Poetic Devices

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Poetic Devices

• Created by Brooker and Maphey 2009

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Alliteration

• Alliteration- repeating of the same consonant
  sounds in words that are close together.
• There will come soft rains
• And the smell of the ground
• And the swallows circling
• With their shimmering sound
• (Sara Teasdale)

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Johnny Carson alliteration clip
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• Allusion- a reference to a famous person, place,
  or an event.
• In Greek mythology, Daedalus made wings of
  feathers and wax so he and his son, Icarus, could
  escape from prison. The picture Landscape of
  the Fall of Icarus is an allusion to that
  mythical story.

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Hyperbole

• Hyperbole an extreme exaggeration used for
  humor or emphasis.
• a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges
  on the two top stories to let the moon go by.
• (Carl Sandburg)

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Imagery

• Imagery- language that appeals to the senses.
  (Sound, touch, taste, smell etc.)
• When icicles hang by the wall
• And birds sit brooding in the snow,
• And Marians nose looks red and
  raw.
• When roasted crabs hiss in the
  bowl,
• Then nightly sings the staring
  owl,
• Tu-whit, tu-wh!
• (from Winter by William Shakespeare)

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Irony
A mode of expression in which the author says one
thing and means the opposite. Also, when the
outcome of an event is the opposite of what might
be expected or considered appropriate.
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Metaphor

• Metaphor- comparison between two unlikely things
  without words like, as than, or resembles.
• Love is a rose.
• An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered
  coat upon a stick (W.B. Yeats)

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Mood
The frame of mind or state of feeling created by
a piece of writing.
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Onomatopoeia

• Onomatopoeia- words that imitate sounds.
• Buzz, drip, plop, meow, bark, ribbit,
  cha-ching!, ha ha hahahahahahhahahahaha, hehehe,
  mwah,

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Personification

• Personification- an animal or non-human thing is
  given a humanlike quality.
• The wind whispered and whistled at my bedroom
  window.
• Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly
  stopped for me.
• The tawny-hided desert crouches watching her.
  Francis Thompson

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Refrain

• Refrain- a repeated word, phrase line or group of
  lines.

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Simile

• Simile - comparison between two unlike things,
  using words like, as resembles or than.
• Love is like a red, red, rose.
• Mans life is like a summer leaf.

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Symbol
An object that stands for something larger than
itself. It means both what it is and something
more, as a dove is both a bird and s symbol of
peace.
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Theme
An idea on life or people brought out through a
story.