Poetry: Literary Techniques Accelerated Sophomore English – Mrs. Klaus

Alliteration Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words close together “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…” “…tumbling towards the tide…” “…red, red rose…”

Assonance Repetition of vowel sounds in words placed close together “Try to light the fire” “The crumbling thunder of seas…” “Hear the mellow wedding bells”

Blank Verse Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter “In fair Verona, where we lay our scene/ Two households, both alike in dignity”

Connotation The suggested meanings of a word (as opposed to the dictionary definition) “rat” “home” vs. “house” vs. “residence”

Consonance Repetition of consonant sounds within words that are close together “First and last” “bitter letter” “odds and ends” “short and sweet”

Couplet A pair of successive rhymed lines “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.” Shakespeare, “Sonnet 130”

Diction A writer’s word choice Look for particularly powerful words, or words that seem to form a pattern in the writing May be formal, informal, colloquial, etc.

Dramatic poem Poem in which one or more characters speak.

Epic Long, narrative poem about a single important character who embodies the value of a particular society

Figurative Language Language used imaginatively (not literally) to express ideas or convey feelings

Metaphor Comparison between two unlike things without “like” or “as” That business is a gold mine. The bar of soap was a slippery eel. He hogged the road. She toyed with the idea.

Simile Comparison that uses “like” or “as.” “He runs like a deer.” “I slept like a log.” “Her voice is like music.”

Personification Giving human qualities or characteristics to nonhuman things Opportunity knocked on the door. Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie. Time waits for no one.

Free verse Poetry that doesn’t have a fixed line length, stanza form, rhyme scheme or meter

Imagery Words/phrases that appeal to the five senses Descriptive writing

Lyric Poetry Poetry that focuses on the thoughts/emotions of a speaker

Narrative Poetry Tells a story

Onomatopoeia Words that mimic the sounds they describe “buzz,” “hiss,” “pop”

Parallel Structure Similar sentence or phrase construction “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” (Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”)

Refrain Phrase(s) or line(s) that are repeated regularly in the poem, usually at the ends of stanzas

Symbol Something that stands for something else

Tone Attitude of writer or speaker toward the subject, the reader, or both

Anaphora Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground.” (Lincoln again…)

Rhyme scheme Pattern of rhyme One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school. The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool. A crumb of cake would be a feast And last you seven days at least, A flea would be a frightening beast If you were one inch tall. If you were only one inch tall, you'd walk beneath the door, And it would take about a month to get down to the store. A bit of fluff would be your bed, You'd swing upon a spider's thread, And wear a thimble on your head If you were one inch tall. You'd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum. You couldn't hug your mama, you'd just have to hug her thumb. You'd run from people's feet in fright, To move a pen would take all night, (This poem took fourteen years to write-- 'Cause I'm just one inch tall).

Irony What happens is the opposite of what was expected