2. Poetry Devices

3. POETRY Poetry is not easily defined. Often it takes the form of verse, but not all poetry has this structure. Poetry is a creative use of words which, like all art, is intended to stir an emotion in the audience. The stanza in poetry is equivalent or equal to the paragraph in prose. Often the lines in a stanza will have a specific rhyme scheme. Some of the more common stanzas are: Couplet: a two line stanza Triplet: a three line stanza Quatrain: a four line stanza Cinquain: a five line stanza

4. METER Meter is the measured arrangement of words in poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind and number of lines. Meter is an organized way to arrange stressed/accented syllables and unstressed/unaccented syllables. Whose woods / these are / I think /I know

5. REFRAIN The repetition of one or more phrases or lines at the end of a stanza. It can also be an entire stanza that is repeated periodically throughout a poem, kind of like a chorus of a song.

6. RHYME Rhyme is when the endings of the words sound the same. Read the poem with me out loud. Dust of Snow by Robert Frost The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And save some part Of a day I had rued.

7. REPETITION Repetition is the repeating of a sound, word, or phrase for emphasis. Inside Inside the house (I get ready) Inside the car (I go to school) Inside the school (I wait for the bell to ring) EXAMPLE: By Edgar Allan Poe By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells Of the bells Of the bells, bells, bells, bells

8. ALLITERATION Repetition of the same, initial consonant sounds EXAMPLES: Soft Sighing of the Sea

9. ASSONANCE The repetition of the vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables. EXAMPLE: As high as a kite in a bright sky

10. HYPERBOLE A bold, deliberate overstatement not intended to be taken seriously. The purpose is to emphasize the truth of the statement. EXAMPLES: He weighs a ton, I could eat a horse

11. ALLUSION A reference to another piece of literature or to history. Example: “She hath Dian’s wit” (from Romeo and Juliet). This is an allusion to Roman mythology and the goddess Diana. The three most common types of allusion refer to mythology, the Bible, and Shakespeare’s writings.

12. IMAGERY Usually these words or phrases create a picture in the reader’s mind. Some imagery appeals to the other four senses (hearing, touch, taste, smell). EXAMPLES: Sight – smoke mysteriously puffed our from his ears Sound – he could hear a faint but distant thump Touch – the burlap wall covering scraped his skin Taste – a salty tear ran down his cheek Smell – the scent of cinnamon floated into his nostrils

13. IRONY The general name given to the literary techniques that involve differences between appearance and reality, expectations and result, or meaning and intention. EXAMPLE: It was ironic that the police station was robbed. It was ironic that the Olympic swimmer drowned in the bathtub. It was ironic that the soldier survived the war and then was shot on his own front porch after returning home safely.

14. METAPHOR A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken as though it were something else, a direct comparison of two unlike things. EXAMPLE: It is raining cats and dogs

15. PERSONIFICATION Figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics EXAMPLE: The wind spoke her name

16. ONOMATOPOEIA The use of words that imitate sounds. Buzz, Thud, Hiss, Woof, Quack

17. OXYMORON The junction of words which, at first view, seem to be contradictory, but surprisingly this contradictions expresses a truth or dramatic effect. EXAMPLES: Pretty ugly, Icy hot

18. SIMILE A comparison using like or as. As brave as a lion, As dumb as an ox The clouds looked like cotton candy. Grandpa was as stubborn as a mule Tom's head is as hard as a rock.