CHAPTER 15- FIGURES OF SPEECH,
OR METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE: A
SOURCE OF DEPTH AND RANGE IN
POETRY
Lap 4: Poetry
Day 4
MUSIC IS POETRY.
LITERARY DEVICES
Figures of speech, metaphorical language,
figurative language, figurative devices,
literary devices and rhetorical figures are
terms describing organized patterns of
comparison that deepen, broaden, extend,
illuminate, and emphasize meaning.
 The literary devices that we will be studying
this LAP are: metaphor, simile, imagery,
paradox, anaphora, apostrophe, personification,
synecdoche, metonymy, pun (paronomasia),
synthesia and hyperbole.
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METAPHORS
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The two most important figures of speech, and the most
easily recognized, are metaphors and similes.
A metaphor shows that something unknown is
identical to something known and equates known
objects or actions with something that is unknown or to be
explained.
Metaphors are words that suggest meanings that go beyond
their literal meanings.
Example: Katy Perry’s, Firework- “Baby you’re a
firework.”-Comparing (you) to a firework.
SIMILES
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A simile shows that something unknown is similar to
something known and illustrates the similarity or
comparability to something unknown or to be explained.
Similes are distinguishable from metaphors because they
are introduced by “like” with nouns and “as” with
clauses.
Example: Katy Perry’s Firework- “Do you ever feel like a
plastic bag” -Comparing you (a person) to a plastic bag and
disposable.
PERSONIFICATION
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Personification is the attribution of human traits to
abstractions or to nonhuman objects.
Personification is another dramatic figurative device
through which poets explore relationships to environment,
ideals and inner lives.
Example: John Keats, “To Autumn”- Conspiring with him
to load and bless. – Can the seasons conspire?
HYPERBOLE
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Hyperbole is the overstatement and understatement
to create emphasis.
Hyperbole is an exaggeration for effect.
Example: I am so tired I cannot walk another inch” or “I’m
so sleepy I might fall asleep standing here”.
These statements CANNOT be taken literally making them
exaggerations.
ONOMATOPOEIA
o
o
Onomatopoeia refers to words which sound is very close
to the sound they are meant to depict. In other words, it
refers to sound words whose pronunciation to the actual
sound they represent.
Example: grunt, huff, buzz and snap...
CHAPTER 16- TONE: THE CREATION OF
ATTITUDE IN POETRY
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Tone, a term derived from the phrase tone of voice,
describes the shaping of attitudes in poetry.
Each poet’s use of words governs the reader’s responses
through denotation and connotation, seriousness or humor,
irony, metaphors, similes, hyperboles, and other literary
devices.
The sentences within a poem must be just long enough to
achieve the poet’s intended effect- no shorter and no longer.
“MY PAPA’S WALTZ” P. 828-829
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Read the poem as a class. Listen for the “s,” “z”
and “sh” sounds.
What do you think these letter sounds
represent?
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The simile: “But I hung on like death” means
that the boy ____________________.
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(answer: would not let go)
What two senses are used in this poem?
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(answer: the narrator’s father beating time on the
narrator’s head- something he does each time he gets
drunk)
(answer: smell and touch)
What effect does the rhyming scheme have in
the poem?
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(possible answer: describes the speakers actions)
Is it a comparison between two things?
Yes
No
Does it use “like” or “as”?
Yes
Are they exaggerating
too much or too little?
No
No
Yes
Simile
Metaphor
?
Too Much?
Object or idea doing
human things?
Too Little?
No
Hyperbole Understatement
Yes
Personification
APPLY WHAT YOU KNOW
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You will be given a poem subject and literary device on a
note card. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON THE NOTE
CARD.
Your task is to write a line for a five-six line poem using
the literary device written on the card.
You MAY NOT use the word of the subject in your
line/poem. For example, if your subject is puppies- you may
not use the word puppy (puppies) or dog(s) in your
line/poem.
Once each person in your group has written their line for
the assigned literary device, you will compose your poem in
the order to which it make the “most sense”. Some of these
poems will be accurate and others will be funny.
The objective is to assess your understanding of the literary
devices (figurative language) as used in poetry and
establishing a personal tone for effect.