1. Poetic Literary Devices
January 2015
English 10

2. Alliteration
The repetition of a particular sound in a series of words or phrases.
Example: Suzy sells seashells by the seashore

3. Anaphora
Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses.
Example: "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."

4. Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds in neighboring words.
Example: "A heart no bigger than an orange seed has ceased to beat."

5. Simile
A figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of one thing to another of a different category, usually introduced by as or like
Example: "She dealt with moral problems as a cleaver deals with meat."

6. Metaphor
A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.
Example: "Humor is the shock absorber of life; it helps us take the blows."

7. Hyperbole An outrageous exaggeration.
Example: “If he talks to me, I’ll die of embarrassment”

8. Onomatopoeia Words that sound like their meaning
Example: "I'm getting married in the morning! Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime."

9. True Rhyme
A rhyme in which the later part of the word or phrase is identical sounding to that of another.
Example: Down the hill he ran
Towards his friend name Sam

10. Internal Rhyme
A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line, or in the middle of the next.
Example: I lost my dog in the midst of a fog. He found his way home, he doesn’t like to roam.

11. Personification
The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human.
Example: She did not realize that opportunity was knocking at the door.

12. Irony
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Example: The irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.

13. Write a Five-Line Poem
Line One: Write down a noun (person, place or thing)
Line Two: Write down two adjectives (words that describe the noun). Separate the two adjectives by a comma
Line Three: Write three verbs that tell what the noun does. Separate the verbs by commas.
Line Four: Write a thought about the noun. A short phrase will be enough.
Line Five: Repeat the word you wrote on the first line. Or, Write a synonym or some other related word.