Literary Devices and single sentence poetry

One sentence poetry Can a sentence be a poem? Yep! You can take a single sentence and break it up into lines/stanzas. You can also apply literary devices to it. Hence, a poem! One sentence poetry has become popular online

Example – Ian Willey “Faculty Development Seminar” It’s possible that the woman sitting in front of me has never been told, or observed on her own, that the three moles on the back of her neck look just like Orion’s Belt, as seen in the southern sky in the wee hours of a chilly autumn morning, when the geese are moving and it gets harder to wake up early to get a head start on work, because in the afternoons you never get anything done.

example “kissing in one sentence” when we were younger, he paid me two dimes and a slinky to kiss him on the lips, but he doesn’t know that I would have done it for just the slinky.

Tongue Twisters Try saying these sentences as fast as you can: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? What makes these phrases difficult to say?

Alliteration Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words In poetry, alliteration is used to: Enhance the musical quality of the poem so that it is more pleasing to the ear Make certain lines more memorable or easier to recall Add to the flow and cohesion of a poem Affect pace of reading

Your Turn Write a one sentence poem that uses alliteration Start by writing the sentence, and then choose how you wish to break it up into lines and stanzas

Tongue Twisters Try saying this five times fast: Denise sees the fleece, Denise sees the fleas. At least Denise could sneeze and feed and freeze the fleas. What makes this phrase difficult to say?

Assonance Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds within the middle of adjacent or closely connected words Just like alliteration, in poetry, assonance is used to: Make a poem sound better Help with the flow Develop the mood of the poem by triggering audio associations in the listener

Your turn Write a one sentence poem that uses assonance

Tongue Twisters Try saying this five times fast: The early bird gets the worm But then the worm begins to squirm And the squirming worm whirls and twirls Until the worm can’t twirl no more What makes this hard to say fast?

Consonance Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds within the middle of adjacent or closely connected words Note: Alliteration is a form of consonance. The difference is that the consonance takes place in the middle of the word. In poetry, consonance is used to: Create near rhymes when actual rhymes cannot be achieved; this allows for more creative freedom Draw attention to a string of words Create rhythm without sounding as childish as alliteration

Your turn Write a one sentence poem that uses consonance