper named Meg
Who accidentally broke her______.
She slipped on the ______.
Not once, but thrice
Take no pity on her, I __________.
* HINT w/Beat:
Practice the rhythm of
limericks by clapping you
hands or snapping your
fingers.
Think of some funny
names, places, or
situations.
1.) Using the a a b b a
5-line form, write an
original limerick.
2.) How would you
illustrate the page if
your poem was
published in a book
of limericks?
3.)What types of art
would you use?