a tool that an author employs (or uses) to help
the reader visualize (or see) what is happening
in a story or poem.
Some common
language are
simile,
types of figurative
metaphor,
onomatopoeia,
alliteration,
idiom,
and sensory language.
puns,
A simile is a comparison using like or as.
It usually compares two dissimilar objects.
For example:
•Those girls are like two peas in a pod.
•The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the
grocery store shelves.
•Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full
of rocking chairs.
•As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her
breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"
A metaphor states that one thing IS
something else. It is a comparison, but it
DOES NOT USE like or as to make the
comparison.
For example:
•The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.
•The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.
•The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.
•The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long
day.
Alliteration is the repetition of the
beginning consonant sound. There should be
at least two repetitions in a row.
•Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
•Handsome Harry hired hundreds of hippos for Hanukkah.
repetition of a vowel sound rather than a
consonant is assonance.
The
•Hear the mellow wedding bells. — Edgar Allan Poe
•I'm hunched over emotions just flows over these cold
shoulders are both frozen you don't know me. - Eminem
Consonance is the repetition of consonant
sounds anywhere within words,
the beginning.
not just at
Count the “S” sounds as they appear in this verse of “The
Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll:
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done—
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
Onomatopoeia is the imitation of natural
sounds in word form.
These words help us form mental pictures about the
things, people, or places that are described.
Sometimes the word names a thing or action by
the sound.
Splash!
For example:
Buzz!
copying
Hiss!
An idiom is an expression
has a meaning
apart from the meanings of its individual
words.
that
For example:
It’s raining cats and dogs.
Its literal meaning suggests that cats and dogs are falling
from the sky. We interpret it to mean that it is raining
hard.
under the weather
means “feeling sick”
catch some Z’s
a “play on words”
A pun is a humorous use of words that
involves a word or phrase that has more
than one possible meaning.
I recently spent money on detergent to unclog my
kitchen sink. It was money down the drain.
I used to be twins. My mother has a picture of
me when I was two.
I work as a baker because I knead dough.
Personification is giving human
qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics
to inanimate (non-living) objects.
The snow whispered as it fell to the ground during
the early morning hours.
The strawberries seemed to sing, "Eat me first!“
The wind sang her mournful song through the
falling leaves
Hyperbole is an exaggeration.
It may be used due to strong feelings or is used
to create a strong impression and is not
meant to be taken literally.
I nearly died laughing.
I tried a thousand times.
I could eat a horse.
Imagery uses vivid description to refer to
the five senses: sight, touch, smell,
hearing, and taste. This allows the reader to
create mental images, or pictures.
Imagery allows a writer to SHOW a writer
what she means instead of just telling
someone. When you write your poem,
remember:
Show! Don't Tell!
The Road Not Taken ~Robert Frost
Imagery
If you're tired
and
hopeless, how can you show
someone this instead of just
telling them?
I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do
--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Frost SHOWS his reader the roads and his
decision to take the one less traveled.
Hey! What's
the Big Idea?
theme is the point a writer is trying to make
about a subject. Learning about theme helps
The
you decide what is important. The theme of the
poem tells what the whole poem is about.
All the words, descriptions, figurative language,
detail sentences, and scenes are all small parts that
add to the reader's understanding of what you feel
about the theme.
What is your theme?
How did you support that central idea?
Who is your audience and what do you want to say?
These questions GUIDE you to FIND your purpose in writing.
Generally, people write for three reasons - to
entertain
inform
persuade,
to
, or to
. Which reason best represents
what you want to do with your theme?
For example, your theme is dogs. Are you trying to persuade someone to
love dogs as much as you do? Are you entertaining the reader about a
special dog in your life and the funny way he looks and the crazy things he
does? Are you describing dogs in general?
How you present your central idea will
define and clarify your purpose.
Mood is defined as a created atmosphere or context.
In the movies mood is achieved by special lighting, sound
effects, selected music, and the tone of the actors’ dialogue and
actions.
In poetry, to create mood, the writer must rely on
his/her use of words and phrases to "paint the right
scene" - in other words, create the right mood. The mood
may be somber, light-hearted, comical, silly, or thought
provoking.
It is up to you, as the poet, to consider your theme
and purpose. Then create the mood that best relays
those two elements to your reader.
"Over My Head (Cable Car)”
~The Fray
Scrambled
I climbed up the door and
I opened the stairs.
I said my pajamas
and buttoned my prayers.
I turned off the covers
and pulled up the light.
I’m all scrambled up since
she kissed me last night.
© 1996 by Bruce Lansky, reprinted
from My Dog Ate My Homework
published by Meadowbrook Press.
The theme is love.
The purpose is to entertain.
The mood of this poem is comical.
I never knew
I never knew that everything was falling through
That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue
To turn and run when all I needed was the truth
But that's how it's got to be
It's coming down to nothing more than apathy
I'd rather run the other way than stay and see
The smoke and who's still standing when it clears
Everyone knows I'm in
Over my head
Over my head
With eight seconds left in overtime
She's on your mind
She's on your mind
The theme is a break up/ lost love.
The purpose is to entertain.
The mood is somber and almost
hopelessness.