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 Definition: Similes are comparisons using the words “like” or “as.”
 Example(s):
 You smell like a flower in bloom.
 You’re strong like a rock.
 You are as pretty as the sunrise.

 Definition: Metaphors are comparisons not using the words “like” or “as.” They are a direct comparison.
 Example(s):
 You are the sunshine on a cloudy day.
 You are my rock.
 He’s such a doormat.

 Definition: Irony is a contradiction between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.
 Example(s):
 From “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
(Coleridge)
 Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink

 Definition: Hyperbole is an (extreme) exaggeration used for effect.
 Example(s):
 You took forever to call me back
 I told you one thousand times already

 Definition: An idiom is a phrase that cannot be taken literally.
 Examples:
 Skating on thin ice
 Kicked the bucket
 Raining cats and dogs

 Definition: Personification is giving human characteristics to inanimate
(nonhuman) things.
 Examples:
 The wind whispered in my ear
 The sun smiled at me
 The trees waved goodbye to the sun

 Definition: Onomatopoeia means “sound words.”
 Examples:
 Bang!
 Whoosh!
 Splish! Splash!
 Plop!
 Meow!

 Definition: Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds between two or more words in one line of poetry.
 Examples:
 P eter ate a p ickle
 The g iraffe j umped
 The c at flew a k ite

Secret Poetry Terms:
Assonance and Consonance
 Definitions:
 Assonance is the repetition of initial VOWEL sounds in one line of poetry.
 Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds
(at any point in a word) in one line of poetry.
 Examples:
 Assonance: A lice a te a n a lmond
 Consonance: P enelo p e hates p ul p in her juice

 Definition: Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words.
 Examples:
 C at , h at , b at
 F ell , sm ell , g el

 Definition: Rhythm is the pattern of strong and weak beats in a song or poem
(stressed or unstressed syllables)
 Example:
 My love was like a red, red rose
 I may never see tomorrow

 Definition: An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, event, place, literary work, or piece of artwork, with which the reader should be familiar.
 Examples:
 The Simpsons’ allusion to Edgar Allen Poe/
The Tell Tale Heart
 The allusion to the biblical story of Eve and the apple in Snow White