Poetic Devices

1. Alliteration: A repetition of sounds at the beginning of words

Ex: He sways his head side to side, with movements like a snake.

2. Hyperbole: Overstating something usually for the purpose of creating a comical effect.
Ex: HE was so slick he never got caught.

3. Metaphor: A imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is
said to be another thing.
Ex: He is a snake

4. Personification: A figure of speech which an object or animal is spoken of as if it had

human feelings, attitude, or thought.
Ex: “Deathly stalked the old man”

5. Simile: A comparison between two unlike things such as like, as, than, or resembles.
Ex: He looks like a snake.

6. Symbol: A person place or thing, or an event tat has meaning itself and stands for
something beyond itself as well.
Ex: Her hand was like rice

7. Onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sound imitates or suggest their meaning.
Ex: How they twinkle,twinkle,twinkle.-EAP

8. Extended Metaphor: Is a metaphor that is extended or developed over several lines of

writing or even thought an entire work.

9. Stanza: A group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit.

Ex: Love is here
Love is in the air
Love is everywhere

10. Lyric Poem: A poem that expresses feelings or thoughts or a speaker rather than telling
a story.
Ex: A word is dead “the word” pg 390

11. Tone: the attitude a writer takes toward his or her subject
Ex: “I have a Dream”

12. Mood: The overall mood or feeling of a story.

Ex: Scary, happy, sad

13. Imagery: The languages that appeal to the senses.

Ex: “The slow, widening of her thick black lips.”

14. Quatrain: A stanza or poem with 4 lines usually alternate rhymes.

Ex: abab
15. Assonance: The repetition of constant words that are close together
Ex: Lewis Carroll “the Walrus and the Carpenter”

16. Allusion: A reference to a person, statement, place, or an event from literature, the arts,
history, religion, mythology, politics, or science.
Ex: “my country, tis of thee” pq 333

17. Couplet: Two consecutive lines or poetry that rhyme.

Ex: But Flyyn preceded Casy, as did Jimmy Blake
And the former was a pudding, and the lecherous fake.

18. Refrain: A repeated sounds, word, phrase, line, or group of lines.

Ex: Fallen cold and dead

19. Rhyme: The repetition of an accented vowel sounds and all sounds following the main
words that are close together in a poem.
Ex: I have to speak-I should-I must-I ought

20. Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of end rhymes in a poem.

Ex: Kublai Khan abaab

21. Rhythm: A musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed.
Ex: Walt Whitman “the song of Myself”

22. Narrative-Poem: A poem that tells a story.

Ex: “Paul Revere’s Ride”

23. Ballad: A song or songlike poem that tells a story.

Ex: “The Dying Cowboy” pg 423

24. Epic: A long narrative poem that is written in heightened language and tells stories of
the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of society
Ex: “Beowulf” pg 428

25. Ode: A lyric poem rhymed or unrhymed on a serious subject

Ex: Ode to Thanks” pg 437

26. Sonnet: A 14 lined poem usually written in iambic pentameter

Ex: On the Grasshopper on the Cricket” pg 443

27. Elegy: A poem of mourning usually about someone who has died
Ex: “O Captain, My Captain” pg 447

28. Free verse: Poetry without a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Ex: “Love in the middle Air” pg 816
Dear Kitty,

Today is Monday April 19, 1943. Yesterday, I had yet another quarrel with
the gruesome Dussel. He said that I make too much noise! I don’t think there
has been any improvement between our relations with the other members. I do
find it quite annoying sometimes. And that Dussel! Can you believe the very
nerve? Always complaining, at first I had thought of him as a kind man but no,
it seems I was wrong. But, everything seems to be in place most of the time.
Especially, since I remain quiet and reserved the entire day. On the other hand,
however, I was able to finish my book in peace. There is still something better
than finishing my book, however. I was able to visit Peter again, and we talked
for hours and hours about what we used to do at school, what we enjoy listening
to, what games we enjoy playing and other things like that. I was so happy and
cheerful that I began to feel like I was in love. It was quite a day yesterday, but
now I hope it will be even better tomorrow, of course, also the days and weeks
after that. I also hope that when we get out, Peter will still remember me as a
good friend and treat me the same as now. 4/19/43

Sincerely,
Anne