Poetic Devices
Terminology to help us write
and read poetry!
Figurative Language
Figurative language: writing not meant to be
interpreted literally
Ex: My eyes are on fire!
VS.
Literal language: the explicit or primary meaning
(surface level/plot)
Ex: My eyes are irritated.
More Figurative Language…
Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration or
overstatement
Ex: Her mouth was as big as the Grand
Canyon
Oxymoron: words used together that
actually contradict in meaning.
Ex: jumbo shrimp, old news, freezer burn
More Figurative Language…
Metaphor: a direct comparison of two nonlike things for an effect
“something is something”
Ex: She is a bomb, and she exploded in my
heart.
Personification: giving human traits and
qualities to non-human objects.
Ex: The sunflowers stretched toward the sun
and smiled happily.
More Figurative Language…
Simile: a comparison using like or as
Ex: my love is like a red, red rose…
she is as cute as a button
Sensory Language
Sensory language: language that appeals
to the senses
 Ex:
The gravel crunched underneath my
shredding sneaker. Wafts of acidic air
penetrated my nostrils, crawling down my
throat and stifling my breath. I could taste the
rancid garbage as I walked by the dumpster.
My frozen hand struggled to form a tighter
grip around my bag.
More Sensory Language…
Imagery: the use of pictures, figures of
speech, or description to evoke actions,
ideas, objects, or characters
Alliteration: repetition of initial/beginning
consonant sounds
Ex: We walked with Wes on Wednesday.
More Sensory Language…
Assonance: close repetition of similar vowel
sounds within words
Ex: The flat slap of hands
Consonance: close repetition of consonant
sounds in words (pitter patter butter)
More Sensory Language…
Onomatopoeia: a word whose sound
suggests its meaning – imitates sound
Ex: Eww! Ugh! Moo. Tick-tock!
Lyric poetry: musical verse which
expresses a single speaker’s thoughts or
feelings on a subject
Form-Structure

Stanza: a group of lines in a poem
considered as a unit (the poem’s version
of a paragraph)

Free verse: poetry with varying rhythm
and rhyme
Form-Structure

Concrete poetry: a poem with a shape that
suggests its subject or the movement of its
subject
Dove
Enjambment: when the meaning of a poem
extends from one line to the next.
Ex. She walked upstairs and fell
flat on the floor

Form-Structure

Refrain: stanza repeated for emphasis
(often in songs or lyric poetry)

Haiku: three lined Japanese verse form
1st and 3rd lines – 5 syllables
2nd line – 7syllables
Form-Structure

Sonnet: 14 line poem focused on a single
theme
Shakespearean sonnet: 14 line poem
3 quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines)
--rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg

Form-Rhythm/Rhyme
rhyme scheme: regular pattern of rhyming words
in a poem (indicated by letter notation)
Ex: some say the world will end in fire a
some say ice
b
from what I’ve tasted of desire
a
I hold with those who favor fire
a
but if I had to perish twice…
b
Form-Rhythm and Rhyme
End rhyme: when rhyming words are repeated
at the end of a line
Ex: Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village, though;

Internal rhyme: when rhyming words fall within
a line
Ex:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary
Form-Rhythm and Rhyme

Half rhyme: Consonance on the last
consonants of two words.
Ex: Fill and shell.
Couplet: a pair of rhyming lines
Ex: Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

Form-Rhythm/Rhyme

Rhythm: the pattern of beats, or stresses,
in a line of poetry

Meter: regular or repeated rhythm pattern
in a poem.
Form-Rhythm and Rhyme
Iambic pentameter: a line of poetry with 5
iambic feet, each with one unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Ex: u /
u /
u /
u /
u /
I went / up town / to buy / a loaf / of bread
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end,
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand
Responding to Poetry
Context: the circumstances surrounding
the poem, such as:
 Information
about the author
 Historical information relating to the poem
 The time and place in which the poem was
written
allusion: a reference to a well-known person,
place, event, literary work, or work of art
Responding to Poetry

POINT OF VIEW: The position of the
speaker in relation to the events, ideas, or
details of the poem
Performing Poetry
 Punch
A punch is an extra stress or emphasis on a
particular word. Use this to add an extra
“kick.”
The waves crashed on the shore.
Her smile, tearing my heart
Performing Poetry
 Pause
A pause is a brief rest following a particular word.
It allows the previous word to set in and gives
the listening time to think about its meaning.
EX: Sunrise fills me with hope (pause)
Her eyes (pause), bright blue orbs shining
down the hall
Performing Poetry

When to Pause?
 Line
breaks
 Punctuations (periods, commas, dashes, etc.)
 Any place you’d like to add emphasis
 Paint
Painting is expressing a certain emotion that
fits with the meaning of the word, such as
saying the word “fun” in a happy voice.
EX: Anger swallows me
EX: Winning shot brings pure joy